Day 221 The Power of Light

📖Daily Reading

Luke 8  

🎥 Video  

Join me on my morning walk as we rise and shine together by walking through the Bible daily and learn a practical applicable coaching nugget from the ultimate life coach - our creator (whatever that means to you). No judgement zone here, all are welcome, we are all on a spiritual journey because we are after all spiritual beings having a human experience.

 

📝 Reflection 

Luke 8: 16-18 Parable of the Lamp

   “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all. 

   “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”

 

This parable is short and powerful. The light and the truth of love is meant to illuminate for all who are in its presence. ‘All that is secret will eventually be brought into the open and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and be made known to all.’  I am encouraged by the words here- eventually. Things being illuminated, made known and brought into the light is a process. There are examples in scripture that God’s glory is overpowering, dangerous and too much for humans to handle all at once. We need to take it in stages as we can handle it and let the light do it’s work. 

Once light is introduced into darkness it begins working but we need to engage with it actively and willingly. Things brought from dark to light lose their power, but in the dark they can seem like very scary monsters. We have a warning in the same scripture that if we are not listening even what we ‘think’ we know will be lost back into the darkness. So don’t be seduced by false knowledge either or satisfied with shedding only partial light on something or bringing things half way into the light. Freedom is brining it all out and laying at the feet of Jesus.

In the light of this parable we can use it to help interpret the preceeding stories in chapter 8. 

  • The biological family of Jesus comes to see Jesus, the crowds around him tell him they are there. He responds with ‘My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God’s word and obey it.”  For me this helps me to understand that blood alone does not define who is ‘related to me’. A shared understanding of truth and love will reveal itself in my attitude toward others and toward fellow followers of the way.

What light does this shed for you in how you view your relationships and others? 

 

  • Jesus and the disciples decide to cross the lake. They get in a boat and set sail. Jesus decides to take advantage of the down time and takes a nap. A storm ⛈ comes along and threatens their safety. The disciples wake Jesus up to warn him of the danger. He gets up and ‘rebukes the wind and the waves’ and suddenly the storm stops and calmness returns. He asks them ‘where is your faith?’ The disciples are stunned and amazed!  As I read this and think about what this might be revealing to me is the power I have to choose how I react to the storms of life. Also, my thoughts and how I choose to react to them.

Am I a victim and in danger of sinking and being taken under?  What light does this shed for you?

 

  • Jesus heals a man possessed by demons. We are introduced to a man who has been living naked and homeless in a cemetery outside of Gerasenes. He was out of control, every time authorities had him under control he would break the chains and return to the wilderness. Jesus encounters him and asks him his name? The demon’s within the man respond ‘Legion’ for he was filled with many demons. The demons were begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit. There was a large herd of pigs nearby and they asked if they could be sent into these animals. Jesus agreed and the demons came out of the man and into the herd. Then they plunged down the hill into the water and drowned. Then we are told the man is sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and sane. The towns people were amazed and frightened and ask Jesus to leave them alone. The healed man wanted to go with Jesus but he said no and instead told him to return home and share what God had done for him and then he left.

Ok, I needed a bit of help with this one. The appearance of swine informs us this is a gentile community. 💡With help getting this clue, we might also infer that these people do not worship the God of Israel which means they might be pagan and worship other gods. This miracle that they witnessed was also probably not welcomed because the loss of this herd might have had a financial impact. Even though the larger community did not accept him, light was introduced into their society and a miracle witnessed. One man was left changed and he went as a light into the community.

How do you hear this story what does it illuminate for you?

 

  • A 12 year old girl is healed and a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years is healed by touching the hem of Jesus’s robes. I wrote in detail about this on day 205 - (The Healing Power of Love), so I won’t go into detail again here. For me this illuminated for me the healing power of love. God is love and therefore faith, trusting and living according to a belief in God and Love is healing. When we understand the profoundness of this kind of pure love that we are on the receiving end of, it is humbling and awe inspiring. But we have to engage and receive. When we do this we will shine from the inside out. This is the power of light because it is the power of love. 

 

✍🏼Daily Journal Prompt 

Let me know your thoughts and what has the power of light revealed to you today? Are there things that you are keeping hidden and concealed. The truth is that they are doing the same to you. Trust the power of light and set yourself free!

📖Tomorrows Reading

 Luke 10-11

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