No Other

There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. 

-1 Samuel 2:2

He is...

Fire and A Hammer.

Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29, ESV)

Light and A Lamp.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 199:105)

And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)

A Double-edged Sword.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. (Revelation 1:16)

A Mirror.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:23-25)

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12) 

Just a Quote

To think about today! 

To some people, you will be the only presentation of the Gospel that they will ever see. Be Jesus to them. Run to the darkness, because you carry the Light.

Testimony and Encourager

I grew up in a Christian home from the day I was born. We attended various churches for the first several years of my life, and then home-churched for several more. I remember listening to sermons as a family, reading the Bible, and singing together. Around the age of eight, my family started attending Grace Baptist Church. In Sunday school class, we were given the suggestion to read through the Gospels, and being an avid reader, I took on the task. The gospels were not unfamiliar to me, but this time, when I reached the end of John, I remember praying and asking God to save me. I don’t remember many specifics from my childhood, but I do remember understanding that I needed a Savior and that

Christ was the only one who could cleanse from sin.

During the next several years, we had special speakers and evangelists in our church, and most of the time when they asked if people needed to be saved or if they wanted to talk to someone about it, I would raise my hand. I remember sitting with one pastor’s wife in the Sunday school room and praying the “sinner’s prayer” because I wanted to make sure that I was saved. I am unsure as to which prayer was completely genuine, but I know it was around this time that I was aware of my sin and acknowledged Christ as the only remedy for that sin.

My testimony doesn’t have a specific lightbulb moment or a drastic turning point from a past way of life, rather it was a growing knowledge of who God is and what He has done for me. And I am still in that process today. Many people’s salvation stories are a one-time event, but even once the moment of salvation is gone, God is still in the work of saving His people…because we are sinful and always in need of sanctification.

I think most people struggle with assurance of salvation from time to time. Assurance isn’t something you hear preached on too often—perhaps for good reason—but I think most Christians would agree that at some point they question their salvation. Maybe they’re going through a difficult time or maybe they are just working through a spiritually dry season. Either way it can be an incredibly lonely place, and I just wanted to leave you with some encouragement in that area.

Satan likes to use our own doubts, the world’s criticism, and the sin of others around us to cause us to question God’s work in our lives. Often it’s a small seed of doubt, but once it’s planted, it takes root quickly. At full growth, it can lead to despair, depression, and worse--if we allow it a hold on our mind. We question if we’re allowing God to sanctify us. We wonder if that prayer was sincere when we first prayed it. We doubt that we’re bearing fruit.

And it gets hard to fight, because it seems like we’re fighting something all the time. There is little time to rest on the battlefield of life. Soldiers get weary. Some fall. Some die. Some leave. In the constant fight, we forget to protect our own mind and soul from the doubt that creeps in. And we forget that saved sinners have a new name: saints.

Ephesians 2:19

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

Saints are those who are set-apart and holy through faith in Jesus Christ. Though we live in sin and battle it daily, it holds no dominion over us. It does not define us. We don’t live to serve it any longer. The doubts, worries, and questions that plague us, don’t have to take control over our minds.

Scripture teaches that once saved, always saved—otherwise known as the doctrine of eternal security. Once saved, there is nothing you, Satan, or the world can do to destroy your salvation. Salvation rests on God, and because He is unchanging and all-powerful, He cannot refuse those who have come to Him. We could not keep our salvation if we tried, but Christ’s work and God’s covenant cannot be reversed, and He holds us eternally regardless of our doubts.

So in the weariness of life, remember that the battle you fight is not for your salvation—that’s already been secured. Amid the doubts and questions, remember that the war for holiness was conquered at the cross—the outcome of your salvation is secure. The God-Man who saved you, is still saving and sanctifying you—He will complete His good work.

Sometimes we dwell so much on the sin and weakness in us that we forget we are saints. We’re not just saints when we reach heaven, we’re saints now. We’re created in the image of God, and His deity dwells in us. He has triumphed over our past, present, and future sin, and it holds dominion over us no more. Salvation is God’s work. Let us walk as saints because the victory is already certain. The battle is conquered. The war for salvation’s security was won at the foot of the cross. Instead, when you question your faith, give thanks for His faithfulness. He will hold you fast.

Philippians 3:9, 12

And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness form God that depends on faith…Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

I leave you with the words of the second verse of “Before The Throne of God Above”, a hymn written by Charitie Lees Bancroft, the daughter of an Irish minister.

When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

His Light!

As I've been reading, listening, praying, and studying the Bible the last couple weeks, there has been a theme running throughout the topics I've gone through. And that is the theme of light. Light is mentioned all throughout the course of Scripture, but I'll just highlight a few of them here this week.

Let there be light.

