Only in God’s Light we see Light: We see what God Sees, the True Condition of Things

The Bible as the word of God is a very special book – it is very different from any other book in the world. In the Bible we have the Word of God, and we can see the divine light. The Bible reveals God as light, and the word of God is a realm of the divine light.

If we have a pure heart when coming to the Bible, the Lord will shine on us and expose any darkness, and we will clearly see things as He sees them. But if we come to the word of God without an exercised spirit and a pure heart, it is very possible that we get only doctrines and teachings with no life. The function of the word of God is to impart God into man; the word of God operates in us as we turn our heart to the Lord and have an exercised spirit when we come to His word.

On God’s side, He is the divine light; when He shines on us, He comes to us as truth. When we read the Bible we can have God’s shining, God’s expression, and we can receive the divine truth to become our reality. However, it is very possible that we would not have the divine light when we come to God’s word, if our heart is not in the right condition.

If we have no light, we should not try to manufacture light or conjure up “human fire” in which we should walk; we should rather come to the Lord and ask for His mercy that He would shine on us and keep us walking in the light. God’s light is unique, and it cannot be replaced by our man-made light. We shouldn’t use our smart mind, our ability to understand things, or any seeking inwardly to “find light”; rather, we should go before the Lord and pray for His mercy to reach us!

In God’s light we can see light; in our own seeking and looking into ourselves we cannot conjure up light, neither can we produce light, but when we come to the Lord, He shines on us, He exposes any darkness, and we see the true condition and situation of things.

May the Lord have mercy on us that we would come to Him again and again to receive His divine light shining in His word and we would be the right persons in His eyes to walk in His light.

If we have No Light, we should Trust in the Lord and Not make our own Fire

In Isa. 50:10-11 the Lord asks, Who among you fears Jehovah; who hears the voice of His servant; who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah and rely on his God. If we kindle our own fire and surround ourselves with firebrands so that we may walk in the light of our own fire and into the firebrands which we have lit, the result will be torment.

This shows a very important principle in God’s eyes: if we are in spiritual darkness, we should not make our own fire but come to the Lord and receive His light. Man’s fire will never bring about genuine spiritual sight; only the light that comes from God brings in the real spiritual sight and light. Whenever we have no light, we should trust in the name of Jehovah, come to the Lord and ask for His mercy, trust in Him, and not kindle a fire and walk in the light of this fire.

Spiritual darkness cannot be removed by human fire, which never brings in genuine spiritual light; our own fire cannot be the source of spiritual light. As believers in Christ, we cannot advance in the spiritual pathway by our own fire, by our own man-made light; we should trust in the name of the Lord and rely on Him for His shining on us. Spiritual light doesn’t come from our own feelings or thoughts; rather, the more we search inwardly for light, the more we will not find light because light is not there.

If we are in darkness, not in the light, unclear about things, and we can’t see the reality of things, we need to trust in the name of the Lord and rely on our God. We shouldn’t trust in ourselves anymore; we shouldn’t rely on ourselves but drop our self-assurance, give up our self-confidence, put aside our pride, and beg the Lord for mercy, asking Him for deliverance and salvation; this is the sure way to get the light.

On the other hand, we shouldn’t try to light the fire on our own; we shouldn’t “light up some firebrands”, that is, we shouldn’t use our smartness, our ability to analyze and dissect and understand things; if we do this, we will lie down in torment. The human generated and manufactured light is part of the darkness, and it leads us into deeper darkness.

Many times we have this experience of not being so much in darkness yet trying to figure out what’s happening, analyzing it, and finding ourselves in even a deeper darkness. This leads us to having an obsession: a sickness that comes from our introspection and self-analysis.

We should not replace God’s light with our own light; if we don’t have light and light doesn’t come, we should pray for the Lord’s mercy to reach us! The coming of the Lord’s mercy is the coming of light. We shouldn’t replace God’s light with our own light; rather, we should always receive light from God and walk in His light (1 John 1:5; John 8:12).

Lord Jesus, we need Your light to shine on us so that we may advance in our Christian life. Lord, save us from making our own fire or manufacturing our own natural light. Keep us coming to You, trusting in Your name, and relying on You as our God. Lord, shine on us. Only Your light can generate life in us and cause the divine life to grow. Lord, we look away unto You so that we may receive light from You. We look away from our self or from anything else unto You to be shined on by You!

Only in God’s Light we see Light: We see what God Sees, the True Condition of Things

The more people search for light within themselves, the more they are in darkness; there’s nothing in our mind, emotion, or will that can bring us into light or that can give us light. With God is the fountain of life, and in His light we see light (Psa. 36:9).

We should not replace God’s light with our own light or even with light from others, but we should come to God to see light and the true condition of things. In His light (the enlightening light) we see light (the true nature and condition of things). If we have God’s light, we see things as they are. But if we don’t walk in the divine light, the things we consider good may not be good, and the things we may think are sweet, may not be sweet.

The light that comes from God is the enlightening light, and the facts and realities in God’s word are revealed to us in God’s light. Unless we are in God’s light, we may be self-deceived that we are in the light, thinking we have the facts, we understand what’s happening, and we know what’s what….but all these facts may not be real but we may rather be obsessed with them.

We may be obsessed by convincing ourselves that these things are real – but they are not real. Only in God’s light we can see the real nature of things. We see the true nature of anything when we are in God’s light (1 John 1:5-7). Before we can see the real situation and condition of things, we need to live in God’s light.

If a man is under God’s light, he will discern the intrinsic nature of things. Real discernment comes from God’s light, and the light is in the word of God. We need the divine light to shine on us so that it may operate in us; only the shining of the divine light can give us real discernment.

However, too many times we think we have the discernment and we have the right way, but when the Lord has mercy on us and shines on us, the real light exposes us and shows us the real condition of things. We may be too self-centered, self-trusting, and self-confident; we need to rely on the Lord, trust in Him, look to Him, and ask Him for the real light.

When we are in God’s light, we see what God sees; this is seeing in God’s light (Psa. 36:9). When we are in God’s light, we have no need of human light or natural light; when we live in God’s light, the true nature of things will be as clear and bright as light itself. When we are in God’s light we see as God sees.

Lord Jesus, with You is the fountain of life, and in Your light we see light. Bring our whole being fully in the light so that we may see things as You see them. Save us from being self-centered, self-trusting, or self-confident. Lord, we admit that we don’t see without Your light. We trust in You and not on our understanding. Shine on us and shine in us. Lord, unveil us to see You and see the spiritual reality. Shine on us through Your word. We look to You and we open to You!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, brother Minoru Chen’s sharing in the message for this week, and Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 36, pp. 257-271, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (2), week 3 / msg 3, The Word of God Being a Realm of Light in the Experience of God’s Loving Seekers.
• All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
• Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
  # Remove my covering, Lord, / That I may see Thy light, / And be deceived no more, / But all things see aright. / Oh, may Thy living light, Lord, / Scatter all my night, Lord, / And everything make bright, Lord, / For this I pray to Thee. (Hymns #426)
  # Turn your eyes upon Jesus, / Look full in His wonderful face, / And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, / In the light of His glory and grace. (Hymns #645)
  # Trust in the Lord with all your heart, / Lean not to your own understanding. / In all your ways acknowledge Him, / And He shall direct your paths. (Scripture song)