“I Am the Light of the world”

 

 

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

Genesis 1:3 (NIV)

In the beginning, God spoke light into existence; it was on day one of creation, before anything else was created. On that first day of creation only one light existed, there was not yet any other source of light, no sun, no moon, and no stars, there was only the true light (John 1:9) reflecting the glory of God the Father, that is Jesus Christ, the Light of the world.

Christ Himself subsequently created the sun, moon and stars (Ephesians 3:9 KJV; Colossians 1:15-16 KJV) to serve specific purposes in connection with the earth and only for a limited time. But the Light of the world is eternal, shining forth from age to age and is so powerful that it still shines today and will continue to be a beacon for every human being in this dark world.

 

“God saw that the light was good...”

Genesis 1:4 (NIV)

God was pleased with the Light of the world that He called into existence for it was this Light, Jesus Christ, through whom man would be reconciled with God. Since then, God had already made provision for the restoration of fallen man through the light of Jesus Christ because it is in the light of Christ that we must examine ourselves in order to recognize our sin.

 

As believers we are engulfed in the pure white light of Jesus Christ:

• The light of Christ reveals the safe path on which to walk
• The light of Christ guides our way along our spiritual walk
• The light of Christ illuminates the clear path to reconciliation with God

God has given us much more than light for our path, He has given us His own Beloved Son, the Light of the world, in whom He is well pleased.

As the Light of the world, Jesus offers Himself to us as the one who brings clarity and a new perspective to our lives especially after long periods of dark trials and challenges.

It was the blinding Light of Christ that Saul encountered on that road to Damascus that utterly transformed his perspective forever, to the degree that he became a brand new person with a brand new name, unrecognizable from the man he was before. From an overzealous and arrogant persecutor of Christ to an ardent yet humble expositor of the Truth of the Gospel of Christ.

Jesus, the Light of the world, is the guiding light for everyone who chooses to follow Him (John 1:4; 8:12; 9:5).

“…and He separated the light from the darkness.”

Genesis 1:4 (NIV)

Remember Judas, and understand that if we choose to separate ourselves from the Light, then we’re walking in darkness, for the Word of God plainly states, “As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.” (John 13:30 NIV).

Judas chose to walk away from the Light out into the darkness of sin and betrayal. The more we walk in Christ’s light, the less appealing the darkness of sin becomes.

 

“I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness.”

John 12:46 (KJV)

Beloved, when you recognize Jesus Christ as the Light of the world, the beauty of who Jesus is and who you are in Him is revealed, and you will not live in the darkness of sin.

Amen †

 

 

Shelley Johnson “I Am the Light of the world” (John 8:12) ©2013 revisited October 7, 2025

Your Harvest Will Come

 

Harvest Season has finally come and the reapers busy themselves gathering their abundance, but the seeds you’ve planted appear not to have yielded very much.

All around you, people are enjoying the fruit of their labour, but all you seem to be getting is a mere fraction, a pittance, a morsel of what others have coming to them. And you think, “Life is so unfair”, “What about me?”, “Why do I always have to be eking out a living while others are getting abundant blessings?”.

Is this you? I’ve been there, an onlooker to others abundant harvest, while all I seem to be afforded is a scraping. But I have learned that on this spiritual journey nothing is ever as it seems. What you see is never what is – there is a reality that exists far beyond our natural perspective.

Our Lord said,

“I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work. For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.” (Isaiah 55:8-9 MSG)

When things appear to be happening a certain way, contrary to what God has promised you, remember that passage, and this verse too,

“…the word that I speak— it will not fail to do what I plan for it; it will do everything I send it to do.” (v 11 GNT)

Beloved, other people may be reaping a lucrative harvest all around you, but your harvest will come. Hasn’t God promised you life abundant? Then believe God, even if you’re struggling day after day, forcing ends to meet, always counting pennies and longing to be able to afford, everything.

Instead, you complain, and complain, to anyone in earshot. Endlessly lamenting to yourself, your family, your friends, colleagues, neighbours, and of course, to God. Haven’t you noticed that your endless griping has changed nothing? You’re still in a rut, scavenging for leftovers, never enjoying a full course meal.

