All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. (John 3:20-21 NLT) Running from light is futile. Try as we might, light has a way of creeping into darkness even though a person may attempt to block it out. I have a neighbor who has security lights pointed almost directly at my bedroom window. Needless to say, that light streams through the shutters even with them closed. I put up a blackout curtain behind the shutter, and I still notice a small slit of light that shines through! Light is present even when darkness is desired. In so many lives today, light is coming through even though darkness has been desired for way too long and we should celebrate. We cannot outrun light. It gets in 'through the cracks', doesn't it? We all have probably experienced a degree of what we might call 'total darkness' by hiding in a closet...
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” (Romans 10:9-11 NLT) Open declaration of both our need for Jesus and our intense love for what he has done for us at the cross is a necessary part of us being a living testimony of his grace. We might not think we need to openly share our faith, but we have a unique opportunity to share truth and light. Maybe we won't do it from a pulpit or on the street corners, but we can declare his grace in our circle of influence. At first, others who don't know Jesus may 'sense' there is just something different about you. That isn't a bad thing - it is evidence of his work within you. Before long, the door may be open for you to begin to share the t...