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John 14 v 6

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Psalm 119 is about this point made by Jesus, the way, the truth and life. Psalm 119 verse 105 encapsulates this; Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Jesus Christ is the Word of God (John 1 v 1-3), the Holy Spirit is the spirit of Light, 1 John 1:5; This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth: John 14 v 16-17; And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. And the fact that Jesus Christ is the life was stated in John 14 v 19; Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. It was said of the Lord Jesus that life was in Him, and the life was the light of men, and the darkness overcame it not (John 1:4,5).

John 14 v 21 is about keeping the precepts of the Lord which is what Psalm 119 is all about. Psalm 119 describes the precepts of the Lord as a path to be walked, and the Word of God as a light or Lamp to illuminate the way. Light is transparency; light is clearness; light is absolute purity; light is honesty; light is openness of character. Light hides nothing; its whole action and nature is contrary to hiding anything. It has nothing to hide; it shows everything; it shows all: in other words, it is not deceitful. It does not want to cover anything, or to pretend or make believe that something is other than what it is. Light is single; it is not double; there is no duplicity about light. And light is just – light! There is ‘no darkness at all’ where there is light. Psalm 119 v 130; The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

These things, as you will recognize, are symbolic terms. They show symbolically what the Holy Spirit has come to do, in men and women, and in the creation. He has come to bring about in human nature a condition like that. He has undertaken a tremendous task! He is the Spirit of Light – that is His character – and the purpose of His presence is to bring to an end everything that is of the nature of darkness. How many shades and aspects of darkness there are! – a whole vocabulary of words. The Spirit has come to bring all that to an end by applying the Cross, in which it was all brought to an end in the Person of the Lord Jesus; to work out the meaning of the Cross in our lives, so that everything that belongs to that kingdom of darkness is removed: so that in the end, with us too, there is no darkness at all.

Is that really what we think of, when we think of having, receiving, being filled with the Holy Spirit? Here again, perhaps, a little re-shaping of our ideas is called for. It is true that He is many other things, as well as light: He is the Spirit of Power, He is the Spirit of Wisdom; yes, He is many other things; but, with them all, He is this. And we must not make more of those ‘demonstration’ aspects of the Spirit, in power, in gifts and capacities, in works, than we do of His character side. If He really does His work in you and in me, He will make us to be people who can bear to be ‘looked into’ without any fear, without any drawing of the blinds. Our lives and our motives will bear looking into.

Absolute Truth belongs to God, the Holy Spirit is the spirit of Truth, what we as men have is relative truth and or sometimes sincerity, which can be knowledge without light or understanding. We often think that sincerity on our part is all that is called for: we have only got to be ‘sincere’ in order to satisfy God. (I would remind you that there is, in any case, a difference between sincerity and reality.) But Saul of Tarsus was the most ‘sincere’ man alive in his day, and yet he was the most mistaken. Sincerity may be required, may be very important, and it is; but do not let us deceive ourselves with our sincerity, and say that because we are downright sincere, then we must be right; that is not the case. The Spirit may require sincerity to open the door, for anything that is insincere means a closed door to the Holy Spirit. But, after all, it is only an opening of the door, so that He may come in and then begin to show us that, ‘sincere’ as we were, we were wrong after all.

It is exactly what happened with Paul, is it not? “I verily thought… that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 26:9). ‘I verily thought that I ought to do…’: absolutely sincere, absolutely conscientious, and yet so ignominiously mistaken and wrong – until the Light came. Then he saw it. You see the point. The Holy Spirit does not just accept our sincerity as the everything. He comes perhaps through that door; then He begins His work of showing that even our purest motives were probably mixed; our most sincere intentions were tainted. He works according to His knowledge, and we must give Him credit always for doing that.

Light is a fearless thing. If there is anything doubtful or questionable, anything about which we are not sure; if we have some question, if we are not sure whether our position is right or wrong: then we are always afraid, we are in the weakness of fear. Darkness and fear always go together – it is like that naturally, is it not? – fear belongs to darkness. There can be no confidence, no strength, where there is darkness. This City, this people, at the end, is a strong city, “having a wall great and high” (Rev. 21:12); it is the very embodiment of the idea of strength: but its strength lies in its character – in its purity, its light.

