Simple Sunday: Light

"In the living breathing cosmos, there is a mysterious Something, too wonderful, too awful for any mind to understand. The believing man does not claim to understand. He falls to his knees and he whispers, 'God'. - A.W. Tozer

Did you ever wonder what the universe must have been like before God spoke the first words of creation?

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness." -Genesis 1:1-4 NKJV

I have.

I try to wrap my mind around a substance that isn't light, yet isn't darkness, yet it is. And there was the unformed earth just floating in the midst of it. Void of all life. A giant water blob floating in this... universe. No stars. No moon. No sun. No planets. No anything.

And God speaks.

And the first thing he does is create light.

Light.

And he separates light from darkness. He says that the light is 'good'. But makes no mention of the darkness. He doesn't call it good. He doesn't call it bad. But He separates it from what He deems as good.

It just brings a picture to my mind of Christ.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." John 1:1-5 NKJV

In the midst of the incomprehensible emptiness. There was a light that shines in the darkness after God speaks the first words of creation.

And in the midst of our incomprehensible darkness and blindness of sin. There was a light that shines in on us... the Word of God in the form of a man: Jesus Christ.

"The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:9-14

I love that God describes himself as light.

This week think about how God has shone in on humanity's darkness... Instead of wondering why the dark is so dark... wonder why we don't mirror, why we don't reflect God's light to all the ends of the Earth.

Even more... it's incredibly humbling when we think about how God has shone in on our own personal lives... our personal darkness.

For us it's as easy as lighting a candle or flipping a switch to light up a room so we can see physically.

But God came down and had to die in order for us to see spiritually.

This week think about God as light. The light of the world.

Live

Proverbs 3:5-6

The Light Meets the Dark

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. -C. S. Lewis

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." -John 3:19-21 ESV

A lot of people skip over these verses.


I know I did for the longest time.


It comes right after the most famous verse in the Bible: John 3:16.


And though we hear these verses all the time... usually our minds are still gripped to verse 16 and 17 while we just rush through these.


But I'm not speaking for everyone.


For me though... I knew these verses. But I didn't let them affect how I lived my life.
Until recently.


It's where the light meets the dark.


Jesus is telling us that light has come into the world... but that we love darkness so much that we don't even realize it. We see something different and hate it. We don't like change. We don't want anything messing with the status quo. We cry out for a savior... but aren't ready or prepared to receive Him.


That was the culture and the society that Jesus had to live through.


The people knew enough about Him to cry out for Him. To ask Him to save, to heal, to talk with them... 


But... they didn't want to do anything in return.


They rejected change.
They rejected His message.
They rejected His teaching.
They had ears... but could not hear.
They had eyes... but could not see.


Things haven't changed much have they?




Have you ever been in a really dark room for a long time, or maybe just waking up after a really good sleep, and a light gets turned on? 
All of a sudden this brightness just overtakes you and our first reaction...


EYES SHUT!
Hands over our face, or grabbing something to cover our eyes.


Why?


Because it hurts.
Our eyes were adjusted to the dark.
We were comfortable.
And now we need to slowly adjust to this light...
...or we run from it, hide from it, or try to get rid of it.


We blind ourselves to whats going on around us because we don't want to see.
We were comfortable with the dark.


I remember the first time I went to play laser tag... other than it being a great experience, I remember coming out of the laser room, there were two guys working on an air conditioner vent in the room where we were supposed to put our gear after we were done. Usually there was just a black light in that room, nice and dim to help our eyes adjust easier before we went out to the main area where it was bright.


But these guys had all of the lights on so they could see what they were doing.


After spending about 45 minutes in pitch black where there was just a few little laser lights around you and walking into that... my eyes did not appreciate it.


It was too bright.


When Jesus came into the world... He was too bright.


This was the very glory and power of God confined in a human body.


We were comfortable in our darkness.
We knew there was something wrong... but we had been living in the dark so long... we grew accustomed to it.


That's the power of sin.
That's what such a strong separation from God does to us.

"The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him." - John 1:9-11 ESV

Does it still sound so crazy when we hear about how much the Pharisees hated Him?
Can we begin to understand why the crowds were so shallow in their belief of Him?
Do we see why His disciples still didn't get it, even after spending all that time with Him?


They weren't stupid.
They weren't somehow more evil than us.
They weren't crazy.
They weren't ignorant.


They were blind.


