JESUS WAS A LIGHT UNTO THE WORLD. AS HIS FOLLOWERS, WE MUST BE ALSO !

8/6/2019

I HAVE SPENT THE LAST WEEK OR SO HIGH UP IN A VALLEY NEAR BUFFALO WYOMING IN THE MAJESTY OF THE BIGHORN MOUNTAINS. I WAS PART OF A JOYOUS FAMILY REUNION WITH MY WIFE’S FAMILY AT AN INCREDIBLE PROPERTY CALLED “PARADISE RANCH”. NESTLED INTO ONE OF THE MOST PICTURESQUE SPOTS YOU COULD IMAGINE, TWENTY SOME CABINS SIT PEACEFULLY PLACED BY THE RUSHING WATERS OF FRENCH CREEK, FISHING PONDS TEEMING WITH TROUT, SOME ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY PLUS HORSES OF EVERY GENDER, COLOR, AND SIZE, ALONG WITH A COZY DINING HALL, SALOON, AND BEAUTIFUL SWIMMING POOL. YOU CAN’T FIND A MORE PEACEFUL AND BEAUTIFUL PLACE ON EARTH. MY WIFE AND KIDS AND I HAVE BEEN COMING HERE FOR THE LAST 17 YEARS EVERY SUMMER. WE WANTED TO SHARE IT WITH FAMILY, AND WE ARE SO GLAD WE DID ! VERY LITTLE WIFI, TEXTING, OR PHONE SERVICE MAKES IT THE PERFECT PLACE TO GET AWAY FROM THE WORLD AND JUST BE.

THE ENTIRE FAMILY, FIFTY PLUS PEOPLE, RANGING IN AGE FROM 2 TO 86 GATHERED TO BE TOGETHER, CATCH UP ON EACH OTHERS LIVES, AND LAUGH AND HAVE FUN TOGETHER, SIMPLY SHARING LOVE, JOY, AND TIME ! THE MOST AMAZING THING ABOUT OUR FAMILY IS THAT WE ALL DO GENUINELY LOVE EACH OTHER….AND THAT IS A RARE AND PRECIOUS THING. WE ARE BLESSED, AND I THANK GOD FOR EVERYONE, AND FOR THE TIME HE LET US SHARE TOGETHER.

HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER , SO THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG IN THE LAND THE LORD YOUR GOD IS GIVING YOU. Exodus 20:12

START CHILDREN OFF ON THE WAY THEY SHOULD GO, AND EVEN WHEN THEY ARE OLD, THEY WILL NOT TURN FROM IT. Proverbs 22:6

AS WE RETURNED TO THE REAL WORLD, NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED. THE SADNESS AND ANGST OF MORE MASS SHOOTINGS. THE CONTINUATION OF POLITICAL NASTINESS, AND THE INEVITABLE FINGER POINTING OF WHO AND WHAT ARE TO BLAME. SENSELESS VIOLENCE IN OUR INNER CITIES, WHERE DOZENS PLUS ARE GUNNED DOWN OVER A VARIETY OF THINGS AND DISAGREEMENTS. VOICES SHOUTING OUT HATE, BLAME, THREATS, AND ALL THINKING THEIR WAY IS THE ONLY WAY….MOCKING THOSE WHO WOULD COMFORT, AND OPENLY ASKING THE INEVITABLE QUESTION; '“ WHERE IS GOD “ ? “HOW COULD A LOVING GOD LET THIS HAPPEN” ? I USED TO WONDER ABOUT THESE QUESTIONS WHEN I WAS YOUNGER….BUT I DON’T ANY MORE, BECAUSE I HAVE BECOME A FOLLOWER OF JESUS, AND IN THAT CHOICE, I KNOW THE REAL TRUTH.

