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“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

Have you ever toured a cave? The large ones that have big tours keep a lighting system going so visitors can see the beauty of the rock formations. Then to show how deep under the earth’s surface everyone is, the lights are turned off. Pitch black darkness. No one can see a thing. The darkness is so thick it almost takes a person’s breath away. Suddenly the lights are turned back on and people are able to see again.

Light gives us the ability to see. When light reflects, or bounces off, an object, it bounces into our eyes, and we are able to see that object. Light travels at approximately 186,282 miles per second. When light passes through a prism, the colors split into a rainbow. When a candle is lit or a flashlight shines in a dark room, the light pushes out the darkness.

First John 1:5 makes it clear that God is light. When He shines in our lives, it reflects out for others to see. His light transforms us and we show His glory. God’s light allows us to see truth.

The light of God pushes out the darkness of sin. There is no room for darkness when light shines. There is no room for sin when God shines in us. By filling our lives and our minds with God’s Word, we push out the darkness of sin.

Living in the Light (God) leaves no room for darkness (sin).

My response:

» Am I filling my mind with the word of God?

» Am I thinking about the truth of Who God is?

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).

We had seen her getting off the bus. Some kids laughed and pointed at her. Most just stared. Her brother and sister had walked on either side of her as if to protect her. Now she stood at the front of my classroom. Our teacher smiled, put her hands on the girl’s shoulders, told us her name, and welcomed her.

It took courage for the new girl to come to school, and it took more courage for her to stand in front of us. She was a little person—someone with a condition called “dwarfism” which causes them to be much smaller and shorter than others. Except in the movies, we had never seen a little person before. Over the years that girl taught my classmates and me a lot about acceptance and humility.

God made everyone, and He loves what He made. Not everyone looks the same. We do not all think the same. It is easy to make fun of and talk about someone who is different from us. But God wants us to use all our words to help others.

God wants us to be kind. He wants our words to be kind too.

My response:

» Are my words kind?

» Do I point or stare at people who are different from me, or do I make them feel welcome and accepted?

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

Nouns are interesting things. A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. While it’s easy to recognize a noun when it’s used in a sentence, nouns are really more like ideas than actual things. I can’t hold a noun, or smell it, or taste it, or hear it, or see it. Nouns are funny that way.

God is not an idea, but He is a spirit. You cannot hold Him, see Him, or hear Him. He is not the same as us. Because He is spirit, He can be everywhere at the same time.

So how does a human have a relationship with a being that is spirit? John 4:24 answers that question. We worship. We worship in spirit. We worship in truth. God has given us a spirit so we can talk to Him and worship Him in spirit. God has a plan and a purpose. He made us with the purpose of worshiping Him. We worship His Spirit through our spirit.

Worshiping in spirit is not an emotion. But emotions may be present. Worshiping in spirit comes from the deepest part of who we are. We worship with the whole heart. This comes as we know God’s Word and desire to obey Him. Even when we fail, we confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness, and then worship Him more, since we have experienced so much forgiveness.

God is Spirit, and He deserves our worship.

My response:

» Am I worshiping God?

» Am I worshiping in spirit?

» Am I learning from God’s Word Who God is so I can worship Him?

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions” (Psalm 51:1).

“I’ve done it again. Messed up big time,” Lisa said to herself. “Dumb, dumb, dumb!”

She wanted to tell the truth. She tried to tell the truth. But Lisa had once again stretched the truth to a lie. And she had thought she was only making the story a little more exciting. Made herself look a little better than what was real. But now she was caught. Knee deep in a lie and the evidence was plain. The punishment would be huge, she was sure. Mrs. Franklin did not tolerate lies.

But this time Mrs. Franklin had a new idea. “Lisa, I know you lied. You know you lied. You have confessed to the lie. You know that a lying tongue is something that God hates. And because God hates it, I hate it also.”

“Here it comes,” thought Lisa. “I’m dead meat.”

“But as much as God hates lies, He loves you,” Mrs. Franklin continued. “Today I want you to understand your wrong actions and the mercy of God. You have shown you understand how your actions grieve God. Here is the mercy part. You may go to recess, and we will not discuss this any further.”

The mercy of God goes hand in hand with His love. Without the love of God, there would be no mercy. When we see the mercy of God, it is because He is love. When I think about it, God’s love shows God’s mercy continually. We deserve Hell and complete separation from God and from all that is good. Yet in His mercy God has chosen not to give us the punishment we deserve. That is mercy.

God is merciful.

My response:

» Do I recognize all the ways God has shown mercy to me?

» Do I try to show mercy to others?

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. . . . They desire a better country, that is, an heavenly [country]” (Hebrews 11:13, 16a).

A Puritan preacher named John Bunyan wrote the book Pilgrim’s Progress. It tells the story of a man named Christian and his journey to the Celestial City. Along the way to this heavenly city, Christian meets with terrible dangers, and he meets many people who try to lure him away from the right road. Christian has to avoid these side trips, say no to many temptations, and even leave certain people behind. The point of the story is that a true Christian must stay on the road to Heaven, not get sidetracked by the junk on the side of the road. Christians must not get caught up in the distractions of this world. Sometimes even things that seem fun and harmless can become traps that pull our hearts away from God and cause us to love this world.

What do you think of when you hear the word “pilgrim”? Some people think of a pilgrim as someone who is sour faced and out of touch and who doesn’t believe in having any fun. But the Bible says in Hebrews 11 that true believers are to be pilgrims. People who live by faith are pilgrims on this earth. This world is not their home; Heaven is! Like Christian in the story of Pilgrim’s Progress, true believers must stay on the road to Heaven, where they will be with Jesus Christ forever. They might have to give up certain activities that draw their hearts away from God. They might have to say no to certain people who try to distract them from obedience to God. They might even have to avoid places where they know they will be tempted to sin. The most important thing to a pilgrim is not this world, but the world to come. God wants us to live for Heaven.

God wants us to live for Heaven rather than loving this world.

My response:

» Are any of my friends or activities turning my heart away from God and the road to Heaven?

» What does God want me to do about friends or activities that turn my heart away from Him?