Tag Archives: light

June 5, 2026 · 9:53 PM

We Need The Light Of Jesus

The Bible verse for VBS this year is John 8:12. Jesus says “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

Light is an important theme in the Bible. God’s first command in Scripture is, “Let there be light” (see Genesis 1:3). After that, light is often used as a symbol for God and his truth throughout the Bible.

Once God liberated the Israelite slaves from Egypt, he went before them as a pillar of fire at night, a light in the darkness guiding them to the Promised Land. Once in the Promised Land, King David of Israel wrote in praise to God, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Through the prophet Isaiah, God promised to send the Messiah. He would be, “a light for the nations” (see Isaiah 49:6). Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. He is God’s light for the nations. God sent him to be the light for our path, the one we can follow to the ultimate Promised Land, heaven itself, where the Bible assures us that we will “not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb,” Jesus (see Revelation 21:23).

Jesus says that he is the light of the world, not just the light for any one group, not even merely for his chosen people Israel. The prophet Isaiah was speaking to Israel when he told them God’s word about their Messiah, that he would be a light for the nations, God’s salvation to the ends of the earth. They would share the light with the world.

Jesus promises that anyone who follows him will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life. No matter what our background or what our past mistakes and sins may be, Jesus calls us to follow him and avoid the spiritual darkness in this world.

Following Jesus means being his disciple, learning from him and becoming more like him. As we follow him, he enables us to avoid the darkness of this age, the deception and destruction that have corrupted the world around us. This includes making the wise choices that keep us from falling into spiritual ruin.

More than avoiding the darkness, by following Jesus we can have the light of life. This includes morality and ethics, doing the right thing. But it also includes a personal response to the Lord, worshiping and serving him, not just following a set of rules.

When Jesus first spoke these words, hostile religious leaders began criticizing him. They desperately wanted to embarrass him in public and destroy his reputation and popularity with the people who were following him or considering doing so.

Despite their best efforts, people were persuaded by Jesus and became his followers. Despite the distressing spiritual darkness of our world today, Jesus still calls on people with the same promise. He is the light of the world. Anyone can choose to follow him and enjoy the light of life.

Jesus also told his followers that they are the light of the world (see Matthew 5:14). His light in us is not only for us, it is for the nations, including our own nation, including our own community. Jesus’ light shines in us and through us to reach others.

VBS is a powerful tool for shining Jesus’ light on children at Grace Baptist and in Camden. Pray for God to bless our efforts again this year as we call on others to join us in following Jesus, avoiding the darkness, and enjoying the light of life!

May God’s Spirit inspire and empower us to reflect his great light,

Brother Richard Foster

Astronaut Victor Glover Sees The Light

NASA’s Artemis II splashed down recently after a successful mission around the far side of the moon. Four astronauts traveled more than 252,000 miles from earth. That is four thousand miles deeper into space than anyone has ever gone!

The total distance they traveled was close to 700,000 miles. They did that in just over ten days. You’ve gotta break the speed limit to go 700,000 miles in ten days! They were going 25 thousand miles per hour when they re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.

The pilot of Artemis II was a man named Victor Glover. He is very open about his faith in Christ. He has a strong Christian witness. He also has a unique perspective. He has seen things very few people will ever see. We can marvel at the images they sent back to Earth, but he has seen it with his own eyes.

When Victor Glover looks at the vastness and beauty of the universe he sees the handiwork of God. He sees what Scripture describes in Psalm 19: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (NIV). Glover has the eyes to see the fingerprints of God in the physical world.

Jesus urges us to see the light of God’s truth not just in the physical world around us, but to let God’s spiritual light illuminate our hearts. “Your eye,” he says, “is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is also full of light” (Luke 11:34, CSB).

Physical light illustrates important properties of spiritual light. When the sun is up, a healthy physical eye sees clearly so we can move about with confidence. But if our eyesight is bad, the sun is little help. If our eyesight is bad, we are not allowed to have a driver’s license unless we have some kind of correction for our vision, glasses or contact lenses.

