Tag Archives: Light

The Manifold Wisdom of God

30 Aug

“to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.” Ephesians 3:10-12 (ASV)

When I read this scripture I had a hard time understanding what it was saying.  I felt the key was the Manifold Wisdom, but the true key was the Principalities and Powers.  How many times do we read through something and miss the true point?  We pick up on the flash and leave the foundation.  But God, in His infinite wisdom, can redirect and enlighten us to what He is truly saying.  Please read the reference above again.  Principalities and Powers in HEAVENLY PLACES.

Have you ever thought much about Angels?  We are surrounded by angels constantly.  Angels of light, guiding us toward our call, toward understanding, and away from danger.  Angels of darkness, tempting us toward things we have a weakness for, leading us toward destruction.  Angels, waiting for our prayers to direct them, to release them, to banish them.  Ever present, ever ready.

I didn’t understand the full extent of their power until I grasped this scripture last night.  The Principalities and the Powers in Heavenly Places (Angels of Light) are to be known through the Church (of Jesus Christ) the Manifold (many, multifaceted, multifarious) Wisdom OF GOD.  They hold the unfathomable wisdom of God, given to them to help us walk our path every day.  They were given the wisdom to help us to our Eternal Purpose (salvation unto eternal life) as was purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord (given to us through His crucifixion at Calvary), in whom we have Boldness and Confidence through our Faith in Him.

Immediately I see the Heavenly Host of Angels surrounding the Virgin Mary, her husband Joseph, and the tiny baby in the manger, Jesus Christ our Lord.  The Angels guided Mary and Joseph along their path to Bethlehem (Matt 2:13-15) and to the Inn that had no more rooms.  They guided them to a humble, yet secure location to birth the fragile and innocent babe.  The Angels called to the Shepherds to come and see, and called to the Wise Men months before the birth, and then guided them with a Star as they drew closer (Luke 2:8-20).

Jesus speaks of the Angels that surrounded Him and that could remove Him from the cross and bring destruction to those who chose to do Him harm (Matt 26:53).  Angels that walked with Him every day from the moment He was placed in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:26-38).  Angels that guarded and protected Him in the manger.  Angels that taught Him and guided Him as He grew in wisdom and bantered with the Priests and Pharisees in the temple when He was just a child.  Angels that ministered to Him after his 40 days in the wilderness while tempted by Satan (Matt 4:11).  Angels that walked every step with Him in His earthly Ministry, in His beatings and torture.  Angels that surrounded Him as he hung on the cross, waiting for any word from Him to change the circumstance.  Angels that watched the tomb He was placed in and explained His absence after the stone had been rolled away (John 20:12).

I don’t worship Angels, no one should.  I am thankful that Angels have been in my life helping me to find the way to Jesus, helping me learn the scriptures and to reflect the fruits of the Spirit.  Angels still surround me and my daily life, but my teachings and guidance comes from the Holy Spirit.  I wonder if they rejoiced when I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  I expect they did.  I expect that every time I have a spiritual breakthrough they rejoice again.

I thank God for giving us Angels to watch over and guide us as He draws us closer and closer to Him.  I am thankful that we have the free will to choose which Angels we will follow, and that God gives us the strength to decide His path, even in times of great temptation.  I am thankful that we grow in boldness and confidence in our faith each and every day, through our relationship with God.

Please God, never let me forget that every person I may meet could be an Angel (Heb 13:2), and that my words and actions toward them could be to honor or to dishonor You.  I choose honor.  I choose You.

** A Journey Through Ephesians:  Chapter 3, Part 4

Written by Linda J. Humes

12-18-2015

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INTIMACY

31 Jan

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Genesis 1:31

…

The sweet breath of spring

rises up to greet the

pure, first light of dawn.

…

The fields dance,

stirring silent butterflies,

rising to decorate the sky.

…

The seas surge and recede,

calling to the waking earth,

It’s a new day!

…

Resting there,

receive the gift,

of the innocence born of God,

of the intimacy known with God.

By Linda J. Humes

Written 1/5/98

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JERUSALEM

13 Sep

“Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.”  Deuteronomy 33:29

✝

Mighty in power,

Stand up Jerusalem,

Born of a King,

Born of the light.

✝

Draw in the children from nations,

Jerusalem,

Strengthened in love,

Pure in sight.

✝

Carry the shield the sword,

And the armor,

Carry the word,

The truth and the light.

✝

Hold them up high,

The enemy beckons,

Ready to go,

Ready to fight.

✝

written 1992 as a song

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LITTLE CHILD

12 Apr

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18-19

…

Huddled mass, skin and bone,

Family gone, not a home.

Alcohol, to soothe the pain,

Curb the heat, repel the rain.

…

The future looks very bleak,

Live day by day, week by week.

Need to change, don’t know how,

Need it bad, need it now.

…

Little child, deep inside,

I am here, I am light,

Come to Me,

You’ll be free.

I am Jesus.

