Light or Darkness

Recently I spoke with a couple of women who tried to explain the way Jesus viewed "churches".  When I said that Jesus created the church from His Blood and pierced side, I realized they did not believe He was God in man.  There can be no light without this marvelous, yet hard to fathom, truth.  John, who walked this earth with Jesus, heard the words of Jesus as He taught and walked with His disciples, came to understand and love, ever more deeply, the Light of life.  I John 1:5-7 (NLT)  ⁵ This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. ⁶ So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. ⁷ But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
There is a difference in receiving the Light and walking, or living, in the Light.  I know from experience the difference.  The Holy Spirit taught me the difference through the experiences I had while only knowing the Light.  Living in the light means trust, peace and joy are no longer words, but a way of life.  Using the light of the Scriptures (when we know the light) when circumstances are full of darkness, is like a flashlight.  When I am awakened to pray and leave my bed to go to another room, so I can read the Word and pray without wakening my husband, I grab a flashlight, and it lights my way through the darkness to a room where I can turn on the light.  Then I turn off the flashlight, for it is no longer needed.  I turn it on again when I leave the room of light.  It was during one of these times that the Spirit said to me, "This is how many walk daily."  I immediately realized it was a common error that I also make many times.  A first reaction to circumstances is a telling view.  Is it trust or panic?  Do we take our reactions from our past experience and our "knowledge" we have gleaned, or do we turn to the Source and lean?  This is a dark realm but God has caused His Light to shine in it.
Psalm 36:9 (NASV)⁹ For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.  
John 12:46  (NLT)  I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.
John 8:12  Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
John 3:19-21 ¹⁹ And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. ²¹ But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” 
Matthew 5:14-16 ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. 

Every day and in every way let your focus be on Jesus.  This is how we walk in the Light.  Don't let what you do or where you go be a separate part of your life and following Jesus another part. 

Colossians 3:17   And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.