Your message today is, “STOP!!!”

Stop complaining. Stop griping. Stop moaning. Stop sighing.

When Ruth, knowing that the poor were allowed to follow the reapers to gather up whatever grain the harvesters had left behind, went into the field, you can be sure that she was not expecting to receive the bountiful harvest that she eventually did.

Ruth did not complain or gripe. She went into that field with purpose – to glean so that she and Naomi, her mother-in-law, might have something to eat. Ruth graciously accepted the little that she got and she ended up marrying the owner of the field, a very wealthy man named Boaz (see the Book of Ruth). What a harvest!

Start thanking. Start praising. Start rejoicing. Start believing. Start expecting. Your harvest will come.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Your Harvest Will Come” © 2017 revisited October 6, 2025

 

 

Charitoo

 

The purpose of today’s devotion is to introduce you to a unique word used only twice in the Bible, and only in the New Testament. It is the Greek word “Charitoo”.

Charitoo, pronounced khar-ee-to-o, is a verb and the root of the Greek words used first in Luke 1:28 and then in Ephesians 1:6.

Luke 1:28 records the Angel Gabriel’s greeting when he was sent by God to a young, not yet wed virgin girl named Mary. The Virgin Mary was chosen by God to be an instrument of Life – God, the incarnate Word.

“And he came to her and said, Hail, O favoured one [endued with grace]! The Lord is with you. Blessed (favoured of God) are you before all other women!” (AMPC)

And in Ephesians 1:6 the verb is used to tell of our adoption into the family of God through Christ Jesus.

“[So we might be] to the praise and commendation of His glorious grace (favour and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” (AMP)

Charitoo, rendered “Full of Grace”, is a verb which is unique in that it is in the past, present, and future tense all at the same time.

In the first instance, Luke 1:28, it speaks of an action, that having already been completed, still has a powerful effect in this present day and will continue to have such an effect well into the future – an action with a permanent, continuous result.

In its second instance, Ephesians 1:6, though it appears to be more of a momentary action, one that is brought to pass, like the first, its effect is marked by continuity.

Beloved, in both occurrences God used this unique word, Charitoo, in His Word to reveal to us, His children, that we have been accepted, and approved, and completely, perfectly, and enduringly endowed with grace, grace that enables the capacity for the reception of Divine Life.

Amen †

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shelley Johnson “Charitoo” ©2013 revisited October 5, 2025

Photo: Virgin Gorda BVI courtesy Danae

Do as He did

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also”

Matthew 5:38–39

Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness, choosing the path he would take. In hunger and self-giving, resisting the urges to take control and unleash the penalties that we all deserve; it would've been the easy thing to do.

As easy as loving those who love us.

As easy as lashing out at those who hurt us.

It's far more difficult to love when we are truly despised. To turn the other cheek, when we've been slapped.

Yet Jesus loved and continues to love, even in the face of torture and humiliation.

As Christians, we are challenged to do as he did, we are called to live up to our spiritual discipline, to turn the other cheek, to show love in the face of hatred and exasperation. It's then that we must send a blessing for the other person. That person is also one “for whom Christ died” and are deserving of God's Grace.

Amen †

 

Reverend Mark Robinson “Do as He did” © 2014 

Photo: The Baths, Virgin Gorda BVI

Awaiting the Fulfillment of God's Promise

 ^“[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith…He did not weaken in faith when he considered the [utter] impotence of his own body…No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised. That is why his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God).” – Romans 4:18,19,20,21 & 22 (AMPC)

Faith as simple trust in the promise of God, is what Apostle Paul is impressing upon us in Romans 4:18-22.

When a comprehensive understanding of faith is needed, Abraham, the progenitor of faith, is our best bet.  As an individual, he is the ultimate example of someone awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promise.

God wants every one of us to come to the maturity of faith where we, like Abraham, can confidently say, “we’ll go…we’ll worship…we’ll return” even while knowing that the worship involves an unthinkable sacrifice (see Genesis 22:5).