Light can be shut out by prejudice. We can, you know, deprive ourselves of this light of the Spirit; we can shut out the light; we can have bandages over our eyes. What might such bandages be? Well, take prejudice. Prejudice is a terribly blinding thing. It means, as the word clearly indicates, that you have pre-judged something, some situation, before you really looked into it. You prejudged it – perhaps on the basis of report, or on any one of many pretexts. And, in pre-judging, without a first-hand, honest, sincere, true investigation and enquiry, pursuing this matter till you really knew, you closed down – you foreclosed on it. Very well: you have put the bandage of prejudice on your eyes, and there is no hope – no hope – until that is removed.

Light can be shut out by Pride and Policy. And then there is pride: unwillingness to humble ourselves; unwillingness to say that we have been wrong, to take something back. Pride can blind. Perhaps there are few things more blinding than pride. And policy: you can just shut the Holy Spirit right out if you are going to be governed by policy. Policy means taking into account how things will affect you and your interests, your future, how it will close doors to you; what other people will think – that if you do this or that you will be regarded as a ‘speckled bird’, and so on; you see, secondary considerations. Oh, that is a hobgoblin of the Devil to rob you of something! Yes, it will blind; you will not go on if there is any policy about it – make no mistake. If Abraham has a great inheritance – and there is no doubt that he has, for the covenant of promise concerned his seed, ‘which seed is Jesus Christ’ (Gal. 3:16) – what an inheritance! – remember that the covenant with Abraham was made at the point where God appeared to him and said: “I am God All-sufficient; walk before me, and be thou perfect” (Gen. 15:1).

‘Walk before Me! and be thou perfect.’ That is the way of the enlarging inheritance. ‘Before Me!’ Not before men; not before systems; not before public opinion; and not before your own interests, with an eye to how they are going to be served, and what is going to happen to you. ‘Walk before Me, and be thou perfect. I am the Lord All-sufficient’. ‘How can ye believe, who receive glory one from another, and do not seek the glory which comes from God only?’ This is the way of light; this is the way of power; this is the way of the Spirit. It is the way of ‘walking in the light, as He is in the light’, and walking with the light in ourselves. As Psalm 119 verse 133 states; Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.

Psalm 119 verse 159 states; See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, Lord, in accordance with your love. That is in Christ Jesus, Romans 8 verse 39. This is our prayer according to Psalm 119 verses 169-176; May my cry come before you, Lord; give me understanding according to your word. May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise. May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, Lord, and your law gives me delight. Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me. I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.

2 Corinthians 12 v 9

My grace is sufficient for you

Ephesians 2 v 8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Acts 4 v 12

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved

The Grace of God, that is the courteous goodwill of God is exhibited by the atonement of and for our sins (Romans 3 v 23; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God), by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is sufficient for us, through this, those who are saved have their names recorded in Heaven. Even the possession of gifts such as prophecy, healing, pastoring, casting out demons, etc, are not in themselves reasons to rejoice, but the recording of our names in Heaven is the only reason for rejoicing. (Luke 10 v 19-20; Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on [d]serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice at this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”)

I gave my father a penetrating painful gaze that could melt a rock, hoping to discomfit him. I couldn’t take in the confession he just blatantly blurted out. How could he! Of course, he had just confessed the gory and disgustful chapters and the verses of the act. Please forgive my use of language. After all there is no other name for a spade but a spade, neither is there another name for a rose but a rose. After a resounding silence, still staring hard at him, all the while trying without success to control the trembling his words enacted in my bones; I could only mutter a whimpering response though I wanted to yell. ‘Why did you do it dad? Mum loves you. You are her pride and joy. She waits on you hand and foot.’ ‘Was your marriage vow just a whistle in the wind?’, I yelled at last. ‘No, no!’, he gasped breathlessly. I couldn’t muffle my disappointment; I was as sick as a parrot, more in sorrow that in anger. His denial was however so categorical that I had to take a second look at him, and then I saw his pain; he had become a shadow of his usual cheerful self. It was now evident that he was suffering from the kiss of death in silence until he couldn’t take it anymore. At that time, I realized that it was high time I simmered down. Gently, with pityingly prodding eyes and gesture, I asked again, ‘Dad why did you do it?’ barely audible, ‘I wanted a male child,’ he responded. It’s your chromosome that is the determining factor of the child’s sex.’ I informed him with a faint trace of the disgust I felt.

