being in the light and guarding ourselves from any lie, vanity, or idols trying to replace God!

When we are in the divine light enjoying the divine truth, we see everything how it is in reality. Here, in the light, we see the divine realities and everything is light! But when we are in darkness, nothing is real to us – everything is empty and vain.

The way to see the divine realities is to be in the light, in the divine fellowship. When we walk in the light, as the Lord is in the light, we see Christ, the Spirit, the church, the Body of Christ, and the members of the Body. Praise the Lord – everything is real to us when we are in the light!

Abiding in God as the light

The divine reality is versus the lie, the vanity of the old creation, and the idolatrous substitutes of the true God (see John 8:44; Eccl. 1:2; 1 John 5:20-21). As believers in Christ we need to be in the light and walk in the light so that we may see all the divine and mystical things of the Triune God and the Body of Christ.

If we are in darkness, if we are in lie, if we are in the old creation, or if we allow anything else to substitute God in us, we cannot see God and the real things. The issue is not being right or wrong, good or bad, but whether we are in the light or in the darkness.

Satan is a liar and the father of lies

We may think and we may even say that we have fellowship with God – but we may walk in the darkness; in this case, we lie and are not practicing the truth (1 John 1:6). To lie is of Satan – he is the father of liars (John 8:44), and his nature is a lie, bringing in death and darkness.

Satan speaks only lies, even when it seems that he’s right. He deceived Eve in the garden of Eden by sowing doubts in her mind – all he spoke to her was lies, bringing in darkness and eventually death!

The satanic darkness is versus the divine light, and the satanic lie is versus the divine truth. When we have fellowship with God, when we turn to our spirit and exercise our spirit to enjoy the Lord in the Word of God, we are in the light and we even walk in the light.

Here, in the light, we see everything clearly as it is. But if we say that we have fellowship with God yet walk in darkness, we lie, and we are in the expression of the satanic darkness – we are not in the light. This is such a warning to us – we need to come into the light and walk in the light!

Vanity of vanities, everything is vanity

Even the most precious and amazing things that we may have in the satanic darkness are just vanity of vanities – it is all vanity. Solomon, with the wisdom given to him from God, spoke very plainly in Ecclesiastes 1:2, Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

“No matter how good, excellent, marvelous, and wonderful a thing may be, as long as it is of the old creation, it is part of the vanity of vanities under the sun” – only the new creation, God mingled with man and man walking in God as the light, is reality! Everything else is vanity!

We need to guard ourselves from idols

At the conclusion of his first Epistle in walking in the light and in the divine truth is emphasized, the Apostle John encourages us by saying in 1 John 5:21, Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

The word “guard” here means to garrison ourselves against attacks from without – to be on guard, garrison our being, and protect ourselves against any assaults. What is an idol? Anything that replaces or is a substitute for the divine reality is an idol – and we should garrison ourselves against it!

An idol is not only “a statue that people worship”; more personally, an idol is any heretical substitute for the genuine God and any vain replacement for the real God. Our God is a genuine God and as we spend time with Him and walk in the light, we become genuine and true. If we allow anything to substitute our real God, no matter what good of a doctrine it is, we have an idol.

Also, our God is real – nothing else is real. If we think that something or someone is real and we spend more time with that particular thing or person, we may have an idol. How much we need to see the light and garrison ourselves from idols!

Organically joined to the real and genuine God

We as the children of the genuine God should always be on alert to guard ourselves from heretical substitutes of the genuine God and any vain replacement of our real God. The way for us to see God and know Him as the real and genuine One is by praying over His Word – when we pray-read the Bible, we see that God is real and that we are united with Him organically in our spirit. We are joined to the Lord as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17) and God is eternal life to us – He is the reality, He is the genuine God, and we are organically joined to Him!

[sharing inspired from the life-study of 1 John, msg. 7, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Four Great Pillars in the Lord’s Recovery. You can purchase the morning revival book online, follow the articles on The Four Great Pillars on this blog.]

Lord, we want to be those walking in the light! Save us from claiming to have fellowship with You yet walking in the darkness. Bring our whole being into the light, and make us persons of light! O, Lord, in Your light we see light! In the light we see everything related to God, Christ, the Body of Christ, and God’s economy. May we garrison ourselves against anything that tries to replace our real and genuine God!