Day 14 ~ John 3:19-21

Today you will have listened to one of the most quoted pieces of Scriptures, and it is awesome that even most people who don’t know Christ, have seen this verse on huge signs at sporting events around the world, rock concerts, and just standing on the sidewalk.

But how do we know the scriptures that come to surround that verse, how powerful they are as well? My favorite is really John 3:17 but what I would like to take a look at is the tough stuff, the steak of the bible, let's get past the milk kids and let's get to the prime rib men & women….!

John 3:19-21 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth come into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God!

I don’t want to steal the thunder of someone later but I have to quote James here because he understood this! James 5: 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

This is a key element in living out your life. Bring in light to all of your world so that there is no dark place. Satan wants you to have a dark place in your life because he wants a hold over you. He wants to whisper, “you can’t tell anyone about that they will shun you, laugh at you, kick you out, real people don’t really struggle with that, only weak people do….! Don’t let anyone know about your dark area of life keep it there!” Man what a terrible lie to buy into, and yet what a half truth. I can’t tell you how many times you Christians can be the worst about shooting your wounded and moving on!

I will be honest with you, I struggle. There are times in my life when I desire God’s creation more then I desire God the creator. There are times in my life when I lie, there are times in my life when I choose to do what is not right. I am, for all great purposes, a sinner.

Paul bragged about being, “the chief of sinners.” Me too. I am weak when I should be strong, I am strong when I should be weak, I am wretched and miserable. How come God chose to use a man like myself who is so ungodly at times in my heart? But God has forgiven me because I believe in the sacrifice that Jesus made for my life. I am able to come before the throne of God because I live in the light of Jesus' forgiveness. This is how. I have shared with you my struggles but I have friends that are even closer that know that even though I love the lord, they know I am deprived sinner as well. These friends that God has brought into my life, weirdly enough, struggle every bit as much as I do with similar issues and we ask each other the hard questions. Sometimes I will answer my phone to hear my friend on the other line crying and repenting before God and before me. There are times when I am able to call and pray in front of them and repent as well before them and most of all before my God.

Do not live as I did for a long time when I first came around to Christ. I lived with a darkness in my life and I did not know how to let Jesus in, but as I ran across these very verses, the fight was on, the battle ensued. But when I came and was able to confess before my friends and not just my God……. Satan no longer had a dark space that he could control me with in my life. No longer did I live in fear of what people found out, because I confessed that before them and my God. I cannot believe the freedom, the empowerment, and how much more alive I am because of that turning point in my life. Find Christian friends you can trust, confess to one one another, repent before them and before God, and be set free, and truly come into the light. It will change your life.

Scotty Smith