“…The people living in darkness have seen a great light…”
—Matthew 4:16
Our world is rapidly plunging into the moral abyss and spiritual darkness of deception, demonic activity, and the destruction of all that is true, good, pure, righteous, just, and holy. As a result, it is becoming a very dangerous place. For everyone. There is a deplorable lack of transparency. Integrity. Honor. No one can be trusted. Covenants are broken by a whim. Commitments are kept if convenient. Spinning the truth has become almost an art-form. Immorality has become amorality. God’s institution of marriage is mocked, and the family is redefined while being destroyed. In the midst of the darkness, our world desperately needs hope. We need Jesus.
Our hope in the midst of the dangerous, destructive spiritual darkness is illustrated by the function of lighthouses. In North Carolina, our coast is very rugged and has been nicknamed the Graveyard of the Atlantic because so many ships 
have come to ruin on our outer banks. So our shoreline is dotted with lighthouses. Whether the lighthouse is located on a sheer rock-faced cliff, a beautiful white sandy beach, or at the entrance to a harbor, the purpose of each one of them is to tell the passing ships where they are, then help direct them safely through the dangerous waters. Without them, ships have to guess their way through the turmoil of cross currents. Many ships, although navigating to the best of their ability without the light, have run aground on the submerged rocks and been broken up by the pounding waves.
The most famous lighthouse in our state is located on Hatteras Island and named, appropriately, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. It looks like a very tall black and white striped barber’s pole. It stands as a 210 foot tall sentinel that warns ships of an area of the Atlantic, called Diamond Shoals, where the Gulf Stream collides with a colder current, creating optimal conditions for stormy seas, giant swells, and shifting sandbars. Over time, the beacon of light from the lighthouse has not grown dim.
Instead, at various stages in its history, the power, clarity, number of reflectors, and visibility of the light have been increased. Today, it is clearly visible for twenty miles. And the light has never been allowed to go out. Ever. Even during the Civil War it was protected because of its strategic importance to the safety and well-being of the passing ships.
One can imagine what would happen if there was no guiding or warning light coming from the shore, either because it was dim or had gone out. Ships would flounder in the hostile, changing sea. Some vessels might make it through to safety, but others would wind up wrecked on the shoreline. They would end as tragic statistics of the consequence of a lighthouse that may have been on the shore, but whose light was ineffective because it was non-functioning or too dim to make a difference.
Praise God! In this world of chaos and confusion, darkness and destruction, God has given us the Light of hope. The beam has been seen, not just for 20 miles, but through the centuries for 2000 years. And it has never gone out, although the enemy has on many occasions done his best to dim it or snuff it out altogether. Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness.1 He announced to the people of His day that, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.2 We do not have to flounder in the dark, or be swept along with the current of the crowd until we plunge into the abyss, or crash our lives on the sandbar of 
our own self-centeredness and sin, winding up with broken hearts and broken hopes and broken dreams and broken homes. But the key is that we must follow Jesus…closely, carefully, and consistently. He will lead us safely through to our heavenly Home.
The challenge of the moment is not only to follow Jesus so closely that we navigate successfully the dangerous world in which we live, but the challenge is to be such a clear reflection of Jesus…of His truth, love, justice, righteousness, goodness, purity, justice and holiness…that we ourselves would let [our] light shine before men, that they may see [our] good deeds and praise [our] Father in heaven.3 The challenge is to be a reflection of His Light so that we in turn become a lighthouse for others showing them how to navigate in the darkness of this age so that they, too, arrive Home safely.
I believe this may be one of the most strategic moments in all 
of human history for offering real hope by sharing the Light. Don’t hide the Light under the bushel of political correctness. Don’t dim the Light under the bushel of intimidation. Don’t mingle the Light with the rising popularity of pluralism and multi-culturalism and relativism and humanism and agnosticism and atheism. The world desperately needs to know the hope—the rock-solid confidence—that there is Someone who has everything under control. The world is not falling apart. It is falling into place. God is working His plan to bring all things under His authority—to redeem us, to return for us, and then to rule the world with justice and righteousness, ushering in 1000 years of world peace.
Follow Jesus closely. Then be a reflection of Him as you let your Light shine. Give the world hope. Give them Jesus!
For His Glory,
MAYDAY MAYDAY is an international distress call via radio, signaling a life-threatening emergency. It’s also the name for the next prayer initiative God has laid on my heart. It will be offered daily for your participation from May 15 through May 23, – the period from the Ascension of Jesus to Pentecost on the church calendar. It will include written prayers for you to pray and videos for you to watch. Plan now to join me one hour each day as we pray for the church, our nation, Jerusalem, and our world. Because we are in serious trouble. Click here to sign up.
Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day
If you’ve been encouraged over the years by the way Anne’s writing applies scriptural truth to everyday life, you’ll be blessed each day through reading The Joy of My Heart. In this collection of daily devotions, Anne brings some of her most thought-provoking meditations from six of her best-selling books into concise and captivating readings for each day of the year. Whether you make it an inspiring addition to your personal devotional time or a gift to encourage a friend or family member, we pray it will draw each one who reads it closer to Jesus, rediscovering that His Word is the “the joy of my heart.”
The Joy of My Heart (special price – $10.00)
Getting up early in the morning to fix our eyes on Jesus through prayer and reading His Word is like setting our spiritual compass. Because no matter what faces us during the day, or how “lost” and confused we can become, or how many decisions and choices we are confronted with, our hearts and our thoughts always turn toward Him. And He invariably leads us on the right path.
Our prayer is that the devotions in this small volume will help you fix your eyes on Jesus every day.
Fixing My Eyes on Jesus (special price – $10.00)
1 John 1:5
2 John 8:12
3 Matthew 5:14, 16
Click here for the Bible study especially developed for this newsletter.
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