Beloved, sometimes you have to give up the very thing you so deeply love, in faith that God would keep His promise concerning the said thing. Therefore, you must be obedient in faith, for the proof of the genuineness of your faith lies in obedience.

James 2:14-26, lays this open for you, and Hebrews 11:8 is a reminder of Abraham’s obedience in faith, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he…obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” 

Most times you have to wait for what you may consider a very long time before you see the fulfillment of God’s promise. Such waiting requires patience. In this regard, read Hebrews 6:11-12 which takes note of the essential patience of faith. Also have a look at 2 Peter 3:9.

Peter gives us a different perspective of that required patience. He tells us that God is also patiently waiting. Quick to believe that it is God who is slow in keeping His promise, never for one minute does it ever cross our minds that God is being patient for our sake.

God patiently waits while you’re learning to walk in faith.

God patiently waits for you to finally rest wholly and absolutely on His word of promise.

God patiently waits for you to turn back to Him after you’ve grown tired of waiting.

God patiently waits for the constant ebb and flow of your wavering belief to settle down.

God patiently waits for you to realize that you’ve not been given a spirit of fear.

And the list continues on and on.

Beloved, it is not in vain that you trust God for the fulfillment of His promise to you. Be confident that when God makes a promise He is “able and mighty to keep His word”. God is so faithful, and full of love for you, that even if you become weary of waiting and expedite your own solution – which by the way, will fail – God will pick up the pieces of your shattered life, gently put you back on the path, and re-affirm His promise with you in such an incredible way that your doublemindedness is completely annihilated.

Here is the absolute truth:

God is a covenant God, so when He gives a promise He will not divert from His chosen course.

God neither lies nor changes His mind.

God will never speak and then not act.

God will not make a promise and not fulfill it.

Nothing and no-one can thwart God’s plan.

Amen †

 

Shelley Johnson “Awaiting the Fulfillment of God’s Promise” © 2016 revisited October 3, 2025

 

 

  

Making a Way

 

So, you’ve been in a great space for years, everything you put your hand to works out smoothly, you pray, and God answers. His blessings in your life are undeniable. But then, suddenly the mountaintop gives way, and you find yourself in an avalanche of unfortunate circumstances.

Things just aren’t going your way anymore. And God, He is silent, distant. You feel as if you’ve been left abandoned in the wilderness.

 No longer confident about anything, you seem to be in a time of uncertainty.

God had blessed Leah with fertility, but then suddenly, she stopped bearing children. She must have felt the emptiness of rejection. Jacob, her husband, was sure to ostracize her even more than before.

In those days, servants were considered property. Upon her marriage, Laban, Leah’s father had given her Zilpah. Zilpah was her servant, her property. With her womb now closed, Leah came up with a plan to make a way back into Jacob’s favour.

When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing [children], she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as a [secondary] wife. Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a son for Jacob. Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad (good fortune). Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a second son for Jacob. Then Leah said, “I am happy! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher (happy). – Genesis 30:9-13 (AMP)

Leah “gave birth” to two more boys through Zilpah’s open womb. Leah was making a way in her wilderness.

Leah giving her maid to her husband, was making her own way in her time of uncertainty, her wilderness.

Beloved, how many times have you tried making a way in your wilderness for your own personal gain? How did that work out for you? It did not effect change to Leah’s love-starved marriage.

Waiting on God is not easy. Leah felt that she could no longer wait on the God whom she had once trusted. Instead, as a lovelorn wife desperate to escape her predicament, Leah chose to use her maid to regain her status.

“For women will call me happy.”

What a tragic motive. What’s yours? What is motivating you to make your own way and from whom are you seeking validation?

When you take matters into your own hands because you feel that you can no longer wait on God, you, like Leah, step into a state of unbelief.

When you choose to use others to achieve your desires rather than delighting yourself in God and waiting on Him to act, then you are walking in unbelief.

When you find yourself in a situation but choose to make your own way instead of trusting God for a solution, then you are operating in unbelief.

Making a way for yourself cheats you out of experiencing God’s wonderful hand at work in your life. God’s solutions are far better than your own. He says, I am making a way in the wilderness (Isaiah 43:19).

