Lighting

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life. (John 8:12, NLT)

Lighting. It's critical to many things, one of which, putting on makeup.

Putting on makeup in a dimly lit room will yield completely different results than putting on make up in a perfectly lit room.

Putting on make-up in a dimly lit room yields:

Missing foundation/eye shadow, etc. In a spot, or two...or three.
Too much blush here and there.
Eyeliner not exactly where it's supposed to be.

Putting on makeup outside on our lanai where the sun shines yields totally different results because I can see more clearly and apply what needs to go where.

The same is true in every day life. When we operate in a life that is dimly lit (void of The Light, Jesus) spots in our lives are missed, we get too much of something or the other, and our lives are just not exactly where they are supposed to be.

When we spend time with Jesus and allow the Son to shine on us, our daily life yields much greater results!

• love
• joy
• peace
• forbearance
• kindness
• goodness
• faithfulness
• gentleness
• self-control

(Galatians 5:22 & 23)

What's your "lighting" like today?

Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus, our Light! We follow Him in every circumstance and thank You for The Light that leads to life in excessive abundance!


(John 10:10)

No Trespassing!

Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. (Luke 10:19, NLT)

Sunday was our youngest daughter's birthday. To celebrate, we went to the Probowl game in Honolulu with friends. On our way to the game, we had to drop our dog off at our store. For some strange reason, doggie seats were not available at Probowl. Otherwise, I'm sure Bo would have thoroughly enjoyed himself as much as we did!

When we drove up in the parking lot of our store to drop Bo off, individuals had "set up shop" in our back door and was doing business. Literally, complete with bed, full length mirror, etc. 

I have never seen Mike get real forceful (verbally or otherwise). He is a very quiet, gentle, compassionate man; however, he is a Texan to his core and has very deep ideas of what is right or wrong. He drove right up to the "hooch" (that was a new word for me) and put the car in park. He ripped the tarp back and...well, lets just say everyone on the block knew he was not playing around when he said, "Get out!"  He turned to me and said, "Call the police." At which time, people started to scatter. 

There was one person who, lets see...how do I describe this...stalled in leaving. I'm sure street drugs were preventing this person from using common sense. 

The police arrived very quickly. (Mucho mahalos to the Honolulu Police Department!) Once the police cars arrived, there were no trespassers to be found in any direction. The police quickly took our report and searched for the people to insure there was no misunderstanding they were to never trespass on our property again. We were told we could dispose of all their property (approximately a small truck load). We assumed we would have to clean up the nasty mess but we decided to clean up later because we didn't want to be late to the game. 

We made it to the Probowl just in time for kickoff. Once the game was over, we went back to the store to get Bo. Obviously, the officers handling the case was very convincing because all the items had been removed and the area was totally spotless! Not even a piece of trash remained. 

Here is what I learned: When we walk in our God given authority, darkness scatters. 

Here is the analogy:

Mike knows he is the store owner. 
We must know who we are in Christ! (Luke 10:19)


Mike knew he had the authority to remove the trespassers. 
When darkness (strife/offense/envy/depression/murmering) attempts to trespass, we must use our authority and remove it! (Mark 11:23)


He boldly took the necessary steps to protect his store.
We must boldly approach God and seek His Word on how to take the necessary steps to protect our mind/mouth/home/relationships and Facebook pages! (Ephesians 3:12)


When one trespasser stalled, the HPD removed them. 
When we submit to God and resist the devil, he has no other option, he must flee! God rebukes the devourer for us! (James 4:7, Malachi 3:11)

My youngest daughter got upset when she saw the homeless man taking down his bed and tarp and said, "But Mommy, if CPR is a house to that homeless man, now he has nowhere to live!" We prayed for the trespassers and I explained, we tried to work out a deal with the man. He was to keep our parking lot clean of trash and debris and he was allowed to stay. But he continues to occupy more space. And the more we looked the other way. Initially, he only had one small corner in our parking lot. But left unchecked, he had his belongings strewn halfway across our parking lot and ended up completely blocking the door. 

Darkness operates the same way; for example, when strife attempts to rear it's ugly head, we can't look the other way. A "deal" can never be cut with darkness. If not addressed immediately, darkness continues to occupy more and more space until we adversely affect everyone we come into contact with. 

• We must take every thought captive and refuse to sow discord! (2 Corinthians 10:5, Proverbs 6:16-19) 
• We must shine our lights before man so our Heavenly Father is glorified! (Matthew 5:16) 
• We must speak peace and life into every situation! (Romans 12:18, Deuteronomy 30:19)

When we pray, walk in authority and purpose to speak God's Word about every situation, darkness doesn't block the door, we block the door to darkness and protect what God has so richly blessed us with!