piercing the darkness

I don't know about you but I am in desperate need of a breakthrough!  The darkness within me and all around me can feel overwhelming at times.  But what gives me hope is the word that is used for the last book of the Bible - apocalypse.  This word is translated by the more modern term, revelation, and it literally means, "to break through."  Paul uses this word in Romans 1:17 when speaking of how "a righteousness from God is revealed (apocalypsus - "broken through") in the gospel, the good news concerning Jesus Christ.  And this word also points to the most critical aspect of Jesus' response to Peter right after Peter made his famous confession of faith: "You are the Christ (messiah, anointed one), the Son of the living God."  Jesus made it clear to Peter that he had just experienced an apocalypse, a revelation.  The rock on which Jesus would build his church would, yes, include the need for Peter and his successors to pass on his teachings, and yes, the need for properly confessing Jesus as the Christ.  But the most important point that we must not miss, is that all this can only happen with an apocalypse, a revelation, that originates from the Father (Mt. 16::17).

Even though I have confidence in my salvation, because my faith and trust are in Jesus to save me from sin and death, I feel the need to be "born again", again. When Jesus first spoke of another birth it was a dynamic, new, living word and reality.  But now it has become status quo and it has lost so much of its original power. There is still so much within me that needs saving!  Many would try to console me by saying that in this life we will never receive our full salvation, that I need to be patient and just wait until I go to heaven or Jesus comes back.  That's fine, and I do find comfort in that.  But I've also become convinced that there is so much more of God's salvation that He intends for us to experience now.  The promise of future rewards in heaven is dependent on how well we are overcomers in this life.  I can't bear to continue in the Laodicean condition of lukewarmness any longer.  I don't want to be the proverbial frog that is slowly being boiled to death because it is continually acclimating itself to the rising temperatures!

My prayers these days run something like this:  "Daddy, I am a fool and will always be a fool apart from You.  But I don't want to be apart from You!  Draw me close.  I don't know how to draw closer to you.  Pierce my darkness!"