This song - Your Great Light - is one of my favourites on the album! In fact, I named the album itself after this song and this theme. I have spent hours on this blog, and want to prepare you for what will be challenging for some, and encouraging for others. 

What prompted me to write this song?

Okay, so…I absolutely LOVE my husband Anthony. He is a passionate man who truly thinks, and whose love for God propels his daily walk in life. One of our favourite things about our relationship is our talks. We talk about the Lord, we talk about life, we talk about the world we’re living in. And then we take our concerns (which are many) to the Lord.

Since we got together in 2015, we’ve become increasingly aware of the polarization between good and evil. We’ve also become increasingly aware of the enemy’s tactics in using false prophets to “deceive - if it were possible - even the elect” (Jesus, in Matthew 24:24). 

It has become utterly evident that we live in the Last Days.

My heart is pounding as I write this. Partly because I know this blog post will be attacked (the Truth is violently attacked in these last days), and partly because my heart aches for the people I know, even close friends in the faith, who have gone astray, who have fallen into the trap of the enemy.  I have never experienced such a shift in my experience of Christian fellowship than I have in the past 5-6 years. I shouldn’t be surprised, because these things were written about around 2,000 years ago!!  The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:3-4,

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

Here are my song lyrics that reflect the time we’re living in…

Your Great Light

Verse 1:

We seem to be stuck in the middle of a war against reality

There seems to be no end of confusion, fighting against the truth and light

Pre-chorus:

So come open up my eyes, don’t wanna be soothed to sleep with lullabies

I want to be standing tall, even if everyone else is bowing down

 

Here are some things that have been going on, that show we are indeed in the Last Days:

• rejection of the Bible as God’s inspired Word

• “new” teachings

• rejection of Jesus as Deity (i.e. “the exact representation of His [God’s] being” – Heb 1:3)

• the love of people’s approval & praise

• interpreting Scripture to mean something it does not

• claiming there is no Hell

• embracing sinful lifestyles and claiming to still be children of God

• calling good “evil,” and evil “good” (Isaiah 5:20-21)

A really important question to ask in light of these happenings is WHY? Why have people – even Christians – been falling into these deceptions?

My observations:

1. Christians no longer read the Bible!  How can we possibly be equipped to combat the deception and temptations of the enemy if we aren’t in God’s Word daily? Oh brothers and sisters, we have the Greatest Gift!! We live in a society that does not (yet) persecute us for having ready access to the Holy Bible. And yet it collects dust on our shelves. God, forgive us for floating along and rejecting the opportunities we have each and every day to hear from You through Your Holy Word!
2. Arrogance and pride – A theme I have noticed in people who have fallen into deception is arrogance and pride. Claiming that they know better than God Almighty, they distort and twist the Scriptures, coming up with “new” doctrine (which really is just false doctrine), they scoff and try to shame people who hold to the fundamentals of Christian doctrine, they make for themselves a god who is NOT the true God of Scripture, but is a version that makes them feel better about themselves and how they’re living.
3. Painful life events and painful losses – This is one that gives me great compassion. I know of a man who used to be a passionate evangelist, and now claims to be a Universalist (i.e. someone who believes that everyone eventually gets to heaven, whether or not they know Jesus Christ). It’s very sad, because he has departed from the Truth, has rejected the majority of Scripture, and has stopped evangelizing, because his new beliefs don’t require that anyone actually needs to know Christ to be saved. I believe this man has changed his views because of very painful losses in his life. He has had a few friends commit suicide…people who he had told about Jesus and who ended their lives without reconciling themselves to Him who is their Saviour. I believe it is in his pain that he has tried to make himself feel better by making up a version of the Gospel which is really no Gospel at all. We continue to pray for this brother, that the Lord will bring him back to the knowledge of the Truth…that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jesus, in John 14:6).
4. Fear (of hell) – This is one that has challenged me personally many times in the past. I have even considered the arguments that other teachers have given, to see if somehow you can reconcile a version of hell that is not as brutal as Jesus made it out to be. It is truly terrifying to know that there are people we know and love here in this life who choose to NOT be reconciled with God through Jesus Christ. Instead of focusing on this too much (because it can be overwhelming), I tend to focus on the character I know of God…God is love (1 John 4:8), God is sovereign (Isaiah 43:13), and God desires that all people be saved (2 Peter 3:9). However, Jesus also said, 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14).” In God’s sovereignty, He is completely loving and does not desire that anyone perish, and at the same time, has given us free will – to either choose Him or reject Him.
5. The love of pleasure rather than the Greatest Treasure in knowing Jesus Christ: 
   

   “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

6. Fear of man. The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Galatia:

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)

Many of us know that verse, because we’re aware of our tendency to care too much about what others think of us. We know it’s not healthy to be “people pleasers”, so this verse helps us refocus ourselves.

However, this verse is more specifically about false doctrine, and standing up for the Truth, no matter if people reject it or accept it. Here’s what Paul wrote in context of this well-known verse:

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:6-12)

Oh friends! We will all stand before a Holy God at the end of our lives!! Why waste time in trying to please others under the guise of “loving others”?

A Pharisee asked Jesus,

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:36-39).

If you mix up the order, friends, putting your love for others before your love for God, you will have an endless cycle of trying to adjust the True Gospel to meet people where they’re at. I have witnessed preachers (some whom I used to respect and listen to on a regular basis) who have mixed up the order, and have gone completely off track. Beware of people pleasing! You won’t stand before people on the Day of Judgement…you will stand before God Himself and give an account for how you lived your life.

Verse 2: 

It’s time to expose all illusions, Today is the day of freedom!

Let’s be real about the God who redeemed us,

There are so many who need to know that…

Why did I write this song?

This song is a declaration to the Church – the Bride of Christ – to wake up, put on the robes of righteousness given to us by Christ Himself, to stand up for the Truth and to stand apart from the world, and to be the lights in the darkness that Jesus called us to be.

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

The chorus of this song goes like this:

You …….. are the Truth! 

You are the Light in the darkest Night

And You ………. break down walls of lies

To free the world by Your Great Light

The Way, Truth, and Life Oh Jesus

Your Great Light

The way, truth, and life!

 

This has been the most difficult blog post to write so far.  The Truth is under such attack right now, and I believe the days of increased persecution against true Christians is coming. I say true Christians, not cultural Christians. The Lord knows those who belong to Him.

Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” (2 Timothy 2:19)

Jesus promised that we who love Him will have to face persecution, yet not alone. He is always with us. Jesus said to His disciples,

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:9-11)

We who are children of Light are supernaturally filled with JOY and HOPE as we rely on Him who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:9).

Take heart, brothers and sisters in Christ, with the knowledge that we who are in Christ “will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17b).

Enjoy the powerful declaration found in the bridge of this song…

I won’t give up give up the fight, there is no reason to hide

I won’t give in  give in to lies…In Jesus’ Name I will face the Night

I won’t give up give up the fight, Greater are You who are living inside

I won’t give in  give in to lies…the devil can’t put out the Light…

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I have taken a couple of excerpts from what Jesus said in John 15-17. I encourage you to read the ENTIRE chapters, because it’s so important to have proper context, and Jesus’ words are precious. For now, though, here are excerpts for you:

John 15:18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

John 16:1 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 17: 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

We are living in these last days. Children of God, it’s time to wake up!! God is calling…do not refuse Him or His call any longer! He is showing you the way…it is Jesus Christ! He is showing you the truth…it is Jesus Christ! He is showing you the LIFE…it is only in Jesus Christ!

I am praying for whoever reads this…may you be enCOURAGEd! Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

To God be the glory!

Amen.