Daily Affirmations - Day 2 - The Former Things - Out of Darkness Into Light
- Alisa B.
- 10 hours ago
- 2 min read
Day 2: Out of darkness into light
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Here we get a wonderful glimpse into the heart of God... [The apostle Peter] describes all God's mercies to His people, making them "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation"; a people "His own possession." All that is done for one specific purpose — "that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness."
Why does He desire that He should be known? For any good that it does to Him? No; except the good that even His creatures can do to Him when they gladden His paternal heart by recognising Him for what He is, the Infinite Lover of all souls.
But the reason He desires most of all that the light of His character may pour into every heart is [that] He would have every heart gladdened and blessed forever by that received and believed light. The Infinite desires to communicate Himself, that by the communication [humanity] may be blessed.
There is another thing here, and that is a wonderful glimpse of what [followers of Jesus] are in the world for. "This people have I formed for Myself...shall show forth My praise." ...Every [one] that receives anything from God is thereby made a steward to impart it to others...
The world takes its notions of God, most of all, from the people who say that they belong to God's family... They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible. They see us; they only hear about Jesus Christ...
If we have any right to say that we are a royal priesthood, a chosen nation, God's "possession," then there will be in us some likeness of Him to whom we belong stamped more or less perfectly upon our characters... just as people cannot look at the sun, but may get some notion of its power when they gaze upon the rare beauty of the tinted clouds that lie round about it...
A bit of worthless [grease] may be saturated with a perfume which will make it worth its weight in gold. So our poor natures may be drenched with God and give Him forth fragrant and precious, and [others] may be drawn thereby...
But above all, let us remember that none of these works can be done to any good purpose if any taint of self mingles with it. "Let your light so shine before men that they may behold your good works and glorify" — whom? you? — "your Father which is in heaven."
~A. Maclaren, Mirrors of God (Slightly edited)
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