<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="col+1:1-14">Colossians 1:1-14</span></span></p><p>Yesterday we saw that when we make it a goal to hunger and thirst after happiness, we get nowhere, but when we make it our goal to hunger and thirst after righteousness, we get everywhere. Once again Jesus touches on an aspect of good mental health when He teaches us through these words to focus on right goals. Those who study human behaviour tell us that everything we do has a goal. "We are not conditioned animals that act automatically and unthinkingly in programmed response," says a psychologist, "' neither are we the hapless victims of internal forces that drive us relentlessly in unwanted directions." It may sometimes feel as if we do things we don't want to do, but the truth is that everything we do represents an effort to reach a goal that somehow, albeit at an unconscious level, makes sense. In fact, one of the ways in which you can better understand why you do the things you do is to ask yourself: What's my goal? A woman I once counselled and who was extremely frustrated because her husband would not change to meet her requirements said to me: "My husband is so stubborn and obstinate that I just can't see any future for us together." I shared with her the concept that everything we do represents a goal, and asked her to put into words what she thought her goal might be in her marriage. Without a moment's hesitation she replied: "To change my husband." Her daily prayer was: "Lord, You love my husband and I'll change him." I suggested she altered her goal to: "Lord, You change my husband and I'll love him." She did, and instantly found a new freedom - and a new happiness in her marriage. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O Father, I see what I need - I need to bring my goals in line with Your goals. Unfold more of this important truth to me as I pursue it over the next few days. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="eph+5:1-16">Ephesians 5:1-16</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ro+6:4">Romans 6:4</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="2co+5:7">2 Corinthians 5:7</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ga+5:16">Galatians 5:16</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How are we to live?</li><li>Do you make the most of every opportunity?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way '" (v. 10) 

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="1pe+3:13-22">1 Peter 3:13-22</span></span></p><p>As Christians we ought never to forget that the message of the Bible is addressed primarily to the understanding; it enables us to understand life. Because of the Bible, we are able to give a reason for the hope that is within us. The psalmist found the truth of this. In the sanctuary he discovered an explanation for the way that he felt. He was not given a temporary lift that would stay with him for a few hours or a few days - he was given a solution that would stay with him for the rest of his life. It was this, in fact, that caused him to write the psalm we are focusing upon day by day. The words: "Then I understood their final destiny"  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+73:17">Psalm 73:17</span>) suggest that previously he had not been thinking correctly. He had been seeing things from a partial and incomplete perspective, but now "in the sanctuary" he began to see the whole picture: "Then I understood". When? Then - when he came into the sanctuary. There is a line in one of Matthew Arnold's writings that goes like this: "Who saw life steadily, and saw it whole." What a delightful phrase this is. Nothing can be more wonderful than to see life steadily and to see it whole. Much of the inner turmoil we go through in life comes about because we do not see life as a whole. Prejudice has been defined as "seeing only what you want to see". People who are prejudiced say: "I have always seen it that way." That's their problem - their eyes are fixed on just one facet of an issue and they will not allow themselves to look at the other sides. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O Father, help me, for I don't want to be in bondage to prejudice or bigotry - I want to see life whole. We must work this issue out together over these next few days, for apart from You I can do nothing. Help me, Father. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="eph+5:1-20">Ephesians 5:1-20</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="2ti+1:8">2 Timothy 1:8</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How are we to speak to ourselves?</li><li>What did Paul admonish Timothy?</li></ul></div></div>

" Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have " (v. 15) 

<p>This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. § God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. § The Word was God … In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. § If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.<br><br>Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. § You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.<br><br>You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. § You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.</p>

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 The entrance of Your words gives light. 

