Day 3 of 21 Day Challenge

Yesterday, I wondered why the disciples needed to see a miracle before they put their faith in Him and why Jesus had to die before they believed in the Scripture and what He said. I realized that in current times, people don't get to physically see Jesus so it is hard for them to put their faith in Him. However, Jesus does still perform miracles and I wondered how people could witness a miracle, yet not believe in Him. I found it really cool that today's reading answered those questions in a really neat way.

When I read John 3:19-20, I smiled as I realized that God was answering the questions that I had yesterday!   John 3:19-20 says, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." It all became so clear to me after I read those verses! When people choose to live in sin, they don't want to be exposed to the light. The light is Jesus. The light is truth. Many people want to do whatever they feel like doing. They don't want to be told that something is wrong. When they are confronted with the truth, they will flee because they realize that what they are doing is wrong and they don't want to admit that and turn from their ways. They realize if they step into the light, others will see their sin; so they turn the other way rather than step into the light. What is truly sad is that they don't realize that Jesus would forgive all of their sins and they'd be made clean if they would just step into the light, admit their sins, and ask for forgiveness.There are people who are very verbal in telling others what they believe. I'm sure we've all heard people say "Jesus doesn't exist!", "He's a myth!", "It's all a fairy tale!" (referring to the Bible), and "There is no heaven or hell!" When these people witness a miracle, they are confronted with the fact that what they believe is not true. Rather than admit they were wrong, they find excuses for what happened because they don't want to admit that they've been believing in a lie. How sad that these people choose to continue to live in darkness rather than admit they were wrong and ask for forgiveness. God would freely forgive them and they could live a much better life in the light. We need to be willing to let our light shine so that others are drawn to that light. Even though some may turn away from it, others will grow tired of running away. They will see how much better life is for those living in the light, and they will crave that  kind of life and eventually run TO the light instead of away from it.

Proverbs 12:3 says "A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay to his bones." I'm not sure I'm as wonderful as a crown, but I sure hope I'm not as bad as decay! Oh how I desire to always be the kind of wife my husband can be proud of! I know there are things I need to work on,  but I am so thankful to know that my husband loves me in spite of my faults. Neither one of us is perfect, but we love each other. We also both love Jesus and desire to serve Him, and we are trying our best to raise our kids to know, love, and serve Him too.

Proverbs 12:26 says "A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray." When I was in school, I never had many friends. I was called names because my lips were big, and the constant name calling led me to believe I was ugly. My parents of course told me I was pretty, but I figured "They are my parents, so they are suppose to think I'm pretty!" LOL. The first person I remember, or maybe it was just the person who hearing him say it made the most impact, was also the man I happened to marry, my husband Bob. I can count on one hand the number of men I dated. I wanted so much to get married and be a wife and mother, but I was shy and didn't go out of my way to talk to people. I guess my low self-esteem had made me feel like no one would want to be my friend so I waited for people to come to me. I was a very loyal friend to those who got to know me, but I usually only had one really close friend at a time. Eventually, I slowly began to reach out to get to know others, but I think this verse helped me to see that maybe God was protecting me from being led astray. I had been raised in a Christian home and knew right from wrong, but it may have been easy for me to be led astray if I had strongly desired to be popular and wanted lots of friends. I was actually content as long as I had one close friend that I knew I could trust. I've seen Christians be led astray by hanging out with friends who were not Christians. They allowed themselves to do things with their friends that they knew was wrong, but they did it anyway because they didn't want to lose their friends. I'm not saying we shouldn't be friends with unbelievers, but we need to be careful that we do not become so absorbed into those friendships that we get pulled away from our relationship with Jesus. I think Christians need to make sure to have at least a few close Christian friends, preferably ones who won't be afraid to step in if they start to see a problem with your actions.

So today I learned a few things: People don't believe in Jesus, even when they see a miracle, because they are living in darkness and don't want to have their sins revealed. I need to be a light to all of my friends and acquaintances. I need to do what I can to help them be drawn to the light instead of fleeing from it. I should be cautious with my friendships so that I don't get led astray. I need to be a wife of noble character (kind, loving, trustworthy, honest, and yes...submissive) so I can build my husband up (so he can wear that crown proudly!) and not tear him down (like a decay to his bones would do). I hope this blog helped you too. Maybe you learned something new or maybe it challenged you to make a change. I love to hear that people are reading my blog and getting something out of it, so feel free to share your opinion on whatever I share. If you have experiences of your own to share, feel free to do that too. God bless you and I hope you have a wonderful day!