Daily Devotional For Friday, April 12, 2024

Well, you made it to Friday. The weekend is almost here and I pray you have a great one. David writes this in Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path” (NLT). Most families have the same routine before bedtime. We do. One of the last things we do is let out pups out one more time to do their thing. We make sure the flood lights are one so we can watch them to make sure they do their thing. The lights help, but not as in the day time. Sometimes our pups go in or behind bushes and we are trying to follow them to see if they did their “thing.” 

Last weekend, our family took a mini-vacation for a few days to Chimney Rock. We were told by the people whose cabin we rented to be careful at night. Why? Bears. Audrey researched and told us that at night if we saw bears, DO NOT RUN. Bears are faster and can catch up to you. Instead, walk slowly backwards yelling, “Hey bear” and making as many sounds as possible. Her researched showed that typically black bears will run the opposite direction. 

So, just before we were going to bed that first night, all 3 of us grabbed a flashlight and took out 2 pups out for one more time. As we were walking down the street, the road makes a sharp right to go down the mountain. Off that bend is a dumpster. As we got closer to it, we heard a sound as if something big was in the dumpster. We shined our flashlights into the darkness, straining as best as we could to see what made that sound. Our flashlights could only go so far into the darkness. In the darkness, we all saw a pair of bear eyes. All of a sudden, Audrey yelled: “RUN!” Emmie grabbed Miss Cali and took off running. Audrey had Spencer on his leash but left me there in the darkness with my flashlight, yelling at me to pick up Spencer and run. 

Flashlights do have a limited range. We need them. We need light. Have you ever got up in the middle of the night without turning on a light? You can stump your toe or trip over something. We need light, especially at night when we are driving. Aren’t we glad we have headlights to illuminate the road for us but even these do not give you a 100% guarantee you won’t hit a pot hole or an animal. Yet, they do help us drive safely 90% plus of the time. 

As I said, most of us have routines before we crash for the night. We typically pack the dishwasher and turn it on and wipe down the counters. We turn off all the lights except outside flood and porch lights. If there is clean laundry, we carry it upstairs with us. Sometimes I will use my cell phone as a flashlight to go upstairs in the darkness and during the night, I will touch it to see it illuminate the time. The flashlights we had on vacation only illuminated a short distance. My cell phone light only illuminates a short distance. It doesn’t light up the whole stairwell or hallway. Just enough to see where you are going.

This is the kind of light David is referring to in Psalm 119:105. The Hebrew word is [נֵר־, ner], which refers more to a small torch or very small oil lamp. If you have ever used one of these, you know they do not give off much light. But what they do give off are many shifting shadows. So, let’s use that idea with Psalm 119:105. As we make our way through life, God’s Word cast just enough light of truth to guide us to the next step. And as we encounter those “shifting shadows” in life, God’s Word, God’s light helps take the next step. God does not always tell us what is coming down our path for the next few years or even the next months or weeks. Many times — not even the next few days. He gives us enough light to take the next step with Him. It is called faith. It is called trust. 

This is why we need to be students of His Word. His Word guides along our path. We do not need self-help books because we have the Bible. We don’t need the latest fads or trends because they come and go. We have God’s Word. It is enough. I try to read through the whole Bible every year using the Kindle Version of the One Year Bible. It allows me to make notes and I love going back and reading notes from previous years to see where I was and how God got me to take the next step with the amount of light He gave me. 

With a world out of control and trying to cram its agenda down our throats, we need to be desperate for God’s Word as our lamp. There will be days when life is tough and all we can see is the darkness. It is God’s Word that will shine the next steps we should take in faith. Light is a good thing but too much light can blind you. This is why God gives us just enough light each day from His Word so we can see where to go. This reminds me of some biblical principles about Psalm 119:105. 

1. First, God’s Light — His Word — is needed to get to where we want to go. Spiritually speaking, our hearts can be dim to see where we need to go next or the dangers round the bend. This is why we need the light of God’s Word.
2. Second, God’s Light — His Word is always available. We go to it any time we need illumination with any problem or issue.
3. Third, God’s Light — His Word — is all-sufficient. It throws light on every conceivable next step in the darkness we have to take so that we do not stumble.
4. Fourth, God’s Light — His Word — cannot be extinguished. It burns as brightly in any hand who holds it no matter their age. Whether it is a young child or an elderly person.
5. Fifth, God’s Light — His Word — directs us to where to start point of where our journey always must proceed from — the Cross. It tells us to look to Jesus and then to set out with a holy determination for heaven as our eventual home.
6. Sixth, God’s Light — His Word — warns us of dangers, perils, traps and temptations along the way that can stop us in our spiritual path.
7. Seventh, God’s Light — His Word — how to take each step along the way.
8. Eighth, God’s Light — His Word — assures us of where our path will end — heaven before the throne of the King of kings and Lord of lords. 
9. Ninth, God’s Light — His Word — releases our stress on how to make decisions. God’s word is full of wisdom straight from God for us to follow and apply.
10. Tenth, God’s Light — His Word — is eternal. It will never cease or go away no matter the times, the year, the culture, or even public opinion.  

Consider the words to pastor and author A. W. Tozer about light:

“Religious instruction, however sound, is not enough by itself. It brings light, but it cannot impart sight. The assumption that light and sight are synonymous has brought spiritual tragedy to millions. The Pharisees looked straight at the Light of the World for three years, but not one ray of light reached their inner beings. Light is not enough. The inward operation of the Holy Spirit is necessary to saving faith. The gospel is light but only the Spirit can give sight” (Source: A. W. Tozer, “Born After Midnight,” Christianity Today, Vol. 41., No. 5).

Questions to Consider

1. What situation do you need God’s light to illuminate the path you should take?
2. If light is not sight, when have you experienced this in your own life and why?
3. Of the 10 biblical principles above, which of these have meant the most to you and why?
4. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, who can you help in the near future to see the light of God’s Word in their own life?

Scripture To Mediate On: 1 John 1:5-7, “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. (6) So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. (7) But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, hHs Son, cleanses us from all sin” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I have to confess that I do not alway go to Your Light — Your Word — for illumination and direction of the path I should take. Please forgive me of this. I want to be a person who lets Your Word give illumination to all my decisions, concerns, worries, fears, and desires. Please help me to do this so that I do not stumble in spiritual darkness. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! -- Pastor Kelly