"And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

John 1:5

Many of us are going through depression, sorrow, pain, experiencing feelings of emptiness and are clueless to why. Why is it that I always feel sad for no reason? Why is it that I keep finding myself falling back to this person who is causing me pain? Why is it that this sin won't stop tormenting me? My friend, it is because you are sitting in darkness.

We live in an age of so much darkness that we no longer see it as darkness again. We have picked up "night time goggles" which disillusion us into believing that we can actually see in the dark. But we can't. "The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble." (Proverbs 4:19) 

You see the thing about darkness is that it is so deceptive. Turn off the lights in a room you have never been in and try to make out what things are. You can guess. You can assume. But you can never know until the lights have been turned on. Many of us are living in this dark mentality and it is dangerous. We are living in so much darkness and have gotten used to it that, hilariously, we think we can see. Jesus warns us about this in Luke 11:35 where he says "Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness." The type of darkness described here is the one to which too many people fall victim to, maybe even you. I know I have myself before. It is when you think you are a "good person" - forgetting that ONLY God is good - and you don't need anything like Jesus because you're already fine. You think you're in the light. You can't relate to this at all. It's all a lie of the devil, please, don't fall into that trap. It could eventually cost you your life in hell.

But here's the catch..

You don't have to live in darkness anymore.

You must understand this. Jesus declares in John 9:5 that "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Read the book of John chapter 1 and you will learn that Jesus is the light of men. That's right, he is the light for both you and I. Here's the thing about light. It has so much power in it. In the beginning of the world "the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep" (Genesis 1:2) BUT THEN, God said "Let there be light" and there was light.

See I don't think you get it yet. God said let there be light, AND THE DARKNESS FLED. It ran away! If you turn off the lights in your room now, the room will fill with darkness. But as soon as you turn the lights on, the darkness runs and lights fills the room. Why? Because, as we read in John 1:5, "the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." Darkness cannot understand light so it runs away from it! What God is telling you today is that the darkness in your life can and will run once you let Jesus, the light of the world, in! 

This is the reason why I don't believe that 'religion' - that is, the custom of  simply 'following rules' - works when it comes to knowing  Jesus. Jesus doesn't simply desire you to follow a set of rules, he desires a relationship with you. And once you get into a relationship with Christ, you will find yourself obeying those commandments. It will not be a burden. It will not be boring. None of that. This is the mystery that people don't often tell you about Jesus Christ - HE CHANGES YOU. How? Because once you accept him and believe in him, he comes to live inside your heart. And if Jesus, the light of the world, is living inside of you, his light cannot BUT shine inside of you. And...drumroll..consequently, the darkness in you flees! 

Just like that.

I am a living testimony, as well are thousands of others. The darkness flees and the light reigns.

Darkness cannot stand light and that is why you can never see a place that is both dark and lighted at the same time. It's one or the other. The light may be dim in a room you may argue, but ultimately, there is light! And in the areas in which the light shines, darkness doesn't stay. 

But in order for Jesus to abide i.e stay inside of you, you must stay in his word, that is the Bible. 1 John 1:1 tells us that Jesus IS the "Word", therefore when we spend time meditating on God's word, we are allowing Jesus to come more and more into us. We are allowing Jesus to shine more and more of his light into our hearts. You may not see it initially but the more you spend time, trusssttt me - fruits will show, meaning you will start seeing a change. Psalm 119:105 says "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." It is light. And the only way for the light to shine in you is by meditating on this his word as often as possible. It is food for your soul. You wouldn't go a day without eating a proper meal so why do you starve your spirit from it's food, the Word of God?

I used to walk in darkness. I used to be a victim of blindness. I used to live in total emptiness. But "whereas I was blind, now I see" as John 9:25 says. And you can too.

In order to understand God's word, however, you must ask him for the Holy Spirit. If you have any questions about this, feel free to reach out to me on my social media or my email.

Love you all.

Jesus loves you more.

"For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness."

Psalm 18:28