…

Every night, fight and steal,

Need the drugs, need to deal.

Seated deep, anger hides,

Worthlessness, fear inside.

…

Drugs help forget, take you high,

Just for today, it’s gone tonight.

Have to stop, too much strife,

I want to love, I want a life.

…

Little child, deep inside,

I am here, I am light,

Come to Me,

You’ll be free.

I am Jesus.

…

Daytime I sleep, nights work the street,

Sometimes it’s okay, sometimes I’m beat.

Don’t matter to no one, no one to care,

I can’t run away, I wouldn’t dare.

…

I still have a family, ran away from that mess,

Afraid to go back, they hate me, I guess.

I want to be wanted, want someone to care,

I need arms to hold me, someone to be there.

…

Little child, deep inside,

I am here, I am light,

Come to Me,

You’ll be free.

I am Jesus

…

Work all day, sometimes nights,

Work is tough, at home we fight.

Plagued by bills, how can we pay,

Sometimes I want to run away.

…

A wife and kids, they need to be fed,

Would they do better with me dead.

I can’t hardly cope with the pressure today,

There must be something, there must be a way.

…

Little child, deep inside,

I am here, I am light,

Come to Me,

You’ll be free.

I am Jesus.

…

Home all day, kids to tend,

House to clean, clothes to mend.

Screaming and fussing, night and day,

I want out, but there’s no way.

…

Husband’s late, if he comes home at all.

Drinking and fighting, never does call.

Don’t want today, don’t want tomorrow,

There must be some way to end this sorrow.

…

Little child, deep inside,

I am here, I am light,

Come to Me,

You’ll be free.

I am Jesus.

…

When it all seems to hard,

When there seems no way out,

When it all seems so hopeless,

Lives of anger and doubt.

…

There’s one who can help you,

He’s faithful and strong.

He’s waiting to greet you,

Whatever your wrongs.

…

He is Jesus.

Written 3/17/95

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CHANGES

12 Oct

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God.    Matthew 3:16

—

Life races by in a smattering of light and noise,

Glimpses of love and warmth stir past.

How could I have missed the changes?

—

Oh, to stand still and recognize the fragrance of time.

To linger long enough to be refreshed in a spring rain.

To notice that flowers grow wild in a field.

—

Help me, Lord, to stop and see,

The simple treasures,

You’ve given to me.

—

Written 2-6-2002

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TINY FLAME

22 Sep

No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.   Luke 11:33

Being burdened down by the flu on New Year’s Eve 1999 kept me home from the outstanding event our church had been preparing for the previous 4 months. I sent up my prayers for my church family and the events they had worked so hard on – then I lay back down and prayed for relief from the symptoms I’d been fighting the previous 2 ½ days.

The year 2000 was about to become a reality, 2000 years since the death of our precious savior – 2000 years of salvation by faith, by grace, by the blood of Christ. 2000 years.

We’ve come from traveling by foot, to traveling by jet plane. From writing on the bark of a tree with the juice of berries, to computers and the internet. From never traveling farther than 30 miles from where we were born, to the moon, mars and beyond.

We come from a way of life where our entire days were surrounded by the teaching of the ways of the Biblical Fathers, to the days where people walked with Christ – God made flesh, to the time where it is difficult to work 10 minutes of prayer into our busy daily schedules. We have advanced our civilization in the last 100 years at a pace that has outreached any imagination the early pioneers could have had. We have created, and created, and created at such a rapid pace that we have left ourselves little time to remember, let alone thank, the creator of all.

I prepared my candle and matches, just in case the Y2K “doomsayers” were correct and I needed to travel from one end of the house to the other in total darkness. I lit the candle and realized how I’ve always been drawn to the tiny flame. It has always intrigued me how lighting a candle during the day gives off so little light, but at night, when all other light has been extinguished, that one tiny flame can light an enormous room.

Drawing close to the flame you can feel the warmth that it emits. A warmth far beyond its tiny reach. This light and warmth draws me together with those who have shared this very moment for hundreds and thousands of years. Long before the birth of Christ. Before Moses and the burning bush; that burned and yet wasn’t consumed. Long before Pharaoh and Noah.

A light and a warmth that comforted Adam and Eve, expelled from Paradise, sent into a land of unknown sounds, shadows and total darkness – caused from being apart from God. I envision their being drawn to the flame, like the many times they drew near to God’s glory; warm and comforting.

Like that tiny flame, I wonder what part I play in the spiritual darkness that has spread across the world. Can the small flame that burns inside me, lit by the Holy Spirit and fed by the anointing, create enough light to show others the way to Christ? Can that flame generate enough warmth to draw the confused to a place of comfort and understanding?

Lord, I pray that as long as I remain on this earth, that I will always share the light that’s within me. Help me to feed the hungry and comfort the comfortless. Let me always remember that the reason I have been placed upon this earth is to praise and give all glory to You!

Written 12/31/99 – and yet it still applies today!

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