Light Over Darkness

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  John 1: 5


In light of what transpired in Virginia this past weekend, I have decided to use bits of a past post and quotes to show how relevant the above verse is. People who came out to show hate and divisiveness reacted violently to the peaceful protests from the opposite side. As a result, Heather Heyer, a young woman who stood up against this divisiveness, lost her life and many people were injured.

This should never have happened.

Despite the torches used on Friday night and the bright sunshine on Saturday, there was darkness in the hearts of many. But God's word says, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it"  (John 1: 5).

Here's an excerpt from an earlier post:

 According to Dylann Roof, his goal was to see the races separated. He wanted us to return to the days of segregation. And that's Satan's goal. He is all for division. He hates to see people, especially Christians, united. He divides families, friends, relatives, even nations. But instead of division, we saw on television people of all races and backgrounds hugging each other and mourning the senseless murder of the saints. This tragedy has brought unity in a way that has even crossed political lines.

 Many people have spoken and demonstrated their abhorrence of what took place this weekend. As happened in Orlando and South Carolina and Ferguson and other parts of the United States, whenever evil forces try to divide us, people come together in a greater show of love and solidarity. 

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  John 3: 19. 

There will always be those who will choose darkness over light, hate over love and division over unity, but thank God, they are in the minority. 

Paul says, " But where sin increased, grace increased all the more" (Romans 5: 20).

Let's thank God for His grace and for sending His light into the world, a light that the darkness can never overcome. God bless. 

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My book In the Wilderness will be released tomorrow at the same preorder price of 99c. Get your copy and read about what happens when the light of Jesus Christ transforms a person's life.

Why Are You So Angry?

Photo credit: lesterp4 from morguefile.com

It would seem that anger is everywhere - on the roads, in the home and in the workplace. Road rage has taken lives; in the home children and parents, husbands and wives scream at each other and violence often erupts in places of employment. Why is there so much anger? If you find yourself becoming angry very often, you may need to slow down and try to determine what are the underlying reasons for your anger.

Your anger may stem from one or more of the following:

1. Fear. Surprisingly enough, a person who is angry is usually afraid of something. This quote from a Star Wars episode states, "Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."

2. Frustration. Are you frustrated by your attempts to succeed at something and always coming up short? If you are always frustrated, pretty soon you'll become angry.

3. Exhaustion. Have you found that you become irritable when you are tired? That irritation can turn into anger if you don't slow down and get some rest.

4. Environment. Anger can also be learned. If you live in an environment where everyone is angry all the time, you'll soon follow their example.

5. Worry. This often leads to fear, which, as we saw above can turn into anger.

Anger in itself is not always a bad thing. It's how that anger is channeled that will determine whether you overcome it or allow it to overcome you. Ecclesiastes 7 : 9 says, "Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry : for anger resteth in the bosom of fools." Ephesians 4 : 26 says, "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:" However, there are many references to people in the Bible who became angry. Remember Moses? Great man of God, chosen to lead God's people out of the bondage of Egypt. But if Moses had a psychiatrist he would have ended up in anger management classes. Because he couldn't control his anger, he was not allowed to enter the promised land.

Is your anger preventing you from enjoying the promises that God has for you? If yes, you need to confess it before God and ask Him to remove it from you. Jesus warned, "whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say , Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire" (Matthew 5 : 22).

Anger can be a destructive force that prevents you from enjoying God's best and also land you in a lot of trouble. It can also be the catalyst that drives you to make positive changes in your life and the lives of others. In the coming weeks I will continue to explore other aspects of this emotion.