EVIL DOES NOT COME FROM GOD. IT COMES FROM MEN, AND IT COMES WHEN DARKNESS INVADES THEIR VERY BEING. GOD DOES NOT DO EVIL, NOR DOES HE CONDONE EVIL. GOD DID HOWEVER GIVE MANKIND FREE WILL, AND WITH THAT, A CHOICE OF WHICH ROAD THEY WOULD BUILD THEIR LIVES AROUND. WE HAVE THE CHOICE OF GOD, HIS LIGHT, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LOVE…OR THE CHOICE OF SATAN, HIS DARKNESS, EVIL AND HATRED. THEY HAVE BOTH BEEN AROUND SINCE THE CREATION OF MANKIND, AND THAT BATTLE WILL BE ONGOING UNTIL JESUS RETURNS TO EARTH A SECOND TIME AND FINALLY BRINGS THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS REIGN. FOREVER BRINGING THE PEACE AND GLORY OF GOD AMONG US INTO ETERNITY. YOU SEE, JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. HE CAME TO TEACH, TO HEAL, TO SHOW LOVE AND HOPE, AND TO SAVE US FROM OUR SIN AND DEATH. HE CAME TO SHOW US THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND TO BRING US BACK INTO RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER.

BUT HE WAS PIERCED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, HE WAS CRUSHED FOR OUR INIQUITIES; THE PUNISHMENT THAT BROUGHT US PEACE IS ON HIM, AND BY HIS WOUNDS WE ARE HEALED Isaiah 53:5

SALVATION IS FOUND IN NO ONE ELSE, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN TO MANKIND BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED. Acts 4:12

WHEN JESUS SPOKE AGAIN TO THE PEOPLE HE SAID, “I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. WHOEVER FOLLOWS ME WILL NEVER WALK IN DARKNESS, BUT WILL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE” John 8:12

WHEN I READ JOHN 8:12, IT SEEMS SO CLEAR ! JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD ! IF WE ARE SAVED BY HIM, AND WE ABIDE IN HIM, THEN WE ARE ALSO A LIGHT UNTO THE WORLD ! THE POWER AND GLORY AND LOVE OF JESUS IN US MAKES US SHINE ALSO AS A LIGHT UNTO THE WORLD ! SO WHEN PEOPLE ARE SHAKEN, HURTING, AND LOST, IT IS OUR TASK AND PURPOSE AS CHRISTIANS AND FOLLOWERS TO SHARE JESUS AND HIS HOPE AND LOVE WITH EVERYONE. WE NEED TO LIGHT UP THE DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD AND BOLDLY PROCLAIM THE NAME OF JESUS, OUR LORD, SAVIOR AND KING :) CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT A DIFFERENCE AND CHANGE IT WOULD BRING TO OUR WORLD IF GOD’S LOVE AND CHARACTER REALLY PERMEATED OUR PLANET ???

OUR LAST MORNING AT PARADISE RANCH WAS TIME SPENT WITH SOME OF THE FAMILY AT A SMALL CHAPEL LOOKING OUT OVER THE VALLEY TO A PLACE CALLED “FAN ROCK”, A COOL OUTCROPPING OF ROCK CARVED BY THE ELEMENTS AND SURROUNDED BY A TRANQUIL MEADOW AND DOZENS OF REGAL PINE AND FIR TREES. THE VIEW WAS SO BEAUTIFUL AND PEACEFUL THAT IT FELT LIKE I WAS LOOKING AT A PLACE IN HEAVEN. AS I SAT THERE, I JUST FELT SO LUCKY. LUCKY AND BLESSED TO HAVE A FAMILY AROUND ME THAT I LOVED SO MUCH, AND A GOD WHO IS SO LOVING AND CARING THAT EVEN IN A WORLD SO BIG AND COMPLICATED AS IT IS, I COULD FEEL HIM SITTING NEXT TO ME, HEARING HIS VOICE SAY “ I LOVE YOU JIM. THANKS FOR GIVING YOUR LIFE AND TRUST TO ME. I WILL BE WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN UNTO ETERNITY”.

THANK YOU LORD. I AM SO BLESSED ! /JA