Let’s pick up where we left off last week.

1 John 1:5-7 states, This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you. That God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth but if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin.

Last week we looked at this verse. We said that if we stay in the light we will not be in darkness. I shared with you about my “bad attitude day”; and that when I chose the light of God’s word over my bad attitude, God was able to use me to pray for others. Today, I want to show you how that works.

The main word I want to point out to you today is the word fellowship. A lot of times we think of this word as simply meaning spending time with someone - going out to dinner with them or going to grab a cup coffee after work. But, this word has such a greater meaning to it than just hanging out with someone. Fellowship, according to the Greek meaning, is partner and partaker of. In other words, when you see this word in conjunction with God, it is saying that we are partnering up with God and partaking of all His benefits. So, let’s go back and look at the above verse, especially verse seven. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. In other words, using what we just learned about the word fellowship, if we walk in the light, we are in partnership with God! We can partake of all His benefits. Praise God!  We are in partnership with the creator of the universe! The one who said, “let there be light” and light was! It seems like a “no brainer”, but the catch is we must walk in the light. When we gossip about our neighbor, we walk out of the light, and we are no longer in partnership with God. When we murmur and complain, we walk out of the light and are no longer in partnership with God. That day, I was upset because of losing the ballgame. I had stepped out of the light and out of partnership with God. Am I still going to heaven? Yes! But, I am no longer able to work with God to accomplish His goal. His goal for me that day was to pray. The moment I recognized that I needed to get into the Word of God, God began to unveil His light to me, and I was able to move back into the light and hear God say, “Pray for the kicker.” I was back in partnership. I was back working with God.  

Every day, we have to choose whether to walk in the light of God or to walk in the darkness. Trust me, Satan has devised a plan to keep you out of God’s light. He knows that if you figure out that you are in partnership with God and that you can get things done by walking in His light (His Word) Satan will detour you from it. Sometimes, it’s not even Satan! It is just everyday life and your flesh that will get you upset, angry, and walking out of love. Not you, Champion! You choose to stay in fellowship with God by walking in the light. Make the decision this week to stay in fellowship with God in every situation. Tell yourself, it’s not worth being out of partnership with God, and stay in the light.

-Coach Brim

Continuing what we discussed last week...

The scripture that God enlightened me with that day is found in John 1:4-5. It states, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” See, in Christ, in God, and in the Holy Spirit there is no darkness. If someone tells you that God put a sickness on them to teach them something, it’s not true. In 1 John 1:5 the word states, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness.” (There should be a trumpet sound after this verse!)

Therefore, sickness and poverty are darkness. God only resides in the light. God created it that way. He wants us to walk in the light everyday, but it is impossible for us to walk in darkness and light at the same time. In the natural sense, once you turn the light on, there is no more darkness in the room. It’s the same in our walk with God daily. If we choose to stay in the light of God’s Word, the darkness of situations that come our way will have to flee.

Going back to John 1:4-5, we see that verse ending with, “and the darkness did not comprehend it.” This word comprehend is an interesting word. You would think that we are talking about understanding something or remembering something, but the actual Greek meaning of this word is to seize, to pull down, to conquer, or to hold under one’s power. Therefore, this definition should really read like this: “And darkness does not have the ability to suppress or to hold the light under its power or dominion.” Praise God! So, no matter what darkness Satan is trying to bring into your life, that darkness has no power to remain there. You may feel like you are at rock bottom, knocked down and unable to get up again; BUT that power of darkness does not have the ability to keep you there, suppress you down, or take you out. Darkness does not have the ability to overcome God’s light. So, when you are dealing with a “bad attitude” like I was, run to the light of God’s word.

Run to this verse when you feel the pressure of life! Second Corinthians 4:9 tells us, “We occasionally get knocked down, but never get knocked out.” We, as Christians, have been given an ability, through God, to keep going even when darkness tries to overtake our lives. Remember, God is light and in Him there is no darkness. The only way darkness can reside in your life is if you allow it. But, we overcome if we allow the light of God’s word to shine in the darkness. The only time we are down and out is when we stay right where we are not fighting for the light. See, that day when I was upset about the loss of my favorite team I was not in the light. I could have continued to be in anger, effecting everyone around me with a bad attitude, but I chose to do something about it. I went in that office (not happy), fought my flesh, and got in the Word of God. Instantly, my attitude began to change because the light of His word was over taking the darkness. The next thing I knew, the Holy Spirit was prompting me to pray for the kicker that missed the field goal. I began praying for the referee and for people around me. I had chosen light over darkness, and God was able to use me to pray for others.

God needs us working with Him to bring His light to hurting world.

-Coach Brim

Over the next several weeks, we will be talking about staying in the light. So, don’t miss the next several blogs. I promise you, this could change your life!

Through a situation in my life (a bad attitude) I came across a revelation that has set me free. I want to share it with you so that it can help you with your walk with God.

Can you have a bad attitude and still be a Christian? Yes! Can you have a bad attitude and still go to heaven? The answer, once again, is yes! Your salvation is not affected by your attitude, but your walk with God on this earth is. In Matthew 5:14, the Word tells us that we are to be the light of the world. It is really hard to be the light of the world when all the world is seeing is a bad attitude.

I am a huge Chicago Bears fan, and I have been since I was 8 years old. I watched the movie, “Brian’s Song” and began my journey of being a Chicago Bears fan. I vowed that day to be a fan for the rest of my life. I tell people, I cried through that movie as a kid and have been crying ever since!

This year, Chicago finally made it to the playoffs for the first time in ten years. This was our year! This was the year that we would go all the way. We had the best defense in the league, and we were Super Bowl bound! Kaleb, my son, and I have on our Chicago jerseys watching the game. It’s the very last play of the game, and Chicago is kicking a field goal (which would put us ahead). The kick is up! It’s good! We have won the game! We are going to the next round! Kaleb and I are jumping up and down, running around the room, rejoicing over our win! Then suddenly, we noticed a referee waving his hand saying, “A timeout was called before the kick.” We had to kick again. What?! So, we kicked again and missed. Instead of winning, and being on top of the mountain, we lost the game.

This is where my bad attitude came in. I was so mad. I was mad at the referee. I was mad at the kicker. I was mad at the jersey I was wearing; I was just plain mad at everything! I even texted my wife, who was at prayer meeting. “Don’t talk to me about the game.” I was definitely not walking in the light at that moment.  I was not being the light of the world.

I was so upset about not winning that I knew I had to do something. So, I ran to the Word of God. I locked myself in the office with the Bible and began reading in John. When I read John 1:4-5, the bad attitude began to lift off of me. These verses say, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” Two words stood out, light and comprehend.

Let’s start with light. Light is a constant. Darkness cannot stay where light is. Think about it: when you walk into a dark room and turn on the light, what happens to the darkness? It disappears. The room becomes filled with that light. It is the same with the Word of God. The moment I brought in the Word of God, my situation began to change. My bad attitude was replaced with the “light of the Word of God.” The scriptures even tell us in Psalms 119:105, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet, a light on my path.” In other words, the Word can bring light to every situation in your life. Go to the Word of God when a problem arises and that Word will bring you light!

- Coach Brim