We continue our series of quiet times from the Birmingham, England, church. This installment explores the theme of letting God's light and your light shine.1. GET in the BATTLE!
Ephesians 6:10-13
- Write out some truths taught in these verses. Look hard and try to squeeze out as many as you can (for example, I started by writing, “I am in a struggle. I am struggling.” To see my whole list, go to the very bottom of this document*; but don’t peek till you’ve made your list!).
- Make sure to write down any questions that come up in your mind as well – those are things to search out in the scriptures, if not today, then another day soon J
- Write out the clear commands from this passage.
Be strong in the Lord – Thayer’s lexicon explains this word “strong” (Strong’s G1743, in Greek, endynamo?) such that it could be read “be made strong in the Lord,” or “receive strength in the Lord,” or “increase in strength in the Lord.” In the NASB, verse 10 reads “…be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” The Greek word for “might” here is “ischys,” which is translated in its 11 occurrences in the Bible as ability, force, strength, might.
- Spend some time meditating (speaking!) about these commands and truths before God in prayer. I want to be strong in God’s abilities —not in my own!
2. GIVE LIGHT to my EYES
PSALM 13:1-6
v. 2 “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?”
For a couple of years now, I’ve been enjoying an in-depth quiet time study through the Psalms, inspired by Joyce Meyer’s book, “The Battlefield of the Mind,” and verses like this one. My worst enemies, without a doubt, are the negative thoughts in my mind. I have come to recognise them much better and now know them as my formidable, mortal, extremely dangerous-and-not-to-be-tolerated-even-for-a-second, Very Real Enemies.
- Write down the specific prayers that David prays to God in this Psalm. It’s interesting to me to see the kind of questions he asks God; and that he also gives God some strong, imperative commands!
Psalm 13:3b “Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death.”
Matthew 6:22-23
- Are my eyes good or bad? Why do I think so? Interesting: either my whole body is full of light, or my whole body is full of darkness.
- Sing a song to the Lord (Ps 13:6), for he has been good to me!
3. Keep my LAMP BURNING
Psalm 18:28-31; Exodus 30:7-8; Luke 1:8-9
Scholars think that the date of the Israelite exodus was either 1446 B.C. or 1290 B.C. It impresses me, that at least one thousand, two hundred years after God instructed them in the desert to (first, construct the lamps, and then) burn those lamps and to pray before God morning and night, God’s faithful people were still doing it. They were still letting their light shine!
Psalm 19:7-11
- What command from the Word am I taking with me today to obey?
- Let’s pray to faithfully reflect the light of God today as we choose something specific to obey from the Word, and allow God to change us in some way, for the better (My thing to change today: I usually have time with God in the morning but often don’t pray at the end of the day – many nights I fall into bed, exhausted. Many nights I look forward to reading for a few minutes, to settle my mind down and prepare for sleep. I want to change this: I want God to find me lighting a lamp before him, faithfully, at the end of every day, making time to pray and meditate on his word, if only for a few minutes.)
4. SHED LIGHT on the LYING TONGUES
PSALM 120:1-7
v.2, “Save me, O Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.”
When I read this psalm, I was thinking about the lying lips that whisper to me inside my own head. When I prayed this verse to God, I was thinking about him saving me from my own deceitful tongue.
The Hebrew word for “lying” in the phrase “lying lips” in Psalm 120:2 is SHEQER (Strong’s H8267). It means lie, deception, disappointment, falsehood; what deceives or disappoints or betrays. A testimony that is injurious or just plain wrong. Gensenius’ Lexicon further explains the Biblical usage of SHEQER:in Jer 5:31, 20:6 and 29:9, it means to prophesy false things that are not received from God; in Ps 38:20, 69:5, and 119:78,86, it’s used to mean stating something in vain, without cause, undeservedly.
- Do you have any negative thoughts in your head that remind you of things you “should be” disappointed about? Write them down, identify them. Do you have anything going in your head that hurts you (injurious testimony)? Capture these evil thoughts on paper --shine God’s light on them in prayer, speaking them before God, and let the light of God’s truth melt away the accusers in our head and help us discern what is good for us to dwell upon, and what is deceitful (Hebrews 5:14).
MATTHEW 12:33-37
- Let’s store up good things in ourselves, to meditate upon throughout the day, as we have opportunity: write a short list of God’s blessings; or things to be thankful for; or note a victory God has won this week ; or some of God’s mighty deeds from the Bible. Let’s call these to mind throughout the day and chase away the darkness.
5. DILIGENTLY reflect GOD’S LIGHT
The word, “deceitful” in the phrase, “deceitful tongues” in the prayer in Psalm 120:2 is the Hebrew word R?MIYAH (Strongs H7423), which means laxness, slackness, slackening, deceit, treachery. Here are some more verses where this same word for “deceitful” shows up:
PROVERBS 10:4
This verse reads, “R?MIYAH hands make a man poor…” Lazy hands are deceitful hands. The opposite of __________________________ hands. (you can fill in the blank!)
- How can R?MIYAH hands make me poor spiritually?
PROVERBS 12:24
Again, R?MIYAH, or deceit, is contrasted with diligence.
- How can my hands be deceitful or lazy?....Think about this for a minute. Is there anything in my life that I have to do that feels to me a bit like “slave labour?” What might be the reason for this?
JEREMIAH 48:10
The NASB reads, “Cursed be the one who does the Lord’s work negligently (R?MIYAH); and cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood.”
- Look up the word, “diligent” in a dictionary. (If you don’t have one handy, I’ve put the definition at the end of this document. **)
Pray about the Lord’s work that God expects me to do diligently today. What is it, exactly? Let’s walk away from this quiet time with at least one very clear idea of what God wants me to do today and a strong decision to obey and do it. (need some ideas? maybe ask someone today what they believe about Jesus? Maybe there’s a conversation with a sister or brother or colleague or relative we need to have and we have put it off (and now it feels like “slave labour” to do it)? I have two phone calls I need to make, neighbours who have reached out to me, whose calls I haven’t returned. I’m sinning against God (lack of love, selfishness, laziness, R?MIYAH!) and need to call them today.
* My list of truths from Ephesians 6:10-13: I must choose to be strong in the Lord. I can’t be strong without the Lord. God has mighty power! I can be strong in God’s mighty power! I need to put on all God’s armor. It’s my choice to put it all on – or not. I can be protected by God but maybe not fully protected by God (if I don’t put on the full armor). Am I assured God’s protection if I do not put on his full armor? What does my own armor look like? Am I trying vainly to protect myself? How? I am in a struggle. I am struggling. I am, naturally, unarmed. I am defenseless. I can’t stand against Satan without the full armor of God. There is a devil. Satan is real. The devil is scheming against me. God expects me to take a stand against Satan. When I have the full armor of God on, I can stand against Satan successfully. I live in a dark world. There are rulers, authorities, powers that I don’t see or even think about enough, warring against me. There are spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms that I don’t understand. I am vulnerable. God expects me to protect myself against them and stand against them successfully. God’s armor works! It will not fail me. I will be able to stand my ground against my enemies. God expects me to do “everything;” I am able to do everything he expects. I am able to stand.
** diligent: having or showing care and conscientiousness in one's work or duties : many caves are located only after a diligent search.
ORIGIN Middle English : via Old French from Latin diligens, diligent- ‘assiduous,’ from diligere ‘love, take delight in.’
References:
- For Eph 6:10 http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1743&t=NASB
- For R?MIYAH: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H7423&t=NASB