On this spiritual journey, you will go through the wilderness at some point in time and more than likely, several times after that. Even though it feels like abandonment, it’s not, it’s God doing a new thing, but we get so caught up in our own desire for Him to act right away, that our faith is diminished and we don’t perceive it.

What Leah misunderstood and what you must understand, is that your status does not change in the wilderness. Desperation can cause you to seek out your own solutions instead of seeking God first but He has to be your first option.

God isn’t avoiding you. He has not forgotten you. He is working on your behalf, just wait.

Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14 NASB)

Beloved, no matter how long you may have to wait for your circumstances to change, know that your God is working things out in your favour. Avoid the temptation of making a way for yourself, learn to be content in any situation assured that the power of Christ will give you the strength to face all conditions (see Philippians 4:11-13).

Amen †

 

Shelley Johnson “Making a Way” © October 1, 2025

 

 

Trust, Delight, Commit, and Wait

 

 

Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

According to Psalm 37 verse 4, there’s a way for each one of us to see our desires fulfilled, we have to delight ourselves in the Lord. But before that can happen there are three other steps that we must take that will ensure that we receive the desires of our hearts.

God is a God of order, He never does anything haphazardly. The account of Creation is a prime example of the orderly way in which God carries out His tasks. God’s way is a step-by-step process that cannot fail, and it will serve you well to follow His sequence. Skipping steps is foolhardy at best.

When God gives you a promise there are four crucial steps that you must follow if you are to experience the fulfillment of your desires. Each step in this sequence, found in verses 3, 4, 5, and 7 of Psalm 37, has a name and can be applied to every area of your life.

 

• The first step is Trust.

Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, I will certainly do it. (Isaiah 46:11 NASB)

Trust in God, rely on Him, take refuge in Him, submit to Him, and be confident that what He says He will do, He will certainly do. It’s trusting God wholeheartedly, giving Him full control of every situation in your life and allowing Him to have His way. Placing your trust in neighbours, friends, family, or even yourself, is likely to result in failure but God will never fail you, for He is faithful and does not change.

God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9 NASB)

 

• The second is Delight.

Come close to God and He will come close to you. (James 4:8 NASB)

Delight yourself in God. You do that by keeping close company with God so that you get to know Him intimately and savour His ways. It’s allowing your will to be aligned to His so that He becomes all in all in your life, causing you to earnestly and passionately seek Him first and eagerly give up your heavy-laden labour to Him. When you delight yourself in God, you see Him and embrace Him as your Abba, Father.

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15 NASB)

 

• The next step is Commit.

 Commit to the Lord whatever you do… (Proverbs 16:3a NIV)

Commit everything to God – your walk, your cause, your ways, your vision, your goals, your intentions, your plans, your family, and your entire life. It’s relinquishing your control of every single situation and circumstance that concerns you, good and bad, and allowing God to take over completely. It’s taking your hands off of your life and placing it squarely in His in utter dependence on Him. When you commit in this manner, God promises to act on your behalf to bring about the desires of your heart which are no longer outside of His will for you. God can now be God in your life, for your good and His glory.

 …and he will establish your plans. (Proverbs 16:3b NIV)

 

• The last in this list is Wait.

For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. (Habakkuk 2:3 ESV)

To wait patiently for God is seldom an act of passive patience. It’s actively and expectantly waiting on God’s perfect timing. God is never late; everything God says will happen will surely be fulfilled. Waiting on God means to not give up but to remain steadfast in your trust in Him, daily delighting yourself in Him, and resolutely committing all to Him. It’s having a steady belief in God despite what appears to be a delay. When you’re waiting on God take courage and do not get frustrated or weary but instead consistently thank Him as you keep in mind that there’s an appointed time for every matter under heaven. Be patient in your waiting and God promises to be good to you.

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:25-26 ESV)

 

Beloved, if you follow these steps as ordered by God, His perfect will for your life is guaranteed to come to pass because your heartfelt desires will align with God’s desires for you, and when they do, He will establish your very thoughts, then blessings will follow in ways beyond your imagination.

Amen †

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shelley Johnson “Trust, Delight, Commit, and Wait” © 2016 revisited October 1, 2025