They saw light and thought it was bad... because it hurt. It wasn't part of the status quo.
Jesus came to change something.
And not many people liked that change.

He came to show us the only way to God.
He came to build His kingdom.

Restore.
Redeem.
Relate.


Because He loved us too much to leave us in the dark.


To test, strengthen, and restore our faith.


Despite it's weakness.


We find a story about a certain beggar in Luke 18:35-43

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight." And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

'Your faith has made you well.'



What came first?
Sight or faith?
What always comes first?

Faith.

You have to trust before you see. You have to trust Jesus before it all makes sense. You have to begin with faith. The truth has to be believed and trusted, and then you see. Some are waiting to see. And as they wait... they remain blind. They reject the light. You begin with faith and then you see.


We run into this all the time when we are discussing our faith with non-believers.

We can easily get frustrated and we just want to scream, 'DON'T YOU SEE!?!?' 

No, they don't.

They are still in the darkness...They're blind.

Just like we used to be.

"people loved the darkness rather than the light" 


We all have lived in the darkness. We all are sinners in need of a savior.
But in that moment of accepting Christ, our eyes were opened.
We see the promises Christ fulfilled. The truth he spoke. 
It becomes clear to us.


But even with all of the help from the Spirit, and with all of promises we have in the Bible...aren't we still sometimes drawn to the darkness?

We see the things "we're missing", the things that seem fun, that we don't want to have any part of... and yet... they call to us.

It got me thinking about the old song, 'This Little Light of Mine'.

This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine
Let it shine
Let it shine
Hide it under a bushel Oh no!
I'm going to let it shine
Hide it under a bushel Oh no!
I'm going to let it shine
Hide it under a bushel Oh no!
I'm going to let it shine
Let it Shine
All the time
Let it shine
Don't let the Devil blow it out
I'm going to let it shine
Don't let the Devil blow it out
I'm going to let it shine
Don't let the Devil blow it out
I'm going to let it shine
Let it Shine
All the time
Let it shine

This little light of mine?
Jesus said He was the light.

But he also said to His disciples:

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." -Matthew 5:14-16

Though it seems sometimes that we hide, we try to stand in the shadows... enough for people to see there is something different about us, (maybe our church face) that there is a light reflecting off of us, BUT dark enough for us to fit in, to feel comfortable with the rest of the world.

Like putting a shade over a lamp. 

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
-C. S. Lewis

And yet we try... we try all the time. Because we run towards that darkness. Our secrets. Our failures. Our past. Our pains. Our meaningless successes. 


But here's the thing: Our God wastes nothing.
Not one hurt, not one suffering, not one event, not one joy, not one piece of a broken heart, not one hope, not one failure, not one person.

Our God wastes... nothing.


We can't diminish His glory... We can't. Every effort we could even make to diminish just boosts His glory even more.


It's not about how many times we fall, how many times we forsake light for the darkness. It's not about how many times we 'hide it under a bushel', or stand in the shadows...


It's about how many times God picks us back up.
It's about how many times... the Light meets the dark, and pierces through it.

Because no matter how dense the darkness... it only takes one small ray of light to pierce.

No matter how dim the light... it will always shine in on the shadows, darkness can never consume it.

“Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn’t as bright as it could be.” -Rob Bell

 

We can sit around looking at how depressed things are, complaining about all of the evil in this fallen world… Jesus told us to be the light of the world. So Shine! All it takes is one ray of light to pierce the darkest of darkness. Be that ray of light. Shine.

"When we reach past our own pained and hurting lives, and give from the tatters we have to help another soul that is screaming in anguish, we strike a spark that can light the fires of success, passion, healing, and love." -Altair Jenson

 Sometimes the best way for 'the blind to see', for others to finally come to grips about who Christ is... they need to see Christ in us.

Jesus said, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35)

It's about walking out of the shadows... standing in front of the window of God's grace... light pouring into the room. Turning around not seeing your shadow... but the cross of Christ in it's place.

It's a hope to cling to. A reason to live.

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." -John 3:19-21 ESV

Are we willing to give up the darkness of our hearts to the one who can heal, mend, and pour a love so pure and incomprehensible into it?

Are we ready for light to meet the dark?

God is.

Like a River...

Time is like a river, you can never touch the same water twice. 

The flow that has passed will never pass again. 

Enjoy every moment. 

Make every moment matter. 

You never know who is waiting downstream to catch the flow of water you once touched.

Just a little something that I've been thinking about for the past few days.

