As I have contemplated in the last week about the year of 2010, and what God would have me to do for Him in 2011, I have heard His still, small voice declaring to me that the revelations He has planted within my heart will come to fruition in the coming year.  The God of Light has illuminated and invaded my inner core; my belief system; my thoughts and my heart.  What I once believed to be right and real about church and relationships, He has turned upside down.  He has turned me inside out in such a way that it is almost impossible to explain to any poor soul who may ask how I am.   It is odd, though, because what has come from this mostly painful trek of being wrung out, is a more true and real me.  The person whom God has been trying to shape and mold for so many years.  Through many trials and tribulations, the exquisite seasons of refreshing, through the pains of pruning and pangs of growth, the fits of rage, the bouts of insecurity and stints of immaturity, the times of healing and rejuvination, and what seems like life-long preparation for kingdom service - I now finally feel at peace with who I am and where I am going.

I do not claim to have the answers every other Believer is seeking, nor do I fully grasp any answers that I might have, except that of Jesus Christ as my Redeemer, Deliverer, Comforter and Friend.  I have not arrived, and am certain I am still a work in progress.  I only know for sure that I must pursue Him and engage in what He has revealed to me with faith and confidence that He will continue to build on it.  It is the portion that deep within me, I have always longed for - cried out for.  Because it is the part that God  entrenched inside of me, for me to find as I learned to dwell in His Light.  There is something about that Light.  It penetrates a person like a laser beam until it reaches the very nucleus.  It both cuts away and brings warmth.  It exposes the you He created from the beginning of time that gets lost somewhere along the way.  From our child rearing, peer pressures, education, religious traditions, our culture and the world in which we live, to the enemy of our soul, all these things as good or evil as they may be, have played a role in us losing our true selves.  And losing the truth about life in His Light.

One thing is certain.  To the extent that we allow Him to purify us in His Light, is the extent that He is faithful to restore to us that which has been lost or stolen.  That is true for the real person inside who we are created to be, for our relationships, our finances, and the way we see God Himself.  God so desires to reveal Himself to us.  He longs for us to come into His Light to reveal to us our true and wonderful selves.  He wants us to see everything in His pure Light through His eyes.  He yearns for us to know the simplicity of a relationship with Him.  And how  extraordinary is it that we can because He sent His Son for us?  Because Jesus is our mediator, and we are cleansed by His sacrifice, we can stand in the presence of a Holy God.  Each of us can be illuminated by the Creator of the Universe like the sun shines through the clouds to illuminate a tiny plant to nourish it and bring it life.  All we need is the desire to know Him and to abide in Jesus Christ. 

How amazing is that?  What are you waiting for?  Come into the Light.

In 2011, I will dwell in, and soak up His Light and learn about this new, old me.  I will share with those He places in my path about the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus, and the truth of dwelling in His Light.  Together, my husband and I will impart to others the love of God through the reality of being the church - His church.  We will follow His leading as we live in the illumination of His Light. That precious, glorious Light that purifies, reveals, nourishes and brings life to all who find it.