Light Cannot and Will Not Dwell Together with Darkness

I grew up in a strict Christian home, I had knowledge of the Bible and I knew what it meant to be a Christian. I practised religion according to what my parents had dictated and never really searched for a relationship with Christ. Many times in my past, I had tried to repent. I would hear the Word, take it to heart and “give my life to Christ”. I’m sure those who used to read the “Left Behind” series can relate. After each book I would bawl and pray to God to forgive my sins. For three days or so, I would be a ‘changed girl’. However, it never lasted and before I knew it, I was back to the meaningless life I had come to know. I continued this trend of ‘repenting’ for most of my teenage years.

However, when I finally left my parents’ house and gained the freedom to somewhat dictate what I did with my life, I found out that there was something missing. All my teenage years, I had waited impatiently for the time I would be able to buy what I wanted, party as hard as I wanted and just ‘live MY life’. When all these things I was dying for were all laid before me, I found myself wanting something more. I figured that there had to be more to life than this. Sure, it seemed fun at some point, but at the end of the day, there was just this emptiness I felt in my gut. It was then I went back, once again, searching for God.

I remember that service, I wept during praise and worship. I knew I had found what was missing in my life. It was soothing, sweet and satisfying and I wanted more of it.  It was then I started on my path to actually seeking a relationship with Christ.

 I have now come to understand what it means to GIVE your life to Christ. When we give our lives to Christ, there have to be some changes in our lives. I have also found out what had been hindering my spiritual breakthrough all those years. There is no way we can be of the world and of Christ. There is no accommodation for both! It has got to be one or the other! To progress in our faith, we need the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. If we still hold worldly things or things of the devil dear to our hearts, the Holy Spirit cannot dwell there. Light cannot and will not dwell together with darkness!

In doing that, I have had to let go of many things that I thought was harmless fun, things like listening to a lot of secular music, clubbing, messing around with boys etc. All I can tell you is it that it was not easy. But now I have come to see that those things are actually very harmful. Many of the things that we think are nothing but harmless fun will slowly dull our souls and break all barriers till we are back on the path of being lost.

It is still a daily struggle; nobody said it would be easy. I still fall from time to time, but we have a God of limitless grace and love. The world is a cruel place, people will disappoint, trends are ever changing but God and his Word will never change. He is the only thing we can count on. He is the only thing I will hold on to. 

I am with you

I would close my eyes and they would be there. I would sense the evil, the immense darkness around and with it would come a paralyzing fear. I would try to shout the name I knew saved - Jesus - but my shouts seemed muffled. In the morning, when my eyes opened, light from the sun would greet my eyes. I would look around and see that they were gone. So I came to believe they only came out at night, that they were only a reality when I shut my eyes. I would go to bed with the light on – I had faith that the light would protect me. Unfortunately, where I lived, the light didn’t always stay on - electricity was not consistent enough to be taken for granted. So there were many times that I would go to bed in the dark, knowing that shutting my eyes could either make things worse or slightly better. Either way, I felt stuck and continued to feel this way for many years. At night, going to bed was a struggle and slowly, the fear crept into the day as well. I always had to be with someone because when I was alone, I felt the fear the most. It kept me from doing so many things; from growing the way I think I should have. Like 1 John 4: 18 says, “…fear hath torment”. Someone called it “morbid fear” and probably thought I would eventually grow out of it – all children did. However, for a terribly long time, I stayed in the cage I myself had helped create by believing that there was always something waiting to attack me.

As I grew older, it bothered me that I didn’t grow out of this fear. Sometimes, it took me ages to fall asleep even though I was tired because most times, when my eyes were open, I felt safer. I prayed and cried about it but nothing seemed to change. I knew many Bible verses that talked about God being with me and not allowing any harm to come to me but none ever seemed to really work. When I seriously rededicated my life to God, every thing in my life improved noticeably, every thing but the fear I felt. At a point, I almost believed the lie that this fear was my “thorn in the flesh”, as Paul put it in 2 Corinthians 12:7, that would not go away. Thank God I knew better than to believe God would keep me in fear to show me His grace was sufficient. Why would He want me fearful when so many times in the Bible He says to “Fear not”? So I continued to wait for the day I would be free of this torment but that day never seemed to come. I wish I had known, really known, that Jesus had already set me free!

I meditated more on the passages that talked about God’s continual presence with me. And as they went deeper into my spirit and I really began to believe them, the fear gradually subsided. Still, there were times I would feel overwhelming fear and would cry because at those times, the Bible verses didn’t seem to work. Through it all, God held my hand. In Psalm 139, David says,

⁷ Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence?

⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold, You are there.

⁹ If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea

¹⁰Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.

He brought me to a place where I began to learn about His love. I began to see Him as my Father. I thought of my earthly father and how he did everything in his power to make sure I was comfortable and safe. Then I thought of God, my Father, the Father to my father. If my earthly father would do everything to keep me safe, then how much more would God? It boiled down to really knowing that God’s love for me was real and that if He had promised to keep me, He would.

1 John 4:18 - 19 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us”.

God loved us first with a perfect love and when we come to know Him, our love for Him develops and grows unto perfection. As we walk with Him and he shows Himself, time and time again, to be faithful, we trust Him more. As our love for Him becomes perfect, fear is kicked out because we know that He who has called us, is faithful to keep us.

