Bible Verse of the Day

Bible verse of the day:

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by 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. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. 1John 5-10

What this means to me:

I heard people talking about walking in the darkness all the time and walking dead, and before I knew what it was to follow Christ, I thought it was just fancy talk. I now have experienced what it means to go from the darkness into the light. When I picture my life before I gave it to Christ, I had nothing! I literally had no hope. Years ago I would lie in bed at night sick to my stomach unable to sleep because I was afraid of the thought of what was to come after this life. I had myself convinced there was nothing and out of fear, over time, I managed to push the thoughts out of my head and ignore the "situation" all together.

For years to come I went through depressions of hopelessness because my life seemed meaningless. Nothing was ever enough, nothing ever fulfilled me.

In the last 5 months Jesus showed me that there is something more. He showed me the way to him and I learned what it meant to walk out of the darkness and into the light. Because when I think of the depressions I went through and the seemingly pointless life I was living, I envision this extreme dark world. The kind of dark world we often associate with the kinds of feelings I and so many others have experienced for so many years. Since Jesus has saved me from that world I no longer have those feelings of hopelessness or emptiness. I have a purpose now and when I envision my life now, I see days like today where the sun is shining so brightly. The weather was perfect, not too hot or cold, with a perfect breeze to bring the freshness of the world to my senses. And I smile up at the sky to Jesus because I know He's holding me in His arms and he's never going let go. (Not to say there aren't "dark days," but in way their aren't anymore because as long as my focus is on Him, I am safe) Like it says in the verse above I am safe now because he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and will purify us from all unrighteousness. No matter how many times I run away or how much I have flipped Him off in the past, He's not letting go. I'm his and I have life! I finally understand what it means to say I was dead because I didn't have Jesus and without Him there is no life! Life is not this "life" that we know... it's once we pass this world and get to spend eternity in the arms of the one who loves us where nothing can ever do us any harm. How can anything in life ever be better than to know I am safe in my father's arms? We have such an amazing God and I am moved everyday that I wake up in His glory!

I went through mini phases where my mindset would be set on this world and I would think to myself how much I love this world. I would get caught up in it and it would scare me to think of Heaven where we wouldn't have the things we have here in this world. I had that idea of "without the bad, we wouldn't know the good" instilled in my head and I would wonder how good Heaven really could be... then one day it hit me! Everytime I talk about God and what He is doing in my life, or who He is, or what He has done, or just any idea surrounding Him in general, my face would light up and I would be filled with excitement. And I realized there is no other time at any given moment in my life, no worldly possession or desire or activity, that fulfills me or gives me joy remotely touching the reality of just knowing who my God is and how safe we are with Him and how much He loves us! I just want this to be a reminder of how great our God is and how safe and lucky we are because we don't deserve to feel the love we are given as a gift from our one and only God!