Losing Perspective in the Darkness

By Cheryle M. Touchton
The Pocket Full of Quarters Lady

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12 NIV

I was on the phone with My Best Friend Nancy as I stepped outside my camper. It was dark and Belle needed to walk.

“I can’t see anything,” I cried. Nancy didn’t like hearing that. She frets about me traveling alone and does not like me being outside at night.

“I can’t see and I can’t remember where the lake is. I can hear the frogs but it sounds like they are everywhere. How do I know I’m not going to walk Belle into the lake? Do they have alligators in South Carolina?”

“Yes,” Nancy said. “They do have alligators. Alligators eat dogs.”

“Great,” I said. “I’ve completely lost my perspective in this dark.” An alligator didn’t eat Belle and I didn’t fall in the lake.

A couple of weeks later, I stepped outside in the pitch-black dark in Colorado. I knew there was a giant cliff close to me that dropped hundreds of feet into the canyon below but couldn’t remember which direction it was in. I knew that if Belle and I walked over the cliff, bad things were going to happen. I turned on my tiny flashlight beam and still couldn’t get my perspective back. I had completely lost my way and that tiny beam that pointed in one direction didn’t help. I needed a light that lit up the darkness all around me.

I meet many people who have lost their way. It is as if they are wandering around in the darkness and do not even notice it is dark. They don’t know which way to go or that there is anything available but darkness. They have lost their perspective about the difference between right and wrong. They have no idea of what living in the light could even be like. They have no memory of anything but darkness so darkness seems normal. They wander around dangerously close to a cliff and sometimes they fall over.

Occasionally, people shine tiny lights their way in the form of rebukes, pep talks, or advice. “You can do better,” people suggest. “Stop or you’ll kill yourself,” frantic loved ones cry. Unfortunately, like my tiny flashlight beam, these poor lost souls see the light but it does not illuminate the darkness or help them find their way out.

The only hope is to allow the bright illuminating “Sonshine” of Christ’s love and grace burst through us in the form of love, grace, faith, and kindness. The light of Christ is so bright that not only will it light up their darkness, it will make them long to walk towards it. Once they accept the love and grace of Jesus, He will convict their heart about sin and show them a way out.
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Cheryle M. Touchton is the Director of Pocket Full of Change Ministries. For more information or to schedule a speaker for an event, go to www.pocketfullofchange.org or call Cheryle Touchton at 904-614-3585.

This ministry exists because people like you are called to help fund the work of the kingdom. To help keep the Pocket Full of Quarters Lady on the road leading people to Christ, you can donate at Donate

Copyright: Pocket Full of Change Ministries

Journey to the Cross - The Darkness

Are you afriad of the dark? Let's face it - things go bump in the night. When we hear a sound at night, our instinct is to turn on a light. Spiritual darkness leads to destruction and when our loved ones walk in spiritual darkness we beg them the turn on the light.  When God created the world, he said, "Let there be light." Turning a light on physically and spiritually brings relief.

Morning Meditation

Read Micah 7:8-9
Mic 7:8-9 NIV

Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the LORD's wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.



• Allow the Lord to light your darkness.

• Confess sin, doubts, and fears.

• Allow Jesus to plead your case and establish your right.

• Have hope. He will bring you into light. You will see His righteousness.

Morning Prayer

• Praise God for being your light.

• Ask God to reveal your darkness so He can separate it into light.

• Tell God your joys, fears, and needs. Praise Him in everything.

• Pray for knowledge of God’s will for you today and the power to carry that out.

• Ask the Holy Spirit to interpret the scriptures you are about to read.

Morning Bible Study

Lent is a period of time that many set aside to deal with the darkness in their lives. Dealing with darkness is a difficult but essential part of spiritual development. Everyone faces the darkness. Without understanding the darkness, it is impossible to enjoy the light. Fear of facing the darkness causes many Christians to spend their lives limping through the half-life of denial.

Life on earth is difficult. Relationships begin full of hope only to become stale and or troubled. We look into the eyes of our newborns and anticipate their joyful and productive lives. They grow up and we have to face that they live in a world full of difficulty and pain. We wake up in the morning anticipating a day following God. We go to bed disappointed with the day and ourselves. Peace comes from examining the darkness in our lives to find the wisdom to see what must be accepted or changed.

Read Genesis 1:2-5.

Gen 1:2-5 NIV

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.

What came first, the light or the darkness?

Have you ever noticed that most spiritual growth periods in our lives begin with darkness? God created the light and saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. We turn to God to separate our light from our darkness.

The word “darkness” or “dark” is in the book of Job 34 times. We read how God separated Job’s light from his darkness. Read Job 12:22.

Job 12:22 NIV

He reveals the deep things of darkness