Perhaps the most obvious reference to light is at the beginning of creation. When nothing except darkness exists, and the Creator ushers in the opposite of that darkness and drives it aside. He doesn't cast darkness completely aside, for day and night are meant for signs and seasons. Perhaps the darkness is also a reminder to us, too, that no matter how deep and dark the night is, dawn always comes, because light drives out darkness. You can't drive out darkness with darkness; only light can do that. And so even at the beginning of time, God offers a contrast, a hope, a difference, to what already was (darkness) by bringing light to the world.

The Lord is my light.

I was reminded of the my post last month quoting Psalm 27. Here, David the psalmist, contrasts the light of redemption to the darkness of condemnation. In his opening verse he says, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" The name Yahweh, often written as LORD, refers to God's deity, that He is the self-existent and self-eternal One. It has its roots in the name Ehyeh which is the name God uses in Exodus 3:14 to say "I AM". As fire from the burning bush, Moses did indeed see that the Lord is our light, just as David says in Psalm 27. I've heard it said that "Only those who can say 'The LORD is my light and my salvation' can say 'Of whom shall I be afraid?'".

I AM the light of the world.

I studied this in the first half of my Bible course on John. The setting in John 8 is the Feast of the Tabernacles. All Jewish males were required to celebrate this feast which took place during harvest season. The people lived in "tents" created out of tree branches for the first seven days of the feast, commemorating God's provision for their forefathers in the wilderness.There was also a special water-pouring ceremony, as well as singing, sacrifices, and dancing. Jesus uttered this description of Himself ("I am the light of the world") likely after a special lamp-lighting ceremony took place. Huge cadelabras were lit in the Court of the Women where Jesus was speaking. These lights were apparently so bright and so large that no court in Jerusalem would have missed seeing them. Everyone danced around them in celebration while singing praise to God. They were a reminder of how God led the people by a pillar of fire at night through the wilderness. And against this backdrop, Christ proclaims "I AM the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). This is the same word that Jesus uses in Matthew 4:16 when He quotes Isaiah: "The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned." He was the physical light that led them, but He came as the promised spiritual light to the dark and empty hearts of the world.

You are the light of the world...let your light shine before others.

Matthew 15:14-16 lists some well-known verses for believers. Not only does God create light, express it in His being, and show forth the radiance of light in His Son, but He also gives that light to us. Through salvation, we become witnesses and inheritors of that light, and we're to set it on a hill and spread it all around. We share in that light, that Gospel message. It's ours to claim through faith in Christ, and it's ours to share through His commission. 

Let us...put on the armor of light.

Paul reminds us that as children of light, walking in the light, we're to put on the armor of light. Armor is meant for protection against the enemy, and Paul details the armor of God in Ephesians 6: the belt of truth, the breastplate of rightousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Combined with prayer and perseverence, these pieces of armor provide a formidable force against any foe. We must continue to put away the works of darkness and we do this by putting on the armor of light daily. If we profess to own the Light of the World in our hearts, then we must wear the armor of the Light that we're representing. Our ministry must match our message. 

Light in the dark.

Light is offered as comfort to us from the Lord. It's also something people would pray for in distress or praise God for in times of rejoicing. 

"Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!" (Psalm 4:6)

"For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk befor eGod in the light of life." (Psalm 56:13)

"Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous." (Psalm 112:4)

God's Word is light.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105) In the darkness of this world, God's word provides the light necessary to continue walking through the valleys. For those who don't have this light, this world is the best they will ever get. But for those who have the "light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Cor.4:4) they will have the Light of the world dispelling the darkness of their hearts and providing a path on which to walk. Our road map is the Word of light, because "the unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple" (Psalm 119:130). We're a new creation that radiates the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor.4:6).

The Lord God will be their light.

This world isn't all. There is a life after death, and for believers we will live with the Creator and Being of Light. The Light that was given to us in our hearts and proclaimed by the Word will be the light that we live forever with. We only demonstrate a fraction of this light, but in the new heavens and new earth, we will live in the light of the Lord. There will be no night, no darkness, to dispell anymore. No physical night and no spiritual darkness will be there. "[We] will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be [our] light, and [we] will reign forever and ever" (Revelation 22:5). The best is yet to come. Our Everlasting Light will not just be in our hearts, but He will stand before us, and we will bow to and reign with that Light. 

And so, with the physical light of day being our reminder, let us keep the light in our hearts burning, as we remember the Creator of Light who sent His Son as Light to the world. He offers the Word of light as comfort and direction to all who believe, and we are given the armor of light to fight against the forces of darkness. We are the light-bearers to the world, until that day when the Light comes from heaven and we reign in the glory of the Light of the Son of God.

When I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.

-Micah 7:8b

O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

-Isaiah 2:5