About keeping the faith in darkness…
Acts 7:59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed,
"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he fell on his knees and
cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said
this, he fell asleep. (NIV)
Good defeats evil. Light defeats darkness. Love defeats hate.
Forgiveness defeats sin. Christ defeated death. These are such easy words to
write but they are hard words to see in action in our world. These words are
also hard words to put into action in our lives. In a world full of conflict,
war, depression, and turmoil, these words often seem hollow. As discouraging as
things can get in our life and in our world, what we must try to do, what we
must always do at all costs, is to keep looking up. When we look up we see
Christ. When we look up we see God. On earth, it seems evil has such a foothold
that evil will win. In Heaven, evil is no more because evil has been defeated.
Your part in God's daily plan is to show His good so evil will be no more. When
you see evil, pray for the Lord's good to come. When you see evil, reach out in
love, caring, kindness, and compassion. When the darkness comes into your life
or into the life of others you know, be an instrument of Christ and reach out in
love. Reach out, for when the love of Christ is brought into the darkness, the
Light dispels the darkness at the speed of Light. The darkness has no power over
the Light. When you see hate, bring love, for love overcomes hate and makes hate
as if hate never was. When you see sin, bring forgiveness. In doing all these
things and being all these things, you bring Christ into the world. When you
bring Christ into the world He is also then truly alive and magnificently living
in your heart and life.
