Darkness

The depth of darkness

grahamcommand Christian, Real Life , , , , , , ,

Inspired by a YouTube Praise video

I love to watch praise videos, mostly through YouTube. In recent years, Facebook has also allowed videos to be uploaded, even those that have been linked from YouTube

Having watched and been uplifted by many praise videos, I quite often scroll down to read the comments, while all Christians offer their own praise and thanks to the person who uploaded the video

There always seem to be other viewers (non-believers) who delight in criticising all too often

There are many forms of darkness, not just the darkness of the night. One of the deepest darkness is depression, which wraps itself around your life force and sucks all the joy out of your very being

Dragging you downwards into a spiral of self-criticism, self-doubt, along with self-pity, which uses our own weaknesses against us

Clouding our vision so we begin only seeing the lies of the darkness, exaggerating even our smallest faults and allowing them to grow into nightmarish monsters

 Much of the darkness inflicted upon us can be beyond our control, while some are self-inflicted because they offer false pleasure but become easily addictive

The enemy weaves such a web of deceit all around us; we can so easily become trapped as a fly stuck fast upon its sticky strands. We soon grow weaker through the struggle and succumb to its power over us until we accept the situation as a normal part of life

Since the fall, we seem to have bodies and minds that are far short of what they should be, and our children become affected by the sins of their parents

Many modern people view the commandments as outdated and even unfair, considering it unreasonable for God to expect us to adhere to all of His strict rules.

Uncontrollable anger rages – a sense of hopelessness, self-doubt, self-pity, and perhaps the worst of all, self-indulgence

This we shrug off with excuses, “I’m only human”, “You have to have some pleasure in life”

But deep in our hearts, we know that self-indulgence will lead us into more self-centred behaviour, blocking out our ability to see our desperate need for salvation before we can help others

Whatever darkness threatens to engulf us, let us pierce with praise, that we be freed from the enemy’s clutches, and help and pray for each other to become free through the grace of Jesus Christ

What has the darkness to do with the light?

grahamcommand Christian, Real Life , , , , , ,

People love the dark due to their desires overtaking them

Therefore, they dwell in the darkness believing it will hide their sins

Their minds become seared also their hearts are hardened

In this present darkened world, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few

To this extent, gay parades have gathered in huge numbers, in many countries even in unexpected places.

Sucha as in India and here in England there is a gay village in Birmingham city

Jesus said many things during his ministry, but even in his own home town

He was frequently threatened by angry people who at times wanted to stone him

Jesus made it clear to those who would listen

 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Even though Jesus made it crystal clear who He was and why He came

Far too many have become like lost sheep either rejecting God or turning away from Him

Heavenly Father may it please you to use me, unworthy as I am, to bring your light back into this dark world

Let us pierce the darkness with our praise

grahamcommand Christian, faith, Religion, Uplifting , , , ,

Inspired by comments on a YouTube Praise video

The praise video was wonderfully uplifting, which made it all the sadder to read too many criticism comments, which began to darken the light of praise

There are many forms of darkness not just the darkness of the night, one of the deepest darkness is depression, which wraps itself around your life force and sucks all the joy out of your very being

Dragging you downwards into a spiral of self-criticism – self-doubt along with self-pity, which uses our own weaknesses against us

Clouding our vision so we begin only seeing the lies of the darkness, exaggerating even our smallest faults and allowing them to grow into nightmarish monsters

 Much of the darkness inflicted upon us can be beyond our control, while some are self-inflicted because they offer false pleasure but become easily addictive

Our enemy weaves such a web of deceit all around us; we can so easily become trapped as a fly stuck fast upon its sticky strands we soon grow weaker through the struggle and succumb to its power over us until we accept the situation as a normal part of life

There are those who are born with bodies or minds that are far short of what they should be; but can they can fulfil God’s purpose if they allow His will to be done

While others with no defeats who inherit bad habits or similar traits from their parents

Without even realizing they can easily slip into the same ways as others before they have done, for many modern-day people view the commandments as outdated and even unnecessary or unfair of God to expect us to adhere to these strict rules

Uncontrollable anger rages – a sense of hopelessness – self-doubt – self-pity and maybe the worse one of all self-indulgent as this we shrug off with excuses “I’m only human” “you have to have some pleasure in life”

But self-indulgent through bad habits lead us into indulging in further self-indulgent, as enough is never enough, blocking out their ability to see the need of others

Let us instead fight back and pierce the darkness with praise and raise ourselves up above the enemy’s clutches and help others to free themselves too

Let us continue to watch those praise videos and sing along where the spirit moves, let us keep them in our hearts too so we can offer up praise wherever we are

Let us pierce the darkness with praise so that we are up above the enemy’s clutches and help other sinners to become free through the grace of Jesus Christ

With our praise let our little light shine and with God’s power, we will shine brighter than the sun