Thursday July 28, 2022

Today is Thursday, July 28. This week our summer adventure takes us to Ephesians chapter five.

This is the day the Lord has made! I rejoice in God’s loving presence. I seek to receive whispers of his wisdom and follow the gems of his guidance.

Pause and Pray

Holy and loving Lord, I lay aside the burdens of the upcoming day, still the chaos of my mind and relinquish the cares of my heart. I empty myself of worldly concerns creating space to receive your indwelling presence. Come, Holy Spirit, live within me.

I seek the light of the Lord and praise him for his goodness with the words of Psalm 18.

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. Psalm 18:28-30

Pause and Pray

Paul makes a subtle transition in his letter by contrasting light and darkness. He is teaching us how to walk and commanding us to walk as children of the light. The starting point for all of us is a place of darkness, separated from God and unable to see the truth of the gospel. Through Jesus Christ God has redeemed us and saved us, and we belong to the light. This is the opposite of evil. Evil does not want to be seen. Evil loves lurking in the darkness where there is deception, confusion, dishonesty, uncertainty, shame, and hiding. In contrast, the light is a place of clarity, honesty, certainty, truth, goodness and openness.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5:8-10

I once lived in darkness – the darkness of doubt, ignorance, disbelief, separation, sin, and spiritual death. I dwelled in a place where I could not find the truth and could not comprehend God. My face was veiled and I was blind. The Lord revealed himself and opened my eyes to the truth. Now I not only see the light, I am the light – a light that shines in the darkness. A light that bears fruit in the world. Paul identifies the fruit of the light as goodness, righteousness and truth. I strive for these qualities to grow in me more and more and endeavor to bear the light to others who are struggling, broken, alone and afraid.

Ask: Where do I see light in the world around me and where do I see darkness? How can I be a light for the Lord and shine brightly for others?

Pause and Pray

Blessed Lord, thank you for rescuing me from the realm of darkness and opening my eyes from the blindness of spirit. Teach me to walk in the light and truly live as a child of the light. I pray for the fruit of the spirit to grow in me – let me become one who bears goodness, righteousness and truth to the world. I read the words from Ephesians again and listen for the message you have for me.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5:8-10

Ask: What image, word or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage? What is God trying to say to me through these words of scripture?

Pause and Pray

I consider what God might want me to learn from these brief verses of sacred scripture. How do the images of light and darkness speak to the current state of my soul? Am I discovering what pleases the Lord and am I practicing it often? Am I living fully in the light, or do I continue to keep certain things hidden in the darkness? Perhaps God wants to bring everything out into the open and reveal the truth. Maybe God wants to shine a light on my places of uncertainty and doubt. Perhaps God wants me to stop being a barren tree, and start producing an abundance of good fruit in my life.

Pause and Pray

Come, Lord Jesus, shine your light into the dark recesses of my heart, mind and spirit. Let nothing remain hidden from your radiant goodness. Illuminate the painful corners, expose the concealed transgressions, and reveal the hidden doubts. Search me, know me, test me, and heal me. Bear fruit in me. Amen.

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:5b-7

I leave this time of prayer walking as a child of the light, shining the light of the world into the darkness of a lost and broken humanity.

Amen