Light.

First and foremost, I've got to state that I typically make a fairly cognizant effort to write these posts for a wide spectrum of readers on many different walks of faith and life. I may often fail in these regards, but tonight I will preface this post by making myself clear that this will most assuredly resonate most effectively within the hearts and minds of those who already find their home within the grace and cross of Christ. If this isn't you, and you're still testing the claims of Christ, or even stand far from him in every sense, I still would love for you to read what lies below in hopes that somehow you may find in them truth. Here we go.

"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..."

Should you have any kind of childhood history in the church as I do, this familiar childhood tune may ring a bell of nostalgia deep within. The theological truth of the song I sang as a five year old finds itself within the book of Matthew, chapter five.

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven." (Matthew 5:16 ESV)

In a quick side note I must again reiterate, as I have in past posts, that EVERYTHING happens and occurs for his glory. Good things, and bad things. We will glorify him as objects of his mercy, or objects of his wrath, and claim absolutely no hold over the choice to glorify him or not. Ironically the finger shaking atheist ends up glorifying that which he defies in his finger shaking rage. Do we always, in our finiteness, always see it? Absolutely not. Does the God, who sits outside of time and space? Yes. He. Will. Have. His. Glory. He is sovereign, he is God, and he sits in the heavens and does all that he pleases. None can stay his hand and ask of Him, "What have you done?"

See: Psalm 115:3

See: Daniel 4:35

We see the word "light" throughout the Word being used a plethora of times, for a multitude of different instances.

We are light.

"Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as LIGHTS in the world..." (Philippians 2:14-15 ESV)

"For you are all children of LIGHT, children of the day. We are not of night or of the darkness." (1st Thessalonians 5:5)

Christ the son is light.

"Again Jesus spoke to them saying, "I am the LIGHT of the world." (John 8:12a ESV)

"The true LIGHT, which enlightens everyone was coming into the world." (John 1:9 ESV)

God the Father is light.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of LIGHTS with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17)

"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is LIGHT, and in him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)

"...the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who alone dwells in unapproachable LIGHT..." (1 Timothy 6:16)

Textually, at first glance, there could seem to stand a bit of tension. Are we the light? Is Christ the light? How is everything tied together comprehensively?

The most accurate answer I can put forward is: Yes. WE are the light. Being us, the Christ, and the Father.

God the Father being the light leads quite logically to the man of Christ being the light.

"But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible IS LIGHT." (Ephesians 5:13 ESV)

Christ, being the light of the world, shines upon those who follow him in spirt and truth whereby we become the light as he is the light. I think the most practical understanding we can take away from this is found in the book of 1st Peter.

"but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." (1st Peter 1:15-16 ESV)

How do we truly accomplish this? If Christ is the light, and we are to be the light as he was the light, by what means can we actively live this out day to day? Another way the scriptures use the word "light" may provide some insight.

"Your WORD is a lamp to my feet and a LIGHT to my path." (Psalm 119:105)

His word is the key. By it his spirt moves, and his will is discerned. By it we learn the truths of morals, of ethics, and the right-standing of righteousness. By it we find truth, and the existence thereof. By it we meet the man of Christ, the author of faith, and the substitutionary atonement for our depraved and wicked souls. In the Word stands the way of life, the way of truth, and the way of which leads to the everlasting.

Christ is the light. God the Father is the light, whom dwells in unapproachable light. We are the light, having been shone upon by the light. The Word is the light. May we be people of the light, and in the light.

"for at one time you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5:8 ESV)

Should you be a skeptic, as I forewarned and acknowledged, most of this was not for you. At all. Yet, I beseech you here, as I have when I started writing this blog two months ago. Should you act upon the impulsions of his word, I am confident you will find them sufficient. Meaning this. Test the word for what it says. Should the text read: "Come to me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.", I dare you to truly seek what that looks life for where you stand, and see what fruits are sown from your action.

