Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."
Just taking a little side trip this morning from Proverbs, but not from its message of wisdom, something the Lord put on my heart. Don't get caught in being pulled in by the enemy of our souls who would love to trip us up. We get pretty short-sighted when we don't ask the Lord to fully reveal to us what we need to see. The only way we can fully see is to come up higher, from God's vantage point, and allow Him to show us. I'm surprised at how often these days I am drawn back to the same things over and over that He is saying. 2 Corinthians 4: 3-6 says, And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. How quickly the enemy of our souls loves to drag us into unbelief in some area and we can be blind-sighted. I say to myself, and to all of you reading, with the Lord, "Let light shine out of darkness!" Lord, open our eyes that we may truly see Your truth.
1 John has much to say about truly living in the light, which is the only way to truly live in the Kingdom. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him: This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
And I could continue on through the rest of this chapter, but I'll stop here for today. This is plenty to chew on. Let me, however, make mention of that which is toward the end of this chapter (2). (Can't stop quite yet :) It has to do with the antichrist spirit. None of us as Christians would claim to live in that spirit. However, when we choose darkness over light, we are indeed moving in that spirit. Let us look at the final two verses of chapter 2: I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him. The place of light for us is in Him. He is seated (in a place of victory over all enemies) by the Father ever making intercession for us. Thank you, Jesus!