Shadow's And Light

John 3:19-20
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light less his deeds should be uncovered. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be already seen, that they have been done in God.

II Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

October is a season of change....
Days are growing shorter...
Weather is turning, shaking off the last vestiges of summer.
And the one thing that has been constant in my life over the last 20 years, is that when October rolls around, change is the order of the day when it comes to God. Don't ask me to explain it, I can't other than God seems to turn the page of life and points me in a new direction. I've seen this played out year after year, and it always seems to point to a spiritual change. Sometimes I think we, as westernized Christians, aren't very perceptive to changes in the Spirit. We are focused on work, family, Christmas is around the corner, and life seems to notch it up a gear as we head for all the holiday's we associate with fall. For the most part all the activity we engage in seems to draw our attention away from what God is truly doing.

One of the things I love the most about Vineyard Recovery is our "meeting-after-the-meeting".  Once our Saturday night services is over, those who have made VRC their home, so to speak, gather and we get a chance to delve a little deeper into what God is doing not only in the meeting, but in our personal lives. I get a chance to do some "spot" teaching, handing out Cd's that I feel like will help everyone be aware of the kingdom work God has called us all to.  It is a good time to receive prayer and be healed of what ever ail's you. It is a time for the body of Christ to BE the body of Christ. I want everyone who stays for the after-meeting to be equipped so that what ever comes at us in the coming week will not catch us off guard. I want us all to leave VRC and go back out into our respective homes and be salt and light to everyone we meet, loving them and revealing the Kingdom through prayer and a servant's heart.

October is a time of shadow's and light.
Funny thing about shadow's....
We don't really consider them to be full fledged darkness, do we?
IT is shadow's are the beginning of darkness, but do not carry the same weight as the word "darkness" does.
The word "shadow" doesn't seem to carry the same weight as "darkness", does it? Yet the danger of being in the shadows can be more destructive than hiding in the darkness. Of course I am speaking of spiritual shadow's and spiritual darkness. To me, shadow's are the starting point in which we seek to hide our sin. We never set out to be fully engulfed or seek out total darkness when it comes to life. No more than a first grader sets out to be the best addict or alcoholic, sin entices us to move toward the shadow's, with the promise that if we don't like it, it will be easy to move back into the light. After all, shadow and light are two separate terms with two entirely different meanings. unfortunately, the shadow's are a precursor to living in total spiritual darkness. The shadow's are a place of compromise where you trade away one thing God has given to you, for something that will satisfy the flesh, or the old sin nature. When you step into the shadow's, the feeling is almost overwhelming...and even your logic takes a turn as you try and reason, "How could something that feels so good, be so wrong?" If we linger in this shadow place for any length of time, we will begin the slide to deeper and darker places. Compromise turns to full fledged "giving away" of everything we hold dear. We trade the eternal promise of God for a temporary feeling. Or, as it is so often quoted in recovery meetings..."We pursued a temporary feeling which brought about total destruction of our lives.  Pretty soon, like the verse in John states, we love the darkness and reject the light. In fact, we run from the light seeking deeper and darker places.

God's love burns deeper than any shadow or darkness, and it is that love that chases us down no matter where we go. It is light of that love that goes straight to our hearts and tells us, "You don't need that next drink....or line...or pill...or shot to get by." Such things are only a ticket to take the journey to deeper and darker places. God's love is the life line that pulls us out of these death traps. 

Maybe one reason we don't consider the shadow's such a dangerous place, spiritually, is that we can still see light. Since the light is still present, we rationalize in our minds that we haven't really done a bad thing. Such thoughts only distort the truth and harden our hearts. God's desire is that we live in the light of His presence and love. 

This is the reason that VRC even exists.
We are a called people that walk in light, but are very much aware of those who are in the shadow's, as well as those who are in total darkness. It is the love that God has poured out on us that fuels our desire to see everyone come to the saving truth of who God is. 
As long as there are shadow's, we will be ready to reach out to those who have found themselves in such a place.
We meet every Saturday evening, 7 p.m.
Our church is located downtown Gadsden, 419 Broad Street....
We'd love for you to come and join us....

God on you...
mb