 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord  

<p>You know how we exhorted … and charged every one of you … that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. § You may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.<br><br>You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. § Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.<br><br>Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. § Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.</p><h5><a id="verse_1632877443596021" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-Peter/1/15">1 Peter 1:15</a>;  <a id="verse_1632877443958772" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-Thessalonians/2/11">1 Thess. 2:11</a>; <a id="verse_1632877443509331020" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-Thessalonians/2/12">12</a>;  <a id="verse_1632877443755177" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-Peter/2/9">1 Peter 2:9</a>;  <a id="verse_1632877443368673" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Ephesians/5/8">Eph. 5:8</a>; <a id="verse_1632877443337445868" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Ephesians/5/9">9</a>;  <a id="verse_1632877443166063" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Ephesians/5/10">Eph 5:10</a>; <a id="verse_1632877443238799209" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Ephesians/5/11">11</a>;  <a id="verse_1632877443167188" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/1/11">Phil. 1:11</a>;  <a id="verse_1632877443379913" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Matthew/5/16">Matt. 5:16</a>;  <a id="verse_1632877443159607" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-Corinthians/10/31">1 Cor. 10:31</a></h5>

 As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. 

<p>Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. § You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.<br><br>Darkness has blinded his eyes. § Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.<br><br>The dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty. § Love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.<br><br>The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble… But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.<br><br>I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.<br><br>You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.</p>

Evening Daily Light

 What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? 

<p>The Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory.The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. § They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light.<br><br>You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. § [Give] thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. § For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.<br><br>We are not of the night nor of darkness.<br><br>The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.</p>

 There shall be no night there. 

<p>Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. § That I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. § The righteousness of God [is] through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.<br><br>He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. § I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.<br><br>You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light … Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them … All things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” See then that you walk circumspectly.</p>

 Let us put on the armor of light. 

<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Now are ye light in the Lord" </strong>(<a id="verse_1632878136630870" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Ephesians/5/8">Eph. 5:8</a>a).</p>
</blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">It takes us a long time to realize that all is darkness outside the Light of heaven and earth.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"The moment we begin to rest our peace on anything in ourselves, we lose it. And this is why so many saints have not settled peace. How can you have settled peace? Only by having it in the Father's way. By not resting on anything, even the Spirit's work within, but on what the Lord Jesus has done entirely outside you.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Then you will know peace - conscious unworthiness, but yet peace. In the Lord Jesus alone, the Father finds that in which He rests; and so it is with His saints. The more you see the extent and nature of the evil that is within, as well as that without and around, the more you will find that what the Lord Jesus is and did, is the only ground at all on which you can rest."</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"When the eye is turned away from the Lord Jesus, darkness must set in. It is only as the eye is single that the body is full of light. And what is a single eye but having Him for our Object? It is thus that light divine pours in upon us, until every chamber of our moral being becomes lighted up, and we become light for others. In this way the believer is kept happily free from obscurity, perplexity, and anxiety. He finds all his springs in the Lord Jesus."</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"It is having the Lord Jesus as our Object which alone gives us the power of truth. When we have anything of our own as an object, so far we slip aside, for the Lord Jesus alone is the full truth. It is only in proportion as we are filled with Him, and have Him to the exclusion of our own evil, that we ourselves walk in the truth. Let us have our hearts fixed on any one thing or person save the One who is our life, and evil results." -W.K.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>"Walk as children of light"</strong> (<a id="verse_1632878136379733" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Ephesians/5/8">Eph. 5:8</a>b).</p>

A 365 day devotional that will help you in your Christian growth and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.  This devotional is a collection of quotes from some of the best authors in the realm of Christian growth that has been organized by Miles J Stanford.  This devotional study is divided into 12 sections each containing 31 daily portions.

None but the Hungry Heart

 Heavenly Object 

<p><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num ">8 </sup>For you were once   darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light   </span></p>

For you were once<cr>1</cr>  darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light<cr>2</cr> 

Ephesians 5:8

 8 For you were once   darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light

<p><span class="bible-text ">For you were once   darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light   </span></p>

 For you were once   darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light  

Bible Verse of the Day

December 24, 2020

Ephesians 5:8 NIV

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