FORMER NCAA, NFL, AND AFL FOOTBALL PLAYER ROBBIE POWELL SHEDDING SOME LIGHT ON DARKNESS " GIMME THE LIGHT!!"

LIGHT AND DARKNESS...ARE THEY THE SAME OR 

DO WE JUST ACT LIKE THEY ARE?

This article is written by AFL (arena football League) conference champion, former Purdue Boilermaker, Former New Orleans Saint and Cleaveland Browns Centre Robbie Powell. This insightful word from God (My total and complete belief) is a soul shaking one. This message is so creatively articulated and intelligently juxtaposed that I consider this article to be a MUST READ!!!!! This article is profound and full of God's love and deep revelation. Read it! ALL of it,  and let this utterance from the Holy Spirit rock your world.  ENJOY....

LIGHT AND DARKNESS???   CAVES?  FRUIT?  HUH?
What “Light” Are We Even Talking About?  Whose LIGHT Are We Walking In? 
I remember a time when I was in my early teen years and I was in Boy Scouts.  We took a trip to caverns which were located inside the earth.  We were given the opportunity to explore the wonders of the caverns and see all different kinds of rock formations within the earth. There is a total absence of light within caves, so the only way for the rock formations to be seen is by lights.  The caverns were beautiful, but you only could see the BEAUTY of the rocks when LIGHTS were shined upon them.  I remember a time in the cavern where they turned off all the lights so everyone could experience what complete darkness was like.  You couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face!  I’m glad they turned on the lights because without them I would be stuck in a cave!  With this being said, I just want to you to imagine what it would be like functioning everyday in complete darkness…...  I know I would be terrified and completely lost if I could see nothing but darkness, and to add you couldn’t function!

Let’s look at some facts of LIGHT…Light is a form of energy that we can see (sun, electricity, etc).  LIGHT ALLOWS US TO SEE.   Without it we would be BLINDED in the darkness.  ALL living things depend on light.  All light comes from a SOURCE.   Nothing travels faster than light!  The Earth’s primary source of light is from the Sun.  The Sun is the CENTER of our solar system.  The Earth is always covered HALF in light and HALF in darkness. 
All throughout the Bible Light and Darkness are compared and contrasted.  We are going to look at both of them, because in order to understand one we must look at the other. 
Throughout the Bible, LIGHT is talked about and seen on many different terms.  Many people have different views on how light is described.  This is just my point of view and I urge you to formulate your own views through discernment and by asking God. If we start in the beginning of the Bible and examine the begining of time, we see God separating Light from Darkness (Gen 1:4).   In James 1:17, God is referred to as the “Father of Lights”.   Jesus says in John 8:12, “I am the Light of the World”.  Why would Jesus say he is the LIGHT of the world?  I thought the SUN was the light of the world?  What is Jesus trying to say? 

Let’s check out the SUN!! We already said: The Earth’s primary source of LIGHT is from the Sun.  The Sun is the CENTER of our solar system.  The Earth is always covered HALF in light and HALF in darkness.  Without the sun we would have no life on earth.  The sun gives life to plants, which in turn animals eat, which in turn we eat animals, and so on and so on…so basically WITHOUT THE SUN there would be NOTHING on this earth.   Even if you didn’t know it, the Sun gives us Light even in the Darkness!  How?…the MOON!  Light is still shined on us through the REFLECTION of the sun on the moon in the darkness!  SO it’s still shining when we are surrounded by Darkness!
 With this info, let’s compare Jesus “the Light of the World” with the Sun “the Light of the World”.   If Jesus is the light of the world, then HE is the Earth’s primary source!  HE is the CENTER of our solar system!  Without Him we would have no life on earth!  Without Him there would be nothing on this earth!  Here is something is SO amazing….When we are surrounded by Darkness…HE IS STILL SHINING!!!

OK WOW!!! This man Jesus is SHINING His Light on Us!  WOW I must be something pretty important to Jesus!  Well, now what?  Let me explain….JESUS WANTS US TO WALK IN THE LIGHT!!!  You may think if Jesus is shining on me I must be walking in the light then right?  Let’s take this to the book! 
5  This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7 (ESV)

Here God is telling us to Walk in the Light, because HE is the light!  When we walk in the light we are fellowshipping with “the Light of the World”!!! When we Walk in the Light, HIS BLOOD cleanses us from ALL SIN!!!   For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. Psalms 36:9 (ESV) Here it says only in HIS LIGHT can we see Light.  So, only in His light can we LIVE, and only in His light is the Fountain of LIFE! 