Should you be a believer, may you be of a people who let your light shine among men. Do so not for your own glory, for if you try to please man, you will not be a servant of God. See: Galatians 1:10. Do so that God, in every sense, fashion, and form will receive every bit of glory he deserves. May we be people who stand firmly on the truth of his word, and refuse to shrink back and be destroyed, but believe and are saved (Hebrews 10:39). May we be people of action. See: James 1:22, 1st John 3:18, 1st Peter 1:13.

May we be children of the light.

May the Word move in you, and through you.

To Him be the glory.

-Matt Allen

Works.

I pray for this simply to be an exposition of the emptiness of a works based system in which we attempt to EARN salvation through the things we accomplish. Some of this may sound a bit familiar if you have read my posts in the past, but I pray we arrive upon an enlightened conclusion which impulses us to truth by the grace of his Word.

Should there be an eternity, the perceptions of how to attain it are as numerous as the stars. However, one prevailing thought seems to rise to the top within the modernized worldview of our culture, being this: Be good. Do good things, and hopefully the righteous will outweigh the depravity enabling one's soul to be justified eternally.

"None is righteous, no, not one." (Romans 3:10 ESV)

We will return here later, but to avoid being misheard I must quickly state that there lies a stark juxtaposition between BEING righteous, and living within righteousness.

Recently I had two Mormon missionaries knock on my door. Since I had a pocket of time, I invited them into my apartment to spend some time in discussion. After spending sometime talking through the divinity of Christ, we arrived at the topic of salvation, to which I inquired of how it could be attained. "Salvation is from grace, through faith, by good works." This sounded close to my own theology, but with enough contrast to stand completely separate from it, so I asked them to clarify.

"So there are things that I must do, actions I must live within, and deeds that I must perform in order to obtain salvation?"

There response was a quick yes, confirming my question, and claiming that works are indeed necessary to gain eternal life. Therein, biblically, lies the problem.

"For by GRACE that you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing: it is the gift of God, NOT A RESULT OF WORKS, so that no man can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV)

See: Titus 3:5

See: 1 Peter 1:8-9

See Galatians 2:21

Sitting in my dining room, the two missionaries and I walked through this:

I broke every single on of the ten commandments by the time I was nine years old. Kindergarten ethics failed. At the time of my speaking this, they both looked at me as if I was insane, to which we jumped to Matthew 5, where Jesus states that to hate is to have killed in your heart, and to lust is to commit adultery. With that understanding, they seemed to reach a point where they understood that they were in the same boat. As are you. We. All. Have. Failed. We fall much short of the cross, much short of glory, and grace, which is why all three of them had to be given through the man of Christ.

It must be further expounded upon that if we all have failed miserably, how then can any works save us? Works are immensely important, and are truly a mark of a true believer, but can they SAVE?

See: Ephesians 2:10

See: Titus 3:9

See: James 2:17

See: 1 John 5:3

See: 2nd Corinthians 5:15

If they can, and we fail so often, how can one be legitimately secure in their salvation? They can't. Grace MUST fill the void as the scriptures point to. This grace is not to be taken advantage of, or abused. See: Romans 6:1-4 But because of his great love, we are to love him in return through righteous action. See: 1 John 3:18. Though none of us are born righteous, once sanctified we are entitled to live in righteousness having become a new creation. See: 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Should you be a skeptic, perhaps you have viewed the church as a legalistic set of responsibilities of which you wanted nothing to do with. I pray you would understand that this truly is not the heart of faith, and that the failures of man have set it askew. You do not have to be good enough to be loved and accepted by the God of the universe. In fact, the cross came to abolish that very thing.

Should you be a believer. May you never forget that it is the immeasurable grace of the Savior that saved you. Not your church attendance, and not your good deeds. Please. Continue in action, but may it be impulsed by love and not legalism.

