Keep your eyes on the sun and you will not see the shadows. Australian Aborigine Saying
[font=Times New Roman] Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.[/font]
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
COLOSSIANS 3:15-17
When I came across the Aborigine saying keep your eyes on the sun and you will not see the shadows, I quickly thought of the Son Jesus and the light that has been brought into my life through belief and faith in the finished work of the cross. You cannot stand in the shadows and see the sun. Shadows are evidence of something blocking out the rays of the sun. And so it was in my life before I came to know Jesus. I lived in the shadows. My life of fulfilling self-centered desires kept the Light of God from shinning on me. Many times God would send someone with a candle of Light into the shadows where I lived, and I would turn my back on it. The reason I believe that I feared the Light was that it exposed me and allowed others to see me for what I was. I was selfish. One of the major obstacles that blocked out the Light of God in my life was my continued use and abuse of alcohol and drugs. I can remember being stoned and hiding behind sunglasses. I can remember getting up early and drinking, and spending all day in the house because I didnt want to stumble around outside at an early hour. After the sun went down I considered it all right to stumble around. I can remember pulling all the curtains and shades to create what I called atmosphere, but the truth was that the light even exposed me to myself. I could hide in the recesses of my mind, in the shadows of reality, and pretend that everything was going to be all right. In 1983 a prison guard at Leeds Farm brought a candle of Light into the dungeon that was my life. I saw the light he brought clearer, as it was magnified through the tears he shed as he spoke of the word of Christ which richly dwelt within him. For the first time in my life I allowed the Light to shine. For the next fifteen years, many times I made the decision to step back into the shadows. It took many experiences of wilting and withering to come to the realization that things dont grow well in the shadows. Today I look to the Son; I must come out of the shadows of life to look to the Son. I am exposed here in the Light and at times that causes some pain, but I grow, and God I find, will do for me what I could not do for myself JRE
[font=Times New Roman] [/font]
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
JOHN 1:1-5 KJV
We have found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us the realm of spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive, never exclusive or for bidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS page 46
[font=Times New Roman] Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.[/font]
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
COLOSSIANS 3:15-17
When I came across the Aborigine saying keep your eyes on the sun and you will not see the shadows, I quickly thought of the Son Jesus and the light that has been brought into my life through belief and faith in the finished work of the cross. You cannot stand in the shadows and see the sun. Shadows are evidence of something blocking out the rays of the sun. And so it was in my life before I came to know Jesus. I lived in the shadows. My life of fulfilling self-centered desires kept the Light of God from shinning on me. Many times God would send someone with a candle of Light into the shadows where I lived, and I would turn my back on it. The reason I believe that I feared the Light was that it exposed me and allowed others to see me for what I was. I was selfish. One of the major obstacles that blocked out the Light of God in my life was my continued use and abuse of alcohol and drugs. I can remember being stoned and hiding behind sunglasses. I can remember getting up early and drinking, and spending all day in the house because I didnt want to stumble around outside at an early hour. After the sun went down I considered it all right to stumble around. I can remember pulling all the curtains and shades to create what I called atmosphere, but the truth was that the light even exposed me to myself. I could hide in the recesses of my mind, in the shadows of reality, and pretend that everything was going to be all right. In 1983 a prison guard at Leeds Farm brought a candle of Light into the dungeon that was my life. I saw the light he brought clearer, as it was magnified through the tears he shed as he spoke of the word of Christ which richly dwelt within him. For the first time in my life I allowed the Light to shine. For the next fifteen years, many times I made the decision to step back into the shadows. It took many experiences of wilting and withering to come to the realization that things dont grow well in the shadows. Today I look to the Son; I must come out of the shadows of life to look to the Son. I am exposed here in the Light and at times that causes some pain, but I grow, and God I find, will do for me what I could not do for myself JRE
[font=Times New Roman] [/font]
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
JOHN 1:1-5 KJV
We have found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us the realm of spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive, never exclusive or for bidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS page 46
