Separating Light from Dark

The day that you received Jesus you received everything. How could you not? He is, actually, everything. Colossians 1:16, “For by Him all things were created, {both} in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him.” Each day, since that first day, it has been the mission of the Holy Spirit to convince you that you are lacking in nothing. In opposition, Satan has taken it upon himself to convince you that you are lacking in everything, to persuade you that your job, mate, kids, situation, physical appearance, and position in life are all substandard. He also has to convince you that holiness, mercy, fellowship, maturity, blessings, and forgiveness must all be worked for, his goal being to have you so consumed with what you think you do not have that you will never recognize what you do have. Sometimes I feel as though my office, wherever I happen to have it set up, is a place where light and darkness meet, and it is God’s gracious work to separate the two. My job is to witness to the work of the Spirit, the Jesus that is in believers. So many come to my office possessing so much, and yet they cannot see the blessings for obsessing on the negatives. They are men with beautiful families, children that are not rebellious, financial security, and a wife who puts up with and even loves them, despite their goofy behavior. Yet the devil has blinded them to the point that they cannot see positives in any of it; they sit there recounting the offenses they have had in life, the people who have let them down, and their failed attempts to be Christian. Every preacher must learn to be free from the fear of repetition. I am! What gets a person’s attention gets him! We are to obsess on what is true, right, pure, and lovely. I guess everyone is just self-centered enough to think only about himself! We mingle light and darkness to the point where we do not know the difference and all of life is gray. Pray for a word from Him that would separate the two!

- Mike Wells