Today we end, standing upon the cornerstone of which Paul ended almost everyone of his letters:

"The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you." (1 Corinthians 16:23 ESV)

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." (2 Corinthians 13:14)

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen." (Galatians 6:18)

"Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible." (Ephesians 6:24)

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." (Philippians 4:23)

"Grace be with you." (Colossians 4:18)

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." (1st Thessalonians 5:28)

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." (2nd Thessalonians 3:18)

"Grace be with you." (1st Timothy 6:21)

"The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you." (2nd Timothy 4:22)

"Grace be with you all." (Titus 3:15)

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." (Philemon 1:25)

Grace. It is all that saves. May we all accept it.

May the Word move in you, and through you.

To Him be the glory.

-Matt Allen

Evil.

Terrible things happen. Everyday. This simply cannot be mistaken for sin’s ineluctable blemish upon our days is seen everywhere our eyes turn to. Amidst the glory of the world’s beauty lies the deterioration of it in every way. Whether this is unbelievable acts of nature, which destroy hundreds of thousands of lives, or men acting upon sinful impulses that not even the depraved world understands, evil often seems to prevail. How can this be so when a good, just, creator God fashioned the beginnings of everything? The following example most assuredly will not suffice for our finite thinking minds, and simply putting it into words doesn’t mean that it’s not something that I myself struggle with, but the Bible does seem to comprehensively present it to us

“And his disciples asked him ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents but that the work of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:2-3 ESV)

Here it is. Bad things happen for the same reason that good things happen: that in all things God, the creator, sustainer, whom is all-sufficient and good will be glorified. As stated earlier, this makes no sense to our humanistic, time bound, finite minds. The truth is that we fight this concept until we see the glory and redemption. For years I am sure that the blind man in John 9 searched for WHY he was born blind. Yet in the moment of his healing, grace and redemption shone through years of misunderstanding to bring forth the truth. All things, whether good or bad in the eyes of man occurs to bring God, good and true, glory.

See: Genesis 19:30-38

On the heels of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah Lot’s daughters find themselves in an interesting situation. With no man to help them birth a child in order to continue their family decent, they decide the most appropriate decision is to get their father drunk, and rape him in order to impregnate themselves. Awful. Disgusting. Seemingly quite glory-less to say the very least. Yet each of these two daughters birthed a son, on of them being Moab, the father of the Moabites.

See: The book of Ruth.

Ruth was a Moabite. Who was Ruth? The wife of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse.

Jesse. The father of King David, and the bloodline to the man Christ.

We find this awful, terrible event in history which plays a part in the Messiah entering the planet, needing of salvation.

God. Will. Have. His Glory.

See: Psalms 46:10

See: Luke 19:40

See: Mark 4:35-41

“He said to them ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

Truthfully, considering the prior circumstances the disciples found themselves in, I once found these words harsh. Should the wind be fierce enough to almost capsize a full sized boat, which was filling with water, and I found Jesus sleeping in the stern, I know I may have been a found bit doubtful myself. Yet growing up, and reading this story, I think I often missed the first words Jesus spoke in the passage.

“Let us go across to the other side.” (Mark 4:35)

Through the bad, through the good, mountain high or valley low, rain or shine, pain or contentment, I am, and we are, His. His glory will not always be evident, and our depravity often blurs his divinity. Yet, in all things, he stands alone good. May we be of those who live and love in his goodness, though it may not be seen.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and glory.” (1 Peter 1:8)

Should you be a skeptic, it may be due to an event. Something which happened in the storm, from which you have shook your finger at God in anger which has fed disbelief. To you, I am sorry, and am praying that his glory will be shown so that you, like the blind man may stand upon understanding and redemption within his unexplainable grace.

Should you be a believer, may we be of people who stand in faith in the storms. May we not forget his goodness and blame him for the repercussions of the fall. He is ever faithful, we are never faithful. May we sit in his goodness and inquire only of ourselves in regards to our faithfulness when we fail to see his.

May the Word move in you, and through you.

To Him be the glory.

-Matt Allen

Movement.

Simply put, this post is going to take a brief departure from the route that I've been taking in my writing, and so I pray you will still find it appealing and enjoyable. I pray that, having read these words will impulse you to action, to steadfastness, and to love. Please give me your thoughts!

