John 3:19-21(NLT)
19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
God has given every believer of sound mind the ability to discern what is good and bad, and right and wrong. As His kids, we know the difference between what is from the Kingdom of light, and what is from the kingdom of darkness. If we did not know these things, we could not be judged on our actions, but it is precisely because we know when we’re obeying God and when we’re not, that we are held accountable by Him. He has given us the gift of free-will, and He has also given us the freedom to use this gift any way we choose. If we choose to do what is right in God’s eyes, John 3:21 tells us that He shines a spotlight on us so others can see that pleasing Him is the best way to live life.
Psalm 1:1-3(NLT) states, “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2 But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” This is God’s promise and it is tremendously assuring to know that He rewards us for doing what is right. In today’s environment, many people don’t believe this. They believe they can do whatever they’d like without consequence or cost. That is not true, and it isn’t the way God designed the universe to operate.
Some of us think we know ourselves very well, but we are not always completely honest about what is operating in our hearts. We must do as God commanded us through the Apostle Paul in 2Corinthians 13:5 and examine ourselves to see if our faith is genuine. We must do this continually to make sure that we have hearts that are always desiring to put the Will of God as our top priority. Psalm 44:21 tells us that Heavenly Father knows the secret of every heart, so we can’t hide anything from Him. If His Will isn’t our aim, we must pray for His help and dedicate ourselves to renewing our minds so that we lay down our will for His.
When we love the Lord and carry His love in our hearts, this love will either attract the light to you or it will certainly dispel the darkness around you. The truth of the passage in John 3, declares this emphatically. It says that all who do evil hate the light, and we must be ever so careful not to dwell with those that hate the light. There are some people, even some we currently call our friends, that are not happy with our walk with Christ. They show us by their behaviors, conversations, and attitudes that they don’t desire to know God. We must be ever so careful not to allow them to cause us to slip into sin.
1Thessalonians 5:5(NLT) declares, “For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.” God doesn’t mince words when it comes to light and darkness. He wants us to know the difference between the truth and a lie, because the truth sets us free, and a lie places us in bondage. In our time, there are many that say they are prophets, but they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. By the same token, there are many people in our lives that say they are for us, but deep down they are not. If we are attentive to the Spirit, he will help us discern when someone cleverly lies. We must pray for greater discernment in these areas, because there are many counterfeits that the devil seeks to use to trick us, just as he tricked Adam and Eve.
A group of Jewish teachers and leaders that were around during the time of Jesus Christ were known as Pharisees. They were extremely religious and arrogant, and tried to trap our Lord and Savior with questions so they could humiliate him. If he had given an answer that was against their beliefs and laws, they would attempt to imprison him. But Jesus was much too razor-sharp for that. He walked with the Father, so they were never able to manipulate his wisdom and power. He told the Pharisees in John 8:43-45(NLT), “43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me!”
The devil hates the truth and the light, and so do his children. We must never turn a deaf ear or blind eye to this. God has told us in Romans 12:2 that we can’t let anything or anyone in the world conform us. Instead, we are to be transformed by renewing our minds to His Word. As women, one of our common pitfalls in relationships is that we will put our physical desires or the desires of the man in our lives above our relationship with God. This is a trick and we must never allow this to happen, because nothing will set us back in life more.
God tells us in Ephesians 5:6-10 The Message, “Don’t let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with him. Don’t even hang around people like that. You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.”
Figuring out what pleases God and then responding to it is the key that unlocks blessings. Many of us have expended a lot of time and energy searching for what we want most, and then it slipped through our fingers. We were groping around, not paying attention to what God was doing in us through His Spirit, but we can’t afford to continue making mistakes like these. We must be committed to doing what pleases our Heavenly Father. He commands us to avoid associations with those that hide from the truth, because they will try to get us to join along with them. This does not please Him. As His children of light, we are out in the open in the light of Christ! For this we must let our hearts overflow with gratitude to God, and we must seek to honor Him in all that we do.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
“Doing What God Wants” written by Kim Times, edited by Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!