Make life count. 

It's as simple as having the will to do something... and then acting on it.

Let God surprise you... as He surprises everyone around you.

Asking God, 'Move, or move me. Because I want to be like you. I want to mirror you. I want to do something to make your name known, making your existence known.'

"The issue isn't so much taking Jesus to people who don't have Him, but going to a place and pointing out to the people there the creative, life-giving God who is already present in their midst."

 Sometimes... 'going to a place' means just walking out your front door.

 Just some rambling thoughts going through my mind. ;)

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. -Psalm 90:12-14

 

What Keeps Us Going...

Στο Θεό να την Δόξα για πάντα και πάντα Amen



To God Be the Glory Forever and Ever Amen.




I've been asked why I blog, I've been asked why the name 'Inside and Overneath', and I've been asked what keeps me going.

It's not numbers.
It's not that I feel like this famous guy because I own a website who has people reading from all over the world.
It's not because of anything I do.
But because of what God does.

I live BECAUSE of Jesus, not because He will somehow make my life better, but because He is better than life!

I have learned the difference between living for someone or something, and living because of them or it.

If you were to ask me last year what I am doing with my life... I wouldn't have an answer, I might have said I live for Christ... if it was a church friend, or another Christian. I may have said, 'I live for an audience of One'.


But I've learned the difference.

Because there is a difference.
However small.

God never asks us to change our life to live FOR Him.
Jesus simply said, 'Follow me.'
Jesus said, 'Pick up your cross.'
Paul talked about our new life IN Christ.
As if we can only live, after we've accepted we're already dead... that this life is gone. The only breath we still have in us is because and by Christ. Our new life we're living has to be so closely intertwined with Christ... that we are living IN Him, BY Him, and... Because of Him.

As small of a difference as it may be... I think it settles in our brains... and it can grow into an attitude that isn't healthy.

The freedom we gained with Christ:

"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love." -Gal. 5:13

...I believe gives us a better life than to be living for something.

When you live for something... it's as if you are trying to impress. You're living to constantly need approval. And you become a slave to that feeling of doing the right thing... rather than just living in it's presence.

This is the kind of attitude that leads us into idolatry if it's not wholly on God.
This is the attitude we sometimes have to fight when we are dating someone.
Or when our job takes control of us.

And some of us need to be broken down and humbled:

God doesn't need you.

God isn't impressed with anything you do, because if it's anything good... it came from Him to begin with.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."-James 1:17

"All of us have become like one who is unclean,
   and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
   and like the wind our sins sweep us away." -Isaiah 64:6

"As it is written:
   “There is no one righteous, not even one;" -Romans 3:10

"The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time." -Francis Chan

But if we really begin to think about it... our life isn't our own. Our life is given to us because of grace.
Every breath we take is because God is patient enough to hold back His wrath... and because, "Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given." -John 1:16

His grace is enough. And it pours out and overlaps upon itself.

I live only because of that amazing grace.

Therefore, I live only because of the One who gives me that grace.
I'm not trying to impress God. I'm being impressed by Him everyday.
I'm not living for God. I'm living because of Him.
I have no choice in the matter... my life is in His hands. And I would want it no other way.

My name is Nathan, people call me Nate. I'm in love with Jesus Christ. I want to be remembered as being obsessed, and so that makes me a Christian who is striving to finish the race strong.

I created this blog at first just to share my poetry, but it's grown into my ramblings and thoughts on God's nature, character, and all surpassing love.

I want my life to constantly revolve around Jesus, to be entirely focused on Him, on His love, His Grace, and His will. I want my life to be characterized as others seeing Jesus truly live in and through me, my actions, my thoughts, my passions, and my desires. It's a want, a cry of desperation.

"And so, this changes things. This means that it doesn’t matter how much Scripture and philosophy I know, what matters is what I do with it. Ironically, having a lot of information about Jesus can often be the very thing that keeps me from Him. I delude myself into thinking that Jesus is nothing more than a fact on a page. An idea to comprehend, a moral to ascribe to. And believe me, He’s much more than that. He is our life, our breath, and the pulse within our veins. He is before, behind, and all around. Over. Underneath. Inside. In between.

And I want to KNOW Him this way. As bread and wine. As flesh and blood. As a lover, a wife, as the life within. I’m tired of my knowledge turning to arrogance. I’m tired of information turning to superiority. I want to encounter Him, and have that encounter change the way I see the world." -Mike Donehey, Tenth Avenue North

I've never heard it said better.
It's what I desperately want.
And I want the same for you.