In my mum’s view, my father was second to none in love and faithfulness. They have been married for thirty-five good years, yet my mum never once smelt a rat. Anyway the situation now was past cure and care, I thought. What was the use of shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted? The fact that my father had illicit extramarital affair which culminated into two teenage girls was just the tip of the iceberg. The wheels within the wheels now that the woman wanted my dad to openly acknowledge her and her children, threatening to introduce herself to my mum as the second wife if he failed to carry out her bidding. Hence my father like a drowning man clutches at straws had to confide in me, hoping that I would speak to my mother on his behalf. I promised my father that I would come the following Sunday.

As usual my mother was glad to see me, though with a questioning look as to the purpose of my visit, just after visiting three days earlier. Since my father knew the purpose of my visit, he wasted no time before leaving us on the pretense that he was going to spend a penny. Taking the bull by the horns, I told my mum everything dad said. The silence that followed my words was so intense that I would have heard the sound of a pin if somebody had dropped one on the ground. I stole a shocking glance at her; did she know the import of dad’s action? Where I expected barrage of hurtful, resenting and cutting remarks, I was faced with quietness, a calmness that was beyond my sixth sense. Nevertheless, I would never forget the acute pain in my mother’s eyes. Her beautiful face was contorted with crushing pain. Then she gave me her beautiful smile and it dawned on me that she knew all along; she nodded her head in affirmation, confirming my realization.

‘Omoyemi, two wrongs can never make a right; moreover to err is human, to forgive is divine. I forgave your father a long time ago. I am going to stand staunchly behind my husband. I will not lose him to a strange woman. Let her come! I am waiting! What strength! Oh, what grace!, I thought. ‘My sweet daughter,’ she continued, ‘don’t ever forget that two are better than one and a threefold cord is not easily broken (Eccl 4:9-12). Every wise woman builds her house with tolerance and patience, only a foolish one will bring it down through anger, impatience and unforgiveness (Proverbs 14:1; Galatians 5:19-22; Matthew 6:12). Maybe if I had asked God to deliver your father from every temptation (Matthew 6:13), he would not have fallen into that temptation, and a resultant adultery (Galatians 5:19).

Unknowing to either of us, my father was right behind the door and had heard every word mum said. The look on his face revealed the peace and remorse laced with the gratitude he felt. He held my mum tightly, sobbing with remorse and exultant ecstasy.

I looked at both of them, thinking that love takes no cognizance of faults, because it has innate ability to conquer them all. True love will always find a way to still love in spite of every gory and disgustful chapters and verses of life because love is kind and patient, besides it keeps no record of being wronged, neither does it give up nor loses faith. Love is ever hopeful and endures every situation (1 Corinthians 13:4-6). Indeed, Love will always find a way; hence God is LOVE.

Author: TM Odion

Leviticus 16:30

A Jewish mother gives her son two ties for Hanukkah. After opening them up, the son puts one on and proudly comes to show it to his mother. She takes one look at him and says, “What’s the matter? You didn’t like the other one?”

Jewish guilt has been the source of many jokes, but the truth is that guilt is no laughing matter. Guilt is a very serious theme, and yet, like many important aspects of life, it is greatly misunderstood.

There are two kinds of guilt. The first is the kind that causes a person to think, “I am bad.” This kind of guilt is debilitating and unproductive. It has no place in Judaism. The second kind of guilt leads a person to realize “what I did was bad.” This kind of guilt is what is more properly referred to as “regret.” It is enlightening, empowering, and a great catalyst for positive change. It leaves a person feeling “what I did was bad, but I am good.” The person who experiences this type of guilt believes, “Those actions are not really a part of who I am. I am so much better than that. I am created in the image of God — how could I do such a thing? I must make some changes so that my actions reflect who I really am.”

This type of guilt is the focus of Yom Kippur and the goal of our prayer service. Did you know that there is no Hebrew word for sin? The closest we get to it is the word chet, which literally means “a miss.” When someone aims an arrow at a target, but fails to hit it, it is called a chet. He missed the mark; it was a mistake. Another word we use is aveira, which literally means “a cross over.” This word implies that while a person was supposed to stick to a certain path (Psalm 119:1), that person veered off from it and got stuck in the mud. In other words, that person made a mistake. These nuances are profound. They emphasize the idea that while we miss the mark, it doesn’t mean that the shooter is doomed. With time and practice we will get closer and closer to hitting our target and getting things right.