Eternal Light 5th January Read: Revelation 21:22-26 “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” Revelation 21:23 (NIV)

Last year, my husband and I travelled around Europe for 8 weeks driving about 7,000km. We stopped a couple nights in Helsingør, Denmark. Kronborg Castle was built in Helsingør and situated on the most northeastern tip, and you can see Sweden from it. Kronborg Castle was made famous in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet where it was referred to as Elsinore. This castle dates back to the 1420s where it was built by King Eric VII. What made this an incredible castle to walk through wasn’t the beautiful rooms and the unrestored tower that you could climb, but the incredible casemates (the tunnels and chambers in the walls/ramparts which housed prisoners and soldiers for many centuries).

Down in the tunnels is a statue of Ogier the Dane who sleeps there until he is needed to protect Denmark. We wandered through these tunnels lit only by oil lamps and arrows guided our way. The darkness was so intense at times, and you could picture prisoners and soldiers living only in the darkness. Compare this to the vision of John in Revelation 21:23. This is the New Jerusalem, which never has darkness and doesn’t need any lamps to light the way to guide through darkness because God’s glory is so bright. All the nations will be guided by this light and there is no need for castles, ramparts, casemates or places to hide or attack any enemies, for there will be no enemies. All nations will live in peace and light. What a glorious place to be.

God has prepared this place for us; a place of peace and joy where we will only experience the love of a loving God who shines His glory and presence over everything. There is no need for gates, for all have constant access, security and safety. John had this vision of heaven given by God – no darkness, no pain, no sorrow, no suffering, no war! Until we get into this eternal light and love, let us shine out our lives into a world that needs God’s light. Heaven will be something we can never imagine – it will be incredible!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for giving John the vision of an amazing place f illed only with your light that I can look forward to. You are the source of everything good. Amen

It’s All About Light 4th January Read: 1 John 1:5-9 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 (NIV)

Night and darkness can be terrifying. How many of you either had a nightlight when you were young or put one on for your children/grandchildren? There is something about not being able to see that makes our imaginations go wild. I remember as a child lying in bed paralysed by fear from a noise and picturing all sorts of monsters in my room. Disney Pixar made a movie about this, and it was released in 2001 – ‘Monsters, Inc’. ‘Monsters Incorporated is the largest scare factory in the monster world, and James P. Sullivan is one of its top scarers.

Sullivan is a huge, intimidating monster with blue fur, large purple spots and horns. His scare assistant, best friend and roommate is Mike Wazowski, a green, opinionated, feisty little one-eyed monster. Visiting from the human world is Boo, a tiny girl who goes where no human has ever gone before. The city’s power supply is provided by Monsters, Inc., a utility company that employs monsters to scare children and extract energy from their screams. This is considered a dangerous task since the monsters believe children to be toxic and touching them would be fatal.’ [review by rottentomatoes.com] At the end of the movie the monsters work out that instead of scaring kids, the monsters now make them laugh which gives off much more energy than screams, saving the city, Monstropolis.

What they thought brought power (fear) is replaced by something even greater (joy). Being in the light of Jesus brings joy. In the beginning, God gave us both the light of day and the darkness of night – they both have a purpose for living.

But even though darkness can be scary, there is no reason to fear it, for the Creator of the world, God, is also there. “…even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” (Psalm 139:12 NIV) Walk in the light of God and live in His joy. Joy in the Lord brings power in a darkened world. It’s all about living in the light of Jesus!

Prayer: Lord God, let me live in your light-filled world surrounded by your love and grace. Take away my fear of the dark places, for you are also there with me guiding me through to your light. Amen

Transformational 3rd January Read: 1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

I recently went to a four-year-old’s birthday party. There was food galore, balloons, piñata, games, lots of children and parents and of course presents. The presents varied from slime, Lego, toys and games, but the favourite of this little four-year-old was a plane that transformed into a robot. He could run around with the plane, but then he could make it come alive and walk as a robot. You may have seen these toys, they are known as ‘Transformers’ and are some sort of normal car, truck, plane that turns into a robot with other powers. Children seem to like the idea of something changing into something else.

I like the idea of being transformed by God. In 1 Peter, above we are given a small glimpse as to how God has transformed us. In our baptisms, God washed us clean from all our wrongdoing and even though we are human and keep doing wrong, we can keep coming back to God telling Him we have blown it again and we will be forgiven. It is sort of like being a normal type of car that we keep driving around in, but when God enters our lives through the Holy Spirit we are transformed into His “…chosen people”. As it is written in 1 Peter 2:10, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Before we were baptised, we were living in the darkness of sin, but with God entering our lives, we get to be brought into His wonderful light. It’s an amazing transformation that only God can perform. We get to now live in this light and love of a loving Heavenly Father.

When a person is brought to know Jesus and God’s love, we can picture God like a four-year-old running around rejoicing with the angels that another has been brought into His light and Kingdom. It is important to thank God and sing His praises for we now belong to God. Knowing God is transformational!

Prayer: Almighty God, thank you for bringing me out of darkness and into your family. Help me to be open in sharing how you can transform lives through the Holy Spirit. Amen