He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins

"If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:8-10)

I hope that we can acknowledge the sin that is in our lives and that we are sinners saved through the grace of Jesus Christ. Not accepting this knowledge as fact separates us from the saving faith found in Christ and leaves us in an unperceivable darkness of our own choosing.

It is clear then that God gives the power of choice but not a complete comprehension of the reality of His truth's light and our error's darkness. For if God revealed His majesty's light or our sinfulness's darkness we would not be able to bare it. "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14). God then gives us the light or daily bread that we need for today through His Word.

"For You light my lamp; the Lord my God illumines my darkness" (Psalm 18:28).

1 John 1_6 Walk in the Word

"but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:6)

As we've read about and seen in our lives we serve a great God! Often, we don't understand God because His "thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, declares the LORD" (Isaiah 55:8). God then thinks differently that we do. As Isaiah again states, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9).

Our Father in Heaven then wants our minds to be renewed towards His
righteousness.(Rom. 1:2) This renewal or cleansing takes place through reading, studying, and putting into practice God's Word Eph. 5:25). Walk in His Word. Walk in His Word and you will walk in the light of Christ.

Many walk in shades of darkness because they do not read, study, or put God's Word into practice in their lives. For if our minds are not conformed to the mind of Christ then to whom do we depend upon? (Rom. 12:2)

And because we so neglect God's Word we neglect a beautiful closeness with our Heavenly Father and with others. Many of our relationships with others suffer because we've chosen not God's Word but our own thinking. Haven't we learned that our ways only cause harm and injury?

We can turn and repent and Christ will forgive, He will strengthen, and He will give grace. Or we can walk on in the darkness of our own thinking and we won't change much. Our hearts will not be like Christ's and we will be ineffective, weak and a disgrace to our Heavenly Father. Nothing breaks a Father's heart like when His children disregard His good counsel.

A prayer: Father, too often I've neglected your Word and not placed your thoughts as my utmost desire. Father, forgive me and cleanse me through Christ, your Son. Change my heart so that I can effectively shine forth your light and serve those in need.

1 John 1_6 Fellowship of Light or Darkness

"If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth" (1 John 1:6)

You or I can say many things but voicing something does not make it true. The singular voice of pure truth in our world today is the Word of God. All other voices pale in comparison, as they are a mixture of truth and lie - light and darkness.

We were born into this mixed up world and we lived according to the dictates of our natural desires. We did what was right and in our own eyes. We trusted in ourselves and we relied on our own abilities.

Then, our Heavenly Father drew our hearts to His Son, Jesus Christ (John 6:33). We fell in love with Jesus because we learned that "He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). We willingly turned over our hearts and lives to follow him. Jesus gave us a new nature, a new heart, and His Spirit-lived inside of us. Our hearts and lives changed. We desired pureness instead of our sinful ways. We began reading the Bible and truths began exploding off the pages. Joy sprang up in our hearts and minds and quiet peace filled our being. We were called to follow the "Light of the world" and to have the "Light of life" glowing in our lives (John 8:12). We were called to love all others like Jesus loved them.

In time, we learned that our old human nature did not want to follow Jesus. At the same time, Christ's Spirit whispers in our hearts the Christian way of trust and obedience. His loving call for change from our darkness to his "marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9). We live now with this constant struggle between the darkness of our human sinfulness and the light of Christ's purity and love. We choose to obey one of two masters in our lives, the flesh or the spirit.

When we willingly follow the sinfulness of our carnal nature then we have walked away from the light of Jesus. When we follow this darkened way and continue to refuse to turn around, to repent, and go back to the ways of Jesus then we walk in darkness.

A walk in darkness is lonely, sad, bitter, and hard. The heart is heavy. The heart hurts. Our joy in Christ is unsettled and is replaced with burning irritableness. Our minds are filled with flowing lies, bitter deceits, and an expectant-unreasonable calamity. We've walked away from the truth found in Jesus Christ.

Yet, for the Christian there is the brightest of hopes. For the follower of Christ can repent, can turn, and can return to the light of righteousness. We can enter into the sweetest fellowship with our Savior and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our wounds can be healed. Our walk can be restored and peace, His sweet peace and joy flow abundantly in our hearts and minds. The choice of darkness or light lays before us... so be watchful and diligent!