A Year with Jesus

Note from Jesus

Dear Faithful Follower,

Hide and seek is a great children's game. However, it is a dangerous and deadly spiritual game. If you are My follower, don't hide your loyalty and commitment to Me from others. When you have guests in your house, you don't hide the lamp so they can't find their way around your house in the dark. So if your friends are lost in spiritual darkness, why would you hide My spiritual light from them? Do you want them to stumble around in spiritual darkness?

Remember, I see what you do in your life. I'm not there to snoop, spy, or try to catch you doing something wrong. I'm there to strengthen, encourage, and bless. And know this: where I go, I bring true light. Hidden things are exposed. So I'm asking you to let My light penetrate deeply into your hidden places and drive out your darkness (John 3:19-21). When you let My light into your life, it will be filled with more and more light. However, if you try to keep things hidden away in the dark corners of your spirit, little by little you will lose the light you have now (Matthew 6:23). And be sure of this: even if you drive My light from most of your heart, sooner or later, everything in your heart will be revealed (Matthew 10:26-33).

Finally, remember I AM the One Who can help you find truth by shining My light in all places. As you try to look through the Bible for truth, don't forget Me. I AM here to help you make sense of it all in a way that is a blessing to all! So just ask Me to use the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, to help you know what Scripture means and how it all points to Me. I AM the One Who brings light to dark places, the one Who exposes truth and error, the One Who gives light to those seeking light, and the One Who helps you know how to use the Scriptures to unlock the truth and find great treasures!

Verses to Live

I AM the light to illuminate dark places, the guarantee that everything hidden will be brought to the full light of truth.

Jesus:
You wouldn't light a lamp and cover it with a clay pot. You're not going to hide it under your bed. No, when you light it, you're going to put it out in the open so your guests can feel welcome and see where they're going.

Hidden things will always come out into the open. Secret things will come to light and be exposed. I hope you're still listening. And I hope you're listening carefully. If you get what I'm saying, you'll get more. If you miss My meaning, even the understanding you think you have will be taken from you.
(Luke 8:16-18)

Just like hidden things will ultimately be revealed, people will ultimately be seen for who they are and what they have done.

Jesus:
Or think of it this way: the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea, a net that caught a world of flickering fish. When the net was full, the fishermen hauled it to shore. They separated the good fish from the bad, placing the good fish in a bucket and throwing out the inedible fish. That is what the end of time will be like. The heavenly messengers will separate the good from the bad, the righteous from the wicked, the repentant from the prideful, the faithful from the hard-hearted. The bad, the wicked, the prideful, and the hard-hearted will be thrown into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

Do you understand?
Disciples:
Yes, we understand.
(Matthew 13:47-51)

My servant, the apostle Paul, said it very well: the holy Scriptures "enable you to be wise and lead to salvation through faith in Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). So not only will hidden things be revealed and not only will people's works be revealed, but the truth of the Scriptures can also be revealed to you so that you can find many treasures if you approach them through faith in Me! Just as I said in this next verse, regardless of where you are in your walk of faith you should be on the lookout for new things as well as old familiar things as you study the Scriptures.

Jesus:
Every scribe and teacher of the law who has become a student of the ways of the kingdom is like the head of the household who brings some new things and some old things, both out of the storeroom.
(Matthew 13:52)

Response in Prayer

Father, help the light of Jesus to shine through everything I do and say. Please open my eyes to see Jesus and hear the voice of the Spirit in every bit of Scripture that I hear, read, and memorize. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.