Relationship Renewal Series

This takes courage. And honesty. You take that information back to Jesus. You say, “Here’s what I’m hearing. Can You shed Your light on this for me?”

What if our church – what if your community group or home – was filled with people who asked those kinds of questions of each other?

One of the dangers of a too-fast lifestyle is that we don’t take time for evaluating the effectiveness of our fellowship. I have a friend who started and stopped his radio program with a question: “How well are you loving today?”

Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Isaiah 2:5b (ESV)

It’s an “us” thing. We are meant for community.

An intense awareness of others.

2. … a radical exposure to light.

Imagine trying to complete an extreme makeover in the dark. God says, “Come into My presence.” Why? In His presence there is light.

If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,

What does it mean to live in His light? It’s referring to the classic ways we live in the presence of Jesus:

• Reading the Bible

• Praying

• Meditating

• Being a part of a community group

• Worship

We all have these hiding places – these dark corners where we like to hide from the light of Christ. For some of us it’s work. For others, it’s shopping or recreation or entertainment. For some, it’s ministry. The busy-ness and the noise of life in the 21st Century keep us in the dark. And we like it there. The Bible says that we love darkness rather than light because our deeds are evil.

Eliminate all the places you like to go hide – all those places you go to be in the dark. And we need to learn to pray with passion:

Lift up the light of Your face upon us, O Lord!

Psalm 4:6b (ESV)

Why should I pray like this? Three facts about light ought to make us long for it.

Light reveals

Light reveals. With the right light, you can see the flaws in a diamond. You can see cracks in pottery. Light reveals, while darkness conceals. We need the light of Jesus to see the flaws in our lives.

When He lived on this earth, Jesus exposed sin. Jesus could touch sinners, but sin never touched Him. He was totally sinless. When the Bible calls Jesus the “light of the world,” it’s a reminder of the sinless, stainless purity of the Son of God.

This is important because when I live in the presence of Jesus, He shows up the dirt in my life. And that’s good because I can confess it and become clean. And as I stay connected with Him, my life becomes increasingly pure because He is pure.

Though… I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.

Micah 7:8 (NASB)

(Window illustration)

Light reveals.

Light directs

Sometimes, we don’t know what to do in our relationships. We don’t know how to fix things. We don’t know what to say to move toward the other person. That’s when we need light from God.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105 (ESV)

God’s light will tell us what we need to do next to renew the relationship. It will tell us where to walk – which direction to go.

Light directs.

Light renews

Light and life go together. You can’t have life without light. When God wanted to bring life out of chaos in creation, He said, “Let there be light.” When the light appeared, life began.