If my spiritual eyes are blurry, then I cannot clearly see God’s light: Jesus. Jesus is the light of the world. Without the light of Jesus, I will easily get off the pathway that God has laid out. When I do, I face great danger. ‘Driving’ a life without clear spiritual vision is hazardous.

Many people are more comfortable with the spiritual darkness of this world than the light of Jesus. They try to remain in spiritual slumber. When the light comes, they are irritated by it. Jesus irritated a lot of people. They were comfortable with their blurred vision of the world and of reality and of the truth.

On Easter Sunday, Victor Glover was on the Artemis II somewhere between Earth and the Moon. He was interviewed by CBS news. The astronaut talked about how amazing it is to see our Earth from space and spoke about how this Earth was created to give us a place in the universe.

Glover continued, saying that we should remember where we are, who we are.

Being in the vastness of space inspired Victor to think about the big questions in life, our place in the universe, our true identity, our purpose.

The pilot of Artemis II said that while astronauts and scientists are unlocking the mysteries of the universe, we should remember an important mystery on earth: love. Glover noted Jesus’ important saying about love. When questioned about the greatest commandment, Jesus said it is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And, Jesus insisted that we must also love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Jesus is the light of the world. When we follow him, we do not walk in darkness. Instead, we have the light of life.

God give us the eyes to see and the heart to follow the light of Jesus,

Brother Richard Foster

Tell People About Jesus Now

This little light of mine. I’m gonna let it shine! I remember singing those words. It’s a gospel song for children. It was inspired by a saying of Jesus.

Jesus told his disciples that nobody puts a lamp under a bowl or a bed. They put it on a lampstand so that it can give light to everyone in the house.

Jesus was brilliant at using common everyday experiences to reveal and explain spiritual truth. This saying is recorded in several places in the Gospels. He must have used it often.

In Luke’s Gospel, it follows immediately after his parable of the soils. In that parable, Jesus compares God’s word with seed. If seed falls on hard, shallow, or thorny soil, it does not bear fruit. When it falls on good soil, it bears fruit.

Jesus was preparing his followers for the fact that not everyone who hears God’s good news will be receptive. Some people have hearts like the hard soil, uninterested in the gospel. Others are shallow, only interested in the gospel when it feels good. They fall away when things get difficult. Still others are distracted by the things of this world. They are never really committed to the gospel, so they never bear spiritual fruit.

But Jesus didn’t want his disciples to give up on sharing the gospel. He assured them that some people have hearts that will receive the gospel and nurture it. God’s word will bear fruit in their lives. The work of sharing the good news is worth the effort.

Immediately following the parable of the soils, Jesus follows up with the saying about the lamp. He switches from comparing the gospel to seed and compares it to a lamp. Like a lamp, God’s word should not be hidden away.

When we put Jesus’ two sayings together, we get great encouragement about our efforts to share God’s good news with others. True, many will reject the good news, but some will receive it. So, we should not hide the gospel away.

Every follower of Jesus has the seed of the gospel already growing in his heart. We have the light of Jesus in our souls. Jesus has instructed us not to hide the gospel but to share it with others. God also empowers us with his Spirit, inspiring and enabling us to share the gospel.

God is not calling us all to be preachers, or teachers, or evangelists. His Spirit gives those gifts of service to the ones who are chosen by God. But every follower of Jesus is instructed to testify about Jesus, to be a witness.

We need not be Bible scholars or theologians to tell others about Jesus. Our testimony may be very simple. At times, it may be no more than a couple of sentences in a discussion at work or in the classroom or neighborhood.

The power of the gospel is not in our ability to speak well or be persuasive. The power of the gospel is in the gospel, like the seed and the lamp. When the soil is right, the seed brings the miracle of life. When the lamp is displayed, it gives light. The gospel is no different. When we scatter the seed and display the lamp, God will accomplish amazing things.

Pray and watch for opportunities to say a good word about Jesus. Ask God to give you the discernment to see the opportunities and to take advantage when they come. God’s powerful Spirit will use our feeble efforts to bear fruit for eternal life.

May the Lord inspire and enable us to tell the good news about Jesus,

Brother Richard

Tag Archives: light

We Need The Light Of Jesus

Astronaut Victor Glover Sees The Light

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