How to Fix Stupid

<sup>One day God will fix stupid.  Here's how.....

I John 1:5-7
5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. 6 If we say, "We have fellowship with Him," and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing [c] the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

The stark contrast of the words "light" and "darkness" intrigued me.  I wanted to know what does it mean that God is light.  And what exactly is the darkness?

So I did some digging and found out that the original Greek word "light" in this verse is φῶς (phōs).  The definition of phos includes the practical idea of anything that emits light, such as a lamp, a star, or fire.  But it is also defined as being "of truth and its knowledge".

Darkness in the above verse is the word σκοτία (skotia/skotos).  Again, the definition includes darkness as in the absence of light, but it too has an additional definition; "of ignorance of divine things, and its associated wickedness".

So light is truth and darkness is ignorance.  Therefore, it would not be inappropriate to sub those words in the above passage, like so:
I John 1:5-7
5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is TRUTH, and there is absolutely no IGNORANCE in Him. 6 If we say, "We have fellowship with Him," and walk in IGNORANCE, we are lying and are not practicing [c] the truth. 7 But if we walk in the TRUTH as He Himself is in the TRUTH, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

The same Greek words for light and darkness are found in many verses. Here are a few:

You are all sons of the light (phos, truth) and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness (skotos, ignorance)
1 Thessalonians 5:5

For you were once darkness (skotos, ignorance), but now you are light (phos, truth) in the Lord. Live as children of light (phos, truth).
Ephesians 5:8

BUT HERE'S WHERE IT GETS REALLY COOL!!
Look at Revelations 22:5
There will be no more night*. They will not need the light (phos) of a lamp or the light (phos) of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light**. And they will reign for ever and ever.

*This word "night" is νύξ (nyx) and its definition includes "the time of moral STUPIDITY and darkness".

**This light is NOT "phos".  This is a different light that we will experience when we get to Heaven.  THIS word for light is φωτίζω (phōtizō).  Its definition is "to enlighten, light up, illumine,to bring to light, render evident,to cause something to exist and thus come to light and become clear to all,to enlighten spiritually,to give understanding". It's best summarized by the word ENLIGHTENMENT.

The main truth that we fight to hold on to here on Earth, but will become completely clear in Heaven, is how very much GOD LOVES YOU.
While we are in this life, the enemy of our soul works hard to keep you in the dark.  When we put our faith in Christ, we became children of light or truth--we came to understand an assemblance of God's love.  This truth of God's immense love is something we must actively hold on to and try our best to not allow the darkness of doubt to creep back in.  Our fleshly view of God's love is tainted by our environment, low self esteem, and our finite minds.  However, in Heaven, the truth of His love for each individual will be illuminated straight into all of us without the need to constantly hold onto it, because we will become completely enlightened and the truth will be clear to ALL.</sup>

Holy Guacamole--This is Some Good Stuff!

I know it's a little long, but I had to share this passage taken from The Message Bible.  Hopefully, someone needs to read this today as badly as I did. I took the liberty of underlining the parts that jumped out at me.
Keep It Real,
Angela

Romans 6

The Message (MSG)

When Death Becomes Life

 ^1-3So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land!  ^3-5That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country.
 ^6-11Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did.
 ^12-14That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God.

What Is True Freedom?

 ^15-18So, since we're out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we're free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!  ¹⁹I'm using this freedom language because it's easy to picture. You can readily recall, can't you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God's freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?
 ^20-21As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
 ^22-23But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.

Just a Friendly Reminder

Remember:

It is sometimes easier to believe the lie than to hold on to the truth.  Although it is tempting, don't take the easy way out for it only leads to bondage. 

John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

How Old Are YOU?

In a parent/child relationship, the child relates to the parent in strikingly different ways throughout each stage of life.

In your relationship with God, how old are you? At what stage of life would you say you are?

How do you relate to God, your Father?

As a child?--Full of awe and faith, not really analyzing much.  A child just accepts what you tell them and goes on with life in full pursuit.  Children enjoy being around their loving parents.  They love to play and laugh and take time to smell the roses.  They have not had much of the pressure of responsibilities or the crush of disappointments and emotional pain.  They just love their Daddy.

As a teenager?--Trying to "find themselves" and usually rebellious.  Teenagers begin to think that their way is better than their Father's.  Teenagers also interpret the actions of a protective parent incorrectly.  They believe their parent is keeping something fun or good from them.  They often feel life is unfair.  They still love their Father, but often stretch (if not bust through) the boundaries of their Father's wishes.

As an adult child?--Settled, mature and enjoying the company of their parents.  In the ideal evolution of a functional family, there is nothing else more satisfying then when adult children and their parents have formed a deep, beautiful relationship.  In these situations, both parties enjoy each other's company.  In spite of the occasional questioning of the actions of the parent, adult children come to know and appreciate the wisdom, love, and guidance that has been there all along.  They are secure in their place in the family.  They now see their Father's desire for a rich, genuine relationship with His child and the child desires to have that relationship also.

 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
2 Peter 3:17-18