Light of the World,
In this day and age we hear the truth of your Word - that darkness covers the earth and thick darkness over the peoples. We know that your Light and Glory rise brighter than the darkness on the earth. We grieve those who cannot see your goodness - cannot see your Light - whose unbelieving and perishing prevent them from knowing the glory of Christ. By your Holy Spirit, cause their hearts to be turned toward belief in your Light and Life. Thank you for shining brightly upon us, your people, and for calling us to be salt and light for this earth. Where we are half-hearted, lukewarm in our faith, and facing the reality of being spit out of your presence, rekindle a strong fire of faith within us. May we not be spiritually wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked, but may we seek you for the salve we need for our spiritual eyes and be rescued from this self-induced blindness. Thank you that Holy Spirit has given us everything we need for a godly life - that we may participate in your divine nature and escape the evil desires and corruption of the world. Help us to grow in our faith, our goodness, our knowledge of you, our self-control, our perseverance, our godliness, our mutual affection, and our love. We don't want to be nearsighted or blind, but to remember all your goodness in this land of the living. Embolden us, enlighten us, empower us, and pour out your grace and mercy upon us we pray in Jesus's name, Amen.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn." (Isaiah 60: 1-3 NIV)
"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 NIV)
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." (Matthew 5:13-16 NIV)
"But even if our gospel is [in some sense] hidden [behind a veil], it is hidden [only] to those who are perishing; among them the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving to prevent them from seeing the illuminating light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Cor. 4:3-4 AMP)
"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." (Psalm 27:13 NIV)
"These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see." (Rev. 3:14-18 NIV)
"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins." (2 Peter 1:3-9 NIV)
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