"What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice." (Philippians 1:17 ESV)

This past Monday night I made the hundred mile drive to Waco, Texas to attend Vertical Ministries led by Afshin Ziafat.

(See his story here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0XvEaVcf3A&feature=related)

I've known Afshin for a couple years, and am always absolutely moved by the words the Spirit leads him to, and couldn't miss the chance to worship with Shane and Shane.

Needless to say, I made the trek.

Upon realizing I needed gas, I pulled into the closest Chevron I saw and proceeded to run inside to make payment for the gas and to purchase a Five-Hour Energy for the ride home. As I was walking back to my car, a man driving an old beat up Ford Taurus drove in front of my car, perpendicular to it sitting at the pump. Being night, and traveling alone I was a bit wary as he called out:

"Hey... sir?"

His car was indeed old. Tan. And old. The driver side mirror was missing, and it seemed as if the vehicle had sat near one too many little league batting practices. As I approached the vehicle I saw not only a weary looking man in his mid-thirties or so, but also his three year old son, whom barely looked big enough to be sitting in the front seat. The back seat could not hold him though, for it was full of belongings.

"Hey man, what's going on?", I respond.

"Is there any way you can point us in the direction of Buda?"

Knowing all too well the drive from Dallas to San Antonio, I knew that Buda was a city south of Austin, to which I gave him brief directions continuing down I-35.

His next words have stayed with me, and still cut deep. Brian, the man's son, had sported an amazingly bright child-like smile until this point in our encounter. Often, as we meet others in this lifetime whom need a bit of help navigating through this world, we find it easy to question their motives. Often we are unsure of their integrity, or their story, or if we are truly being of assistance or funding a beer jar. The conviction on this three year olds face spoke to me of the validity of the story that his father proceeded to tell.

"Awesome! Thanks so much!... I hate to ask, but... See this is Brian, and within the past week or so, our home has become a dangerous place for us to be..."

At this point, Brian had stopped smiling, and with somber expression simply nodded...

Also, I think at this point I may have been so moved because, whether I remember it or not, at one point of my life, I was that little boy.

"My wife has been struggling with addiction problems, and we just needed to get out. We're headed to my parents house in Buda, but only have a quarter tank to get there... Do you think there is any way you could help us with some gas?"

I immediately told him to pull up to a pump before I changed my mind. His integrity was confirmed to me as his three year old boy gave me a high five and said thank you. He also stated:

"Please, we don't need a full tank. Just enough to get us there..."

At this point I was finally able to get a couple words in, and stated:

"I have been given much from a man named Jesus. And in Him I live, and love, and give. It's my joy to give to you because I've been given to, and in it I hope you are blessed."

I put $15 dollars in his tank and asked if I could pray over him and his boy. He said yes, and yes please. I spoke over them words of the scripture, and prayed for protection, and providence and peace. Above all, I prayed, that the Lord would be glorified and shown through the situation. Upon ending the prayer, I received one more high-five from Brian, and parted ways with the two as they headed down to Buda.

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Truth is, I may never truly know if the man was telling the truth. I may never know if they made it to Buda, or if Buda was ever truly the destination.

Above all, the gospel moved.

I was able to participate in an event in which the name Jesus was spoken, and his cross glorified. Therefore, it matters not what the grounds were, nor the reason spoken. The gospel MOVED, and in the end, I find this fulfilling.

Should you be a skeptic, I am not convinced that increased knowledge and understanding shall ever be enough of an eye opener to reveal your eyes to the gospel of grace. Until then, I will be praying fervently for people of faith full of love that care for you more then themselves. For Christ cared more for you more then he cared for himself, (

See: The cross)

and believe it or not, his church is supposed to do as he did.

Should you be a believer. Be an active catalyst in MOVING the gospel. For any and every reason. Under any circumstance, may his gift and grace be breathed from you in word and deed. May you seek to see from his eyes, and live in such a way that says: "Whatever, wherever, whenever. I want Jesus."

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:2 ESV)

May the word move in you, and through you.

To Him be the glory,

-Matt Allen