Shining Light in the Darkness
/“Then Jesus said, “I am light to the world, and those who embrace me will experience life-giving light, and they will never walk in darkness.”
The Light of the World?
When I light a candle, I am reminded that amidst the darkness, (or grey days in life), we can reach out to THE Light of the world. Not just one of many powerful Biblical metaphors ( bread of life, vine, good shepherd…). He is the Light.
”Then Jesus said, “I am light to the world, and those who embrace me will experience life-giving light, and they will never walk in darkness.” (John 8:12 - To read this verse in context, click on this link from Bible gateway with The Passion Translation)
When it comes to the Light our soul longs for, it is also key to know which “light” we are following or exposed to. There is a counterfeit light that lies, deceives and masquerades as an “Angel of light” (see 2 Corinthians 11:14 ) in many forms.
OK, so I am no “expert” in the realm of satanism, demonology or the occult, but I do have my own personal experiences over 51 years of life and have also walked closely with others on their journey of faith.
Do you find yourself or others in your world dismissing the supernatural realm thinking it is non existent OR the other extreme thinking all spirits can be trusted? I know from personal experience this is not so. I have met many over 25 years who have been delivered or released from oppression so my convictions run deep.
Last week, I listened to another life story from former Wiccan Jenny Weaver @jennyweaverworships A powerful testimony of deliverance from this world changer. Youtube Testimony
It reminded me how important one’s personal story is when it comes to the area of Light and Darkness.
I was stirred in my soul of the importance for us to understand that God wants us to discern or distinguish the spirits, so we are not deceived. 1 Corinthians 12:9-11 talks about how the Holy Spirit gives God’s children gifts to bring His Truth, Light, Love into this world. Discerning the Spirits is an actual spiritual gift, thank you Lord.
Jenny mentioned a verse that had rocked my world in the late 90’s as well: “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:11 I’ll blog about that someday, as to my own brush with evil and various ‘tools of the enemy’ that I found great joy exposing along with some lessons learned as a result of that obedience (For example, standing up against the selling, use and celebration of occult practices like the Ouija board which I personally had experience with in my pre-teen years).
“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
There should be no taboo topic in our families and relationships. Our souls were created to walk in the Light of God, but if we don’t have safe places or good resources to bring the topics of “spiritual warfare”, discernment, spirituality, we will live in confusion, isolation or being simply naive. This morning as I sit with my coffee, ponder this topic of “Shining Light in the Darkness” while writing this blog, I was reminded of a sweet memory by looking at some photos of a mother daughter retreat I spoke at in 2014 with my daughter Jaclyn at Camp Kadesh here in Saskatchewan. I spoke and I asked her to lead worship throughout the weekend. An added bonus was the creativity that she’d bring to make this such a fun weekend for us all. She is very creative and so we worked together to incorporate some artistic expressions with the group for our weekend. On one session, I ended the talk sharing about how we are called to be like a flourishing tree. (A key verse our team at WJOF chose for the women’s conference later that month). I had each mom and daughter come up and paint each others hands and place it on the canvas as a symbol of that message. The second fun activity was carving pumpkins and having one of the staff read aloud the Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs:
Mother Daughter Retreat Photo Highlights
I may not hold as strong convictions as Jenny in her video as to her understanding of Halloween. At the same time, I respect her voice and what she conveyed in her hour long video and warning she is sharing with the world. I did grow up ‘celebrating Halloween’. I loved to dress up and get candy, who doesn’t? Sure there were times in my young parenting lives, Tim and I didn’t practice Halloween and did alternative things with our kids with a few families for a few years, but it was tough to escape it and created other issues at school. I love to dress up, costumes, candy- bring it on- any day. I could see the conflict for families as many schools turned to call it just “black and orange day” on October 31st. Sigh. But the intent, the history, the darker story behind Halloween (as Jenny Weaver highlights) is important for us to address and look into. By dismissing it, we ignore in some ways the reality that true evil does exist. Satan, demons, demonic forces, witchcraft in all its forms is real. Demonic interference with people, places, systems is real. Sin is real. Oppression by sin is one level, spiritual oppression or demonic oppression is another level. Full blown possession is quite another level. From my experience working with people over 25 years of ministry- I have personally met people in various streams:
A Spectrum for Understanding Biblical Light and Darkness
People who are indifferent to the supernatural realm. They have a sense there is “something out there”, but don’t give the Light or the Dark the time of day.
