Jesus, Light of the World (12-8-12)

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Advent Devotional, "Jesus, Light of the World," for preparing to light the second Advent Candle, the Bethlehem candle.)

Acts 26:1-18
"The apostle Paul finds himself standing before King Agrippa fighting for his very life.  His own people, the Jews, have turned on him because of his faith in Jesus, the Messiah, whom they don't believe has come yet.  They want Paul dead!  but his battle is truly not with his flesh and blood brothers.  His battle is with the enemy of Jesus, Satan.  The enemy has heard that Paul is being sent out to the Gentile race.  For the first time, the enemy is battling God's plan for all mankind, not just His plan for His chosen people.

Paul is his own defense lawyer and pleads his case to the king.  He tells the king his entire testimony, from being a devout Jew, to persecuting the followers of Jesus, to his personal, life-changing encounter with a 'light from heaven.'  And he told him that opt of that very light cam a voice, the voice of Jesus, the true light.

Paul relates to King Agrippa his call to ministry, to minister to the Gentiles.  What was it the Jesus had said to him on the fateful day?  The Light said,

'Arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the tings in which I will appear to you; delivering you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'

Jesus, the Light of the world, calls us to open our eyes and turn to Him in all things.  By turning to the Light, we are turning away from the darkness.  No longer can Satan, the enemy of our walk with the Light, have rule and dominion over us when our eyes are focused and fixed on Jesus, and we are obeying His commands.

We initially set our focus on Jesus when we came to Him in faith, believing the He is the Son of God and our Savior from sin and death.  But we are not to leave our focused gaze behind once we have come to Jesus.  Our focus should remain the same.  With our eyes opened wide and fixed on Him, we can remain in His light.  That light will then begin to reveal to us moment to moment those places in our lives where we are walking in our own flesh and desires, our own understanding and in our own strength.  Once they are revealed in the light of Christ, our daily sin issues can be immediately confessed and surrendered to Christ, our Savior.

Thank God today for your Christian heritage that can be traced back to Paul, God's devoted servant to our race.  Thank God that His plan of salvation included us!  Thank Him for appearing to Paul 'as a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around.'  Confess your sins to Jesus, turning from the 'darkness of Bethlehem,' and standing instead in the light of His glorious Presence!"