WALKING IN THE LIGHT
“Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you” (John 12:35).
Darkness here means “spiritual blindness, confusion, loss of clarity,
gloom.” At first, I wondered, “Darkness on those who love Jesus? How
could such darkness come upon God’s people?”
I readily admit, I personally have been flooded with the light of Jesus. In my more than fifty years of ministry, I’ve witnessed the Lord’s power to raise the spiritually dead. I’ve seen many walk out of the tombs of drug addiction and alcoholism. My book The Cross and the Switchblade was all about God’s miracle-working power. I’ve had a lifetime of watching the walking dead come alive through His resurrecting power.
I’ve seen many other rays of light—from the life-giving names of God, to His New Covenant promises, to the fulfillment of His prophecies. In a sense, I’ve witnessed everything John 12 describes and much more. Indeed, God has revealed to His people today what the eyes of those Jews couldn’t see. We know not just from Scripture but by experience that God has prepared great things for those who love Him. We’ve been given a New Testament to instruct us in this and we’ve been given the Holy Spirit to teach us. Likewise, we have “better promises,” so we can become partakers of His divine nature.
We’ve also been given anointed teachers, pastors, evangelists and prophets to flood our hearts and minds with the light. They immerse us in truth, fill us with glorious promises, and remind us of God’s faithfulness to deliver us time after time. I ask you, with all these wonderful blessings, how could we possibly have clouds of darkness over us?
Usually, when we think of spiritual darkness, we think of atheists. Or we think of jaded, sin-satiated sinners groping about in sorrow and emptiness. But that isn’t the kind of darkness Jesus describes here in John 12. No, this darkness is a cloud of confusion, a spiritual blindness, indecision, a gloom of spirit and mind—and it comes upon believers.
When those times come, when we’re besieged by temptation or despair, we’re to say with confidence, “You’ve delivered Your servants supernaturally throughout history. Do it again and let Your strength be made perfect in my weakness.”
I readily admit, I personally have been flooded with the light of Jesus. In my more than fifty years of ministry, I’ve witnessed the Lord’s power to raise the spiritually dead. I’ve seen many walk out of the tombs of drug addiction and alcoholism. My book The Cross and the Switchblade was all about God’s miracle-working power. I’ve had a lifetime of watching the walking dead come alive through His resurrecting power.
I’ve seen many other rays of light—from the life-giving names of God, to His New Covenant promises, to the fulfillment of His prophecies. In a sense, I’ve witnessed everything John 12 describes and much more. Indeed, God has revealed to His people today what the eyes of those Jews couldn’t see. We know not just from Scripture but by experience that God has prepared great things for those who love Him. We’ve been given a New Testament to instruct us in this and we’ve been given the Holy Spirit to teach us. Likewise, we have “better promises,” so we can become partakers of His divine nature.
We’ve also been given anointed teachers, pastors, evangelists and prophets to flood our hearts and minds with the light. They immerse us in truth, fill us with glorious promises, and remind us of God’s faithfulness to deliver us time after time. I ask you, with all these wonderful blessings, how could we possibly have clouds of darkness over us?
Usually, when we think of spiritual darkness, we think of atheists. Or we think of jaded, sin-satiated sinners groping about in sorrow and emptiness. But that isn’t the kind of darkness Jesus describes here in John 12. No, this darkness is a cloud of confusion, a spiritual blindness, indecision, a gloom of spirit and mind—and it comes upon believers.
When those times come, when we’re besieged by temptation or despair, we’re to say with confidence, “You’ve delivered Your servants supernaturally throughout history. Do it again and let Your strength be made perfect in my weakness.”