People who are paralyzed by fear of the evil realm and are too afraid to address it, get help and are deceived into thinking they can’t ‘come out from it’, i.e. no way out, and accept this is the way to live. Normalizing crippling, life choking fear in themselves and others.
People who want to walk in the Light, but are over-consumed with the demonic realm, reading too much about it, focusing on it, trying to figure it out, entertaining spirits and playing with a hot stove sort of speak, trying to find a demon behind every rock, blaming all wrong doing on demonic activity (rather than taking personal responsibility when one’s own human error is at play as a result of sin or simply living in a fallen world.).
People who dismiss it, ignore it and laugh it off, completely denying that satan, demons and the supernatural realm in general doesn’t exist, often assuming the only answer is hallucinations or mental illness alone.*
OR
Believers in Christ (or those yet to proclaim Jesus as Lord and Saviour), experiencing general demonic oppression for weeks, months or years and found relief and freedom from the oppression. They did so through walking in faith and utilizing various spiritual disciplines, (prayer, fasting, obedience to God’s word , worshipping God , etc). or deliverance ministry, that presence lifted off of their soul bringing the True Light to their whole being, spirit, soul, body.
People who have miraculous testimonies of deliverance from demonic possession. They often report a being, or presence slithering out of their body or mouth/ throat during this process of deliverance. They are welcomed by the Light of the World: Jesus Christ, who gently enters into their lives when prayed over and confessing his name out loud.
(I have found that both steams of people noted directly above come to have a healthy understanding of the supernatural realm according to the Bible. They learn to put their faith and trust in Jesus and focus on His Light and not the darkness.)
People who love God, His Word and don’t have any direct experience with the demonic realm that they are aware of and have a healthy understanding of this topic and take God at their word. They believe people and help to find support for them when they share their own story of evil activity in their lives be it in their experiences, thought life or haunting dreams. They don’t completely discount the supernatural realm and provide appropriate resources or referrals to trusted individuals, professionals, counseluors or ministry leaders for practical, genuine help if they aren’t equipped and called to do so directly.
The first three streams is exactly where the Evil one would like humanity to be- Confused, tormented, spiritually blinded or living life without access to the Power of God.
The last three streams have a foundation of faith to find freedom in Christ in the power of God’s Holy Spirit. More on that later.
Which Stream Do You Relate To?
*Disclaimer- I am an advocate for mental wellness and believe in a collaborative effort between one’s Creator, the Holy Spirit, a trusted spiritual mentor/ leader equipped to walk alongside people in areas of oppression or possession AND medical/ psychological assistance where needed or appropriate.
For now, I want to walk in the opposite spirit on this day: October 31st, 2021 as “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24) (Costumes or no costumes, candy or no candy, jackolantern or no pumpkins on your doorstep, I felt led to share this post to encourage you the reader, to pray for Truth to arise in our culture, for the Light of the World (Jesus) to manifest more and more in His people. May we seek out THE Light in this world to shine in and through us as He has created each man, woman and child to be a vessel for His Light to shine forth.
I’ll end here with this classic Children’s book written by a sister in Ministry Liz Curtis Higgs over 20 years ago. “The Pumpkin Patch Parable”, which I would read to my girls when they were little. It is still on my fireplace mantle as I decorated for fall this last month. I cherished the message it holds then as a young momma and I cherish it now today as a grand-momma as I hide the truths in my heart and love what this book teaches and symbolizes through this parable:
The Pumpkin Patch Parable
Verses noted in the Pumpkin Patch Parable for further personal study and reflection: John 15:1 (Vine/ Gardner), Luke 8:1 (God’s teaching is a seed), Isaiah 66:2 (God made all living things), John 4:25 (open your eyes to the “harvest”), Acts 22:16 (Baptism/ confession), Psalm 51:1 (Create in me a new heart), Hebrews 4:12 , Jeremiah 17:10 (God can see our hearts), Matthew 6:22, Proverbs 15:13 (happiness makes a person smile), 2 Corinthians 4:6 (Light of Jesus), Matthew 5:16 (Live to honour God), 2 Corinthians 5:17 (Being made new).
Feel free to write me and share your own story with “Light and Dark”. for prayer support or recommendations on other resources on this topic for you or your loved ones. Click here to contact me. I’ll aim to follow up within 48 hours.
