Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

1 John 1:5-7
Beloved: This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christ and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.

If we say, "We have fellowship with him," while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin, no matter what.

He showed me a yoga stretch for my back, and in his accented English said, "When you stretch this way, imagine the warm blood of your heart moving inside and around the vertebrae. Feel the warmth and rest in it."

My friend went on. "And be prepared for your spiritual eyes to open. Look for the light. It will be there and you will see it." Then he told me a story:

"I told my tennis partner about the things I was seeing in the yoga, and he told a friend who asked me to visit his new home. This man told me he felt something dark, wrong, haunted ... something. He asked me to come and clean up his house. So I visited him later in the week, and we walked through his new home together.

"I am not an exorcist. That is for someone else more expert than me. I just walked with him."

There was humility but no disappointment in his words as he continued. "I left and drove home and was doing the yoga that I do every day. Then something in me opened. I could see dark blue and black blobs, stuck and dead in space, lots of them. They made me feel sick, a little ugly. Fear. Abuse. Regret."

But the dead did not hold sway. "As I kept stretching a great light began to pour in, pour down, pour out all over me and the eyeless blobs. This I knew was the Holy Spirit, and I felt so happy. It was not a candle burning in the darkness. It was not the lonely light of a wise man's lantern. This was the light of the universe. This was the light of the world. And it would not go out.

"The black and blue spirits moved on. Like I said, David, keep your eyes open. See what there is to see."

It took courage to tell his story, because my friend had been rebuffed by a pastor and another Christian friend who could not seem to access his imagination but dogmatized him instead. "No, that was not the Holy Spirit. No, you did not see what you saw. Here is what you saw. This is what it means."

My friend left feeling more alone, more sad, and no less certain of what he'd seen. His favorite gospel had been Luke; but now he has turned to John, who saw light and saw the darkness defeated and wrote what he saw without fear.

Held up by your strong hands behind our necks, Lord, we flounder in your arms like newborn babes, and try to stretch ourselves up and up and out and out. We want to be free. You are the freedom-bringer, Lord, and if we'll just hold still you'll bring milk and meat to our lips and strength to our bones. We can fly when we find the light in which you float, waiting there for us with a smile and open arms.

Devotions Archive

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Wednesday, December 28, 2016