So when fear threatens to come, the Holy Spirit faithfully whispers, “I am with you”. I nod knowingly and shut my eyes because God’s Word says, “…for so he giveth his beloved sleep”.

I am the beloved of God and have overcome fear with the Blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony. Thank you Father!

These Bible verses really minister to me: Psalm 127:2; 2 Timothy 1:7; Luke 10:19; Isaiah 54:15, 17; Psalm 91.

God's Power moves through His people's testimonies

During the very early hours of the morning on 8th of february, I was going through facebook and then suddenly, I saw a new message. You know the feeling of wishing it's a really nice message, all for me to check and it was from the group "I'm a christian because...". I was dissapointed and actually thought about leaving the group to avoid all those 'unnecessary' messages. The message was about a new testimony on the blogpost. Although, it wasn't the first time I was receiving such messages, on this occassion, I decided to check out the blog- little did I know what God had planned out for me. I started reading the various testimonies and I was deeply moved. It wasn't long before I started crying and praying amidst tears. By the time I got to CJ's testimony, I was crying so much and saying lots of things to God. I desired the presence of the Holyspirit- 1 John3:24(Amplified)

²⁴All who keep His commandments [who obey His orders and follow His plan, live and continue to live, to stay and] abide in Him, and He in them. They let Christ be a home to them and they are the home of Christ.] And by this we know and understand and have the proof that He [really] lives and makes His home in us: by the [Holy] Spirit Whom He has given us.

Before long, I was speaking in tongues but I had doubts and I was still praying for what I already had. I always thought that the first time you start speaking in tongues, it would be for about an hour or more, you'll be shouting and stuff like that (remember that this is the case with some people and there's nothing wrong with that). Later that day, I sent a message to Tolu about my experience and my doubts, and her reply was really encouraging and insightful. She gave me lots of scriptures to read about the Holyspirit which stenghtened me greatly. I also sent a message to CJ whose testimony really gave me the burning desire to receive the Holyspirit and hear the Voice of God. He explained so many things to me that centered on the diverse ways God speaks and then he also said the Holyspirit just whispered to him that I was going to hear Him(Holyspirit) tell me things as I read the message. By the time I finished reading, I still didn't hear anything and I was disappointed. All along, I was waiting to hear an audible voice( which I would still hear really soon cos His words are ye and amen and He said my sheep hear my voice), but CJ made me understand that desiring the experiences of others might not always work as He treats everyone differenly and His word(Bible) is one of the many ways He speaks to you(and I've got evidence of that as well). It wasn't until some days later that I understood that reading the message CJ sent about me hearing Him speak was actually Him speaking to me through CJ.

It's been a week now and have developed this strong desire to always read the Bible which prior to now was like a task and routine for me every morning or afternoon, as the case may be. It's like there's so much to know and its so interesting. Know that it's not just about reading the Bible but doing what it says but it's only the Holyspirt our helper that can help you do this, so go ahead, receive Him, make His heart your home as He's making yours His home. John 15:4(KJV)

⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

God loves you and wants you to dwell with Him eternally, that's why He sent His son Jesus to die. I leave you with this, 1 John 3 which is kind of my favourite part of the Bible now.

Tomilola Lawal.

God's Word will not return to Him void!

My name is Diana De La Rosa and I am currently a Christian because God pulled me out of the most horrible lifestyle anyone could live in. As a child, my parents were night club owners in Miami, FL. They made a lot of money and to the world everything seemed to be going perfect in their lives, but that couldn’t be more far from the truth. During that time, although we seemed to be the most prosperous family, in reality, at home, my parents and siblings fought like cats and dogs. There was no peace in my household because it was divided. By the year 2002, my parents had to sell the night club we owned and as a result of all the money we lost and the terrible times we were facing, my parents got a divorce. Coping with my parents separation was difficult for me and although I was a good student and generally a good kid, I felt a lack of purpose, an emptiness inside me that needed to be filled.

When I was 14 years old, on a Sunday morning in the summer, I turned on my television and started flipping through the channels when I suddenly found myself watching the Trinity Broadcasting Network, a Christian television station. On the station, a Pastor by the name of Dr. James Kennedy from Coral Ridge Ministries was asking if anyone wanted to receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. At the time I only knew God from what I had been told, but felt a desperate need to get to know Him for myself. So I prayed the sinner’s prayer as the Pastor recited it and when I was through, I turned off the TV and fell on my knees and said, “God if you are real, all I ask is that my parents get remarried.” Instantly, I heard a voice say to me “Diana get up!” There was no one in my house at the time so I knew God was speaking to me and He directed me to do the following: “Go to your mother’s room and find the first wedding ring your father gave her (my parents had been together for about 32 years before they separated and had had previous marriage engagements).” When I found the ring, God directed me to put on the finger that best fit, and I placed on my left thumb. He, then, said, “You will wear this ring until the day that your parents get remarried, and when they do, give the ring back as a sign that I am your God and that I fulfilled this promise to you.”

As I served the Lord and continued to get to know God it took 5 years before I saw my miracle, but in 2008, my parents got remarried and I was able to give the ring back as a sign that God does answer the desires of our hearts. Ever since, my parents and most of my family have also come to the Lord and are now currently serving God in different ministries in my church back in Miami. In conclusion, God saved my family from utter destruction and saved me from complete despair and just as He saved me and brought me to His feet, he could do it with you.

So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.(Isaiah 55:11)