This Week in Recovery Lesson
Step Into The Light (Faith is an ocean you can walk on)
The light beaming in through the top of the cave is a metaphor for the light of God coming into the blinding darkness of dissatisfaction that exists in each and everyone one of us. But it is not anywhere close to fully representing of the light of God.
The choice is yours each day of your life. You can walk around the light and catch a glimpse now and then of what your life can look like in the light of God—aware of what you are missing but missing out none the less; or you can step directly into the light of God and fully experience the new life He wants and has for you.
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 1 John 1:5
When God comes into your darkness, He fills it with light beyond anything you can comprehend or imagine. It is from His heart of compassionate love that He knocks on the door of your heart and, when you let it be and let Him in, fills your life with His mercy and grace, from His resources.
Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here! Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. Matthew 14:27-29
God desires to bless you with His best. All you need to do is step into the light of God’s goodness. Whatever the storm of your life is, take courage. Call on Jesus to be real in your circumstances to empower you. Even if it means empowering you to do something as extraordinary as walking on water, God desires to prove Himself to you. How would the experience of actually walking on water change your life and how you look at things, in the reality of the power of God active in you? Should God radically impact your circumstances like that, imagine your change in perspective about spiritual reality.
As you move in the light of God’s love in relationship with Jesus, you will leave an impression on others who want what you have. Yet there will be some who will take offense with what God is changing in you through this new life, usually due to conviction in their own heart about they lack that is unsettling and perhaps disturbing. Pray for them that they would stare into the light of God as they see you move in the experience of new life.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the light!” Let His Light shine in you as you commit to recovery God’s way; seeing the Way clearly with the Son in your eyes.
“That is why the Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or, they hope to deserve approval from good men.But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines in it.” —C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:7
- How would you describe the light of God? What does it mean to you that God is light? How is the light of God manifest in the person of Jesus Christ?
- What does it mean to you and for your life when John says with God there is no darkness at all?
- How would you say that the light of God can affect a dark world?
- When Peter was on a boat with his friends caught in a mighty storm, he saw Jesus on the water. It was incredibly windy and thundering with lightning flashing across the sky. Why would Peter call out to Jesus, in the midst of the darkness of his circumstance, “Lord, if it’s you command me to come to you!”?
- What would you imagine Peter was thinking when he actually stepped out of the boat and walked on water toward Jesus? Why would he do that? What purpose did it serve?
- Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the light.” What would you say that meant to Peter when he got up the courage to step out of the boat and walk on water?
- What does that mean to you?
- The Apostle Paul wrote that we are “fragile clay jars containing this great treasure” (the light of God in relationship with Jesus Christ). What does this mean to you for where you are in your life and where you hope to be?
Print PDF Here