Dave's Diary

Prayer

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 43:3

Lord, send out the light and truth of Your Word.
Let them guide me.
Let them lead me to Your holy presence;
to the place where You minister salvation. Amen.

Reading

John 3:19-21

Jesus came into our world to save sinners. However, to open ourselves up and receive the saving work of Jesus we first have to acknowledge that we have sinned, that we are powerless to rescue ourselves from the consequences of our sins, and that we desperately need a Saviour. Without this disposition we simply cannot receive the salvation Jesus longs to give us.

Tragically, many people are very happy in the lifestyles of sin they have chosen. So, when Jesus comes to invite them to leave those lifestyles behind, they turn away from Him. They are choosing sin over the Saviour – choosing to stay in darkness rather than come into the light of Christ, because they “love darkness instead of light, because their deeds are evil” (v.19) and they do not want to leave them behind. They do not want to be saved from the sins they love. Unwittingly they are also choosing to stay in spiritual death rather than to be brought into spiritual life!

I think John was expressing the same thought in 1 John 1:8-9

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 

To receive the saving ministry of Jesus it is necessary to bring ourselves into His light. In other words, it is necessary to draw near to Him in absolute honesty about the ways we have lived and are living which are utterly out of line with God’s will. To use John’s metaphor, we have to bring our deeds of darkness out into the light (v.21).

But if we refuse to do so. If we stay in the shadows pretending, wearing a mask of fake righteousness, or insisting that what we are doing is not wrong (v.20), we cannot recieve the forgiving, cleansing, liberating, saving, life-giving ministry of Jesus,

And please note, this is not just about a once-in-a-lifetime salvation moment. This is a call to ongoing openness and honesty to Jesus as His disciples. This is about a consistent life-orientation towards Jesus and His light, so that Jesus can continually save us from darkness and transform us into His light-bearing image.

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ:

• I will live in honesty with myself and with Jesus about my sin.
• I will admit my wrongdoings to myself and to Him, and receive His forgiveness and His saving grace.

Holy Spirit, please give me the courage to bring myself and all my sinfulness into the light of Christ in honest repentance so that I may be saved and transformed as a child of the light. Amen.