You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Matthew 5:14
Okay; so in the past few days I have found myself being assaulted by 'Satan'!
No, seriously, 'Lucifer' himself has me under attack, but I know why! Better yet, I know who he is, I can control 'him'! ( Sorry for all the personal pronouns, but just insert 'we' where applicable. ) The 'lower' mind, our basest chakra, if you will, likes to control our emotions & therefore our actions, but we must overcome 'him'; just as the Lord told Cain, 'If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire [ is ] for you, but you should rule over it' ( Genesis 4:7 ). We have a choice, we can choose to act the part of 'Lucifer', or we can choose to act the part of 'Satan'!
'Satan', as my readers might remember, is simply Hebrew for 'adversary.'. Though this, in itself, does not rule out the possibility that there might, after all, be something to the relatively modern rendition of the old goat with a pitchfork, the biblical evidence is too overwhelming to the contrary for this blogger to understand the concept of 'Satan' as anything other than an adversarial spirit. When people blame their problems on 'Satan' or 'Lucifer', then, though the notion still rankles me somewhat, I find that I must agree!
'How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,[b] son of the morning!' Speaking through the prophet Isaiah ( Isaiah 14:12 ), YHWH began what most perceive as a judgement on this 'Satan' character. 'Lucifer', as further study will show, means 'Day Star'. A Google search may even reveal that 'Lucifer' is another name for 'Venus', or what we often call 'the morning star'. This planet is often mistakenly called both the 'morning' & 'evening star' because it is the first one visible to the naked eye before dawn & after dusk. Usually uttered with a bad connotation & used interchangeably with 'Satan', 'Lucifer' is anything but & so, one might recall these words from the apostle Paul in his second letter to the Church at Corinth ( 11:14 ), 'And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light'!
As 'the light of the world', it is we who often place ourselves under a certain condemnation when we fail to live up to our 'name' In Paul's day, it was the Judaizers, the apostate Jews, those who denied that Jesus was the Christ, who, as those who were ( supposed to be ) 'the light of the world', failed to recognize the True 'Light of the World' when He appeared. These, who were sent as angels ( messengers ) of light, had taken the position of adversary ( 'satan' ) against the cause of the Christ!
Jesus was sent, as the Christ, the Son of the Creator God, being of the same Essence. So too, being of the same Essence with both Jesus & our Heavenly Father, we are Sent Ones. We are the Light of the World in the exact same sense as Jesus was the Light of that world! Though we often fail to shine that Light as we should, or think we should, we are still the Light of this world & it is when we fail to acknowledge or recognize this glorious fact that our Light is dimmed.
Getting into the more esoteric & astrological studies, even into what many would term 'New Age' or 'eastern mysticism' , one may ascertain that, 'as above, so below': our human bodies are fashioned in much the same manner as the heavens above & when we fail to realize this, not acting according to this knowledge, we find ourselves prone to all sorts of 'disease', even when it comes to functioning as the 'Light of the World'. On the other hand & to a far greater degree, when we realize our true position in the Universe, our Light so shines before men & women that they cannot help but praise our Father in Heaven, even though they may not acknowledge Him!
Addressing the king of Babylon, YHWH reminded him that, while his purpose was to preserve the People of the Light in their exile, he had, in his own pride, striven to gain the ascendancy. In much the same manner, it is our pride which causes us to fall. However, when we fall, for we always do, we can choose to rise to the occasion, like the bright & morning-star ( Revelation 22:16 ) that we are, or we can choose to settle in the dust!
The greatest adversary in our lives is usually us, our pride, our ego! This is what Cain fought against & what a multitude after him, both in biblical history & otherwise, fought. We continue, to this day, to fight against this 'demon'. Again, though, it is up to us; it is our choice as to whether we give in to our baser instinct, like mere animals, or whether, as the New Creation, we rise above our meaner nature & shine forth as the 'Light of the World'.
Some may say that we're dreamers, but we're not the only ones! As the Children of the Highest, it is in us to shine! Because of a failure to understand what that truly means, we do not shine as brightly as we could, maybe, but even though as through a glass dimly, we still shine. As we continue to realize & acknowledge our place among the stars, we will shine ever bright in the Perfect Day!
The conclusion of the matter, then: BE a 'Lucifer', not a 'Satan'!
Charles Haddon Shank
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