"Light and Light"

    Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ seek to travel along the parallel tracks of the living Word and the written Word.

    "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).

    "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38).

    Genuine knowledge of the Lord Jesus involves both the personal and the doctrinal.  God originally made humanity in His image for the wondrous purpose of fellowship with us.  Even a cursory reading of the New Testament confirms that our Lord can be known in living reality, even in this present dispensation wherein we "see through a glass darkly" (I Corinthians 13:12).  As our Lord declared, "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).  The "know"of this statement (ginosko in the original Greek) implies intimacy, as opposed to a mere surface intellectual assent.  Thus, we expect God to be personal with us as He leads, enables, and reveals Himself as the very Life of our lives.  

    We also expect such Presence to flow in the current of "as the Scripture hath said."  John 17 also contains the Lord's affirmation to His Father, "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17).  Clearly referencing the authority of Scripture, the Lord Jesus established the written Word as the objective standard of all genuine experience of the living God.  Every jot and tittle of what we know about our Lord and His working in our lives must rest upon "as the Scripture hath said" and "Thy Word is truth."  Doctrine is vital, serving as the indispensable source and test of our walk in the Spirit.  Any supposed personal knowledge of God that does not align with the Bible rightly interpreted must be rejected as dangerous deviation from Truth, regardless of how spiritual or noble the experience may seem.  "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits" (I John 4:1).

    Our train, as it were, requires two tracks.  "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).  The light of Scripture leads us to the light of Christ.  The light of Christ leads us to the light of Scripture.  We will spiritually derail if we fail to emphasize both gifts of God to our relationship and fellowship with Him.  Our Heavenly Father calls us to know Him and His Son, as revealed by His Spirit and the Scriptures.  He engages both the heart and the mind of His trusting children in Christ as we seek to know and to understand the wonder of His living and true presence in our lives…

"God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

(John 4:24)

Weekly Memory Verse

   I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.  So shall I be saved from my enemies.

(II Samuel 22:4)