Don’t you?

It's something I will be working at, striving for ALL of my life, and I know there will be times that I fall flat on my face, times that I seem like I've fallen from Grace, the times that I can't see past the next minute, the times that I just don't get it. The times that I doubt Him and when I can't feel, the times that I question is this for real? The times that I'm broken, the times that I mend, the times I hate Him, the times that I bend.
All of those times that I know I'll sin, I'll be what held Jesus to that cross, I'll be that spit that came out of the soldiers mouth and landed on my Savior. I'll be the man that took the first swing at the hammer that drove the first nail through His flesh. But I know that in spite of that, His love is over. It's underneath. It's inside. It's in between. And I'm free from condemnation through His love.

I'll constantly be working toward the goal, striving for perfection, but... "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" -Gal. 2:20-21

This is what keeps me going. This is what I want my life, my blog, and my legacy to be about.

Because God is more than life.
He's Inside.
He's Overneath.
And even more...
He loves us.

John 3:17

Simple Sunday: Birthdays

"That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.
All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy."-Romans 8:18-25 The Message

I absolutely LOVE The Message version of these verses.
I love the analogy of birth pangs.
It's as if we are all waiting for a birthday.

Birthdays.
We celebrate them all the time.
Our lives revolve around how old people are... it measures the level of respect or tolerance of.
Whenever we apply for a job, meet new people, work on a project, volunteer, even when we evangelize or talk to anyone, if the conversation is long enough the question will always arise... 'How old are you?'

It got me thinking... Why do we care how old people are?

1 Timothy 4:11-12 tells us, "Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed—keep that dusted off and in use." (The Message)

And yet, our culture, our society, and even our very churches... always silence, press down, or care too much about age.

The pastor is too young.
The pastor is too old.

The elders are too young.
The elders are too young.

The congregation is too young.
Too old.

They have a teen serving communion.
That guy can barely walk he's so old... he's going to drop the offering basket.

Maybe we don't vocalize these things... but I've been in too many churches who you can just tell... people are thinking about these things. People judge based off of age. ALL THE TIME.

This got me thinking because today is my birthday. I'm 19. A young adult. But still a teen. By some, a mature man able to smoke, vote, and join the military. And old enough to choose not to smoke, despite peer pressure.

By others a lousy, lazy teenager who knows nothing about life and is simply an adult because of some law.

But it doesn't matter if I have experience in a particular issue... because I'm still too young to make a difference. That's what we're told. That's the attitude surrounding us.

And yet we celebrate birthdays... like crazy. We applaud a new human entering this devastated and fallen world.
And those who are in Christ are waiting for another kind of birthday.

A day in which we are all 'yearning for full deliverance'.

"The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within."

And this keeps me going all the time... It doesn't matter how old we are... because when Christ comes... we're all going to be reborn. We're all getting started over at the same time, at the same rate. Age is meaningless.

I've heard it said that time is simply God's way of making sure everything doesn't happen all at once.

And that's all it is.
All it ever was.

So here I am, another year gone by... a year added to my life, one speck of respect added to me simply because I'm older than 18, not because of what I've done, or what I do. But it seems, that many people will measure how much my input is worth by age.

And Paul speaks to Timothy, who was dealing with the same crowd as we do today.

There is nothing new under the sun.

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." 1 Tim. 4:12 ESV

SET them an example.

Be the example.

Let your legacy be... that it doesn't matter your age. Prove to them your worth by laying a legacy down. Making an example.

Wisdom we all could follow isn't it?

It matters not, how old we are. Christ makes all things new with a new birth. But until that time... as we wait dealing with these birth pangs... Let us set an example. Whether your 12, 68, 19, 72, 16, or 36... start building your legacy by how you lived.

Forget about age... it's just a measurement of time. And time is simply God's way of separating things so they don't all happen at once. God has a plan for everyone of us... let's live it.

Carrying With Us

On this journey of life we get perplexed over the right things at the right time, all about where we go or where we are going with this life, we’re always asking for God’s will to direct us, always asking to know…but where we go doesn’t matter. Sure, God may call us to go to certain places. God may call us to go into the known, or even the unknown, but it’s not about where we go… It’s what we carry with us when we do. What are we carrying with us? If not Christ, what’s the point in even going anywhere?

He Just Won't