Let me give a quick testimony… I used to think I was walking in the light!!! Little did I know I was walking in Darkness!!!  I always knew that Jesus was a man that died for my sins on the cross, but I never fully grasped the importance of that Cross and what exactly that term REPENT/REPENTENCE meant.  I thought it was “Sorry God I’ll do better next time”, and that was it!  The English definition of Repentance- deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or the like; regret for any past action.  I think that’s exactly how we look at Repentance in North America.  We regret what we did in the past, and have knowledge of wrongdoing, and possibly some deep sorrow.  That’s NOT FULLY WHAT IT MEANS!!! Well, BIBLICALLY what does this word REPENT mean then?  >>>>> REPENT: Change of mind; also can refer to regret or remorse accompanying a realization that wrong has been done or to any shift or reversal of thought. In its biblical sense repentance refers to a deeply seated and thorough turning from self to God. It occurs when a radical turning to God takes place, an experience in which God is recognized as the most important fact of one’s existence. (Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
(For more info check out this site: http://www.milon.co.il/general/general.php?term=repent )

UNTIL WE REPENT WE ARE NOT WALKING IN LIGHT!!!!! We would then be WALKING IN DARKNESS!!!! SOOOOOOOO….Listen up because the rest of this is important stuff!
God says: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness!!!” (Isa 5:20)
Yes--- “There are those who Rebel against the Light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.” (Job 24:13)

What it means to be in Darkness and Walking in Darkness!
Darkness- the absence of Light!!!!! Scientifically, it is only possible to have a reduced amount of light. WAIT let me repeat that last one!  Scientifically, it is only possible to have a reduced amount of light.  If you aren’t in the light, then you’re in the darkness!  This goes back to my example from the cave:”Imagine functioning everyday in the Darkness!”  STOP FUNCTIONING EVERYDAY IN THE DARKNESS!!! There is Hope!!!!! Don’t forget the Sun reflects off the Moon in the darkness, and Jesus is still Shining! So as Ephesians 5:14 says, “Awake, Oh Sleeper! and Arise From the Dead!,  and Christ Will Shine on YOU!!!”

In Acts 26:18 we see a comparison of” Darkness to Light” then right after we see the comparison of “the power of Satan to God”.   So, I think it is fair to compare then Darkness to the power of Satan.  I don’t know about you, but if from reading this, I am finding out that I might be in Darkness, I sure as heck would want to get to the Light NOW!!!  I don’t want to be in the power of Satan!  In this verse, Jesus is speaking and telling Paul to “Open their Eyes”.  So, if we are in the Light shouldn’t we be telling people to OPEN YOUR EYES from Darkness to Light?!  “ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” –Jesus

In Matthew 25:14-30 we see Jesus speaking of the Parable of the Talents.  He speaks of a master going on a journey and entrusting his property to his servants.  Here one of the servants messed up big time, and couldn’t be trusted by the master!  Jesus speaks in verse 30 of this servant: “And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  This is an illustration of God is entrusting us to do His work on earth, to sow seeds while we are here. If we don’t do this while we are on earth, we are cast to the outer darkness as a worthless servant!!!  If we are doing His work then we are in His Light!  Yet Jesus still says:  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 3:19)  People will still love the darkness!!! We see this by darkness or “power of Satan” in work in many people in the world because the Bible says people will LOVE THE DARKNESS! 

Guys and Gals I have Love for you all dearly!  I urge you to open your eyes and evaluate whether you are “Walking in the Light” or “Walking in the Darkness”!!!  If you feel you are in the darkness turn to Christ and Repent!  Realize that He took you out of the Darkness by DYING FOR YOUR SINS ON THE CROSS!!!  Jesus Christ bore God’s WRATH on Himself for YOU AND ME!!!  WALK IN THE LIGHT!!! “THE UNFOLDING OF YOUR WORD GIVES LIGHT”(Psalms 119:130).  Get That Light!!!

  For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness! (1 Thess. 5:5) PRAISE GOD!!! We are no longer in Darkness!!!

 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1:12-14)

 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the FRUIT OF LIGHT is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!!! (Eph 5:7-14)

BEAR THE FRUIT OF LIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!


Robbie Powell