Praying the Names of God - December 29
From Praying the Names of Jesus Week Two, Day Five
The Name
According to Jewish tradition, one of the names for the Messiah is "Light." How fitting, then, that Jesus is called the "Light of the world." John's Gospel portrays Jesus as the light that vanquishes the darkness brought on by sin — a darkness that ends in death. Christ has opened the eyes of a sin-darkened world to the truth of the gospel. We who believe in him have moved from darkness to light, from death to life. When we pray to Jesus as the Light of the world, let us remember that we are calling on the One who was so determined to draw us into his light that he spent nine months in the darkness of his mother's womb in order to become one of us. Let us ask Jesus, our Light, to make us shine with his reflected glory.
Key Scripture
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12
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Friday
Promises Associated with His Name
What are you waiting for? The perfect mate, your next vacation, a coveted promotion, the kids to graduate from college, enough money to accumulate in your retirement account? Ask yourself that question because whatever you're waiting for is what you're living for.
At the deepest level, we need to remember that we are waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ. That's when all the promises of the Bible will be perfectly fulfilled. We are waiting for him to bring justice to the oppressed, mercy to the suffering, strength to the weak. We are waiting for the time in which our hearts will no longer be assaulted by the headlines we read in the newspaper. We are waiting for a time in which death will lose its hold and the Lord God will be our everlasting light. And while we are waiting, this is also what we are living for.
Promises in Scripture
The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
Your sun will never set again,
and your moon will wane no more;
the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your days of sorrow will end.
Isaiah 60:19 - 20
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Revelation 21:22 - 27
Continued Prayer and Praise
Praise the One who is your light and your salvation. (Psalms 27:1)
Praise God for giving us a light bright enough for the entire world. (Luke 2:29 - 32)
Keep your love from growing cold. (Revelations 2:1 - 7)
Put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:12)
Pray for those living in the darkness of unbelief. (2 Corinthians 4:3 - 6)
Remember that God has called you into the light. (1 Peter 2:9 - 10; Ephesians 5:8 - 10)
Reflect on how Moses and Paul encountered God's light. (Exodus 34:29 - 35; Acts 9:1 - 22)
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Meet your spiritual ancestors as they really were: Less Than Perfect: Broken Men and Women of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them.
