June 6, 2016 – Ephesians 5:8-9

For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Ephesians 5:8-9It sounded sounded odd to me to ever being in the dark as a child.  As a little girl, I visited my grandparents in Kansas.  It seemed strange to me to see faces of my grandparents, uncles and aunts by lamplight.  I learned about trimming a lamp.  How could you trim a light, I wondered.  With a flick of a switch I could make light.  What was the big deal about light?Now I begin to have a glimmer of understanding of the darkness the world lives in despite the ready switches we flip to give us light.  This physical light can dim our understanding of God’s spiritual light.  The light that literally makes the world ‘go round’.  When a bulb goes out or the connection doesn’t work, we think it is temporary loss of light.  God’s light is forever.When God created the world, He spoke light into a being when he said, “Let there be light in the darkness.”  Again he gave us a picture, the sun as a reminder, of his love.  For our hearts live in darkness until we know the glory of God in the face of Jesus.  It is like lighting a candle in our hearts that will cause our hearts to be a place of spiritual light.  When we teach someone else about the love of God who brought us Jesus, a light begins to glow in their hearts.God said, “Let there be Light,” and gave us Jesus.  His spiritual heart of love that brings us out of darkness.  It is not through our strength, ever, but through the power of God that this light comes to us. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:10For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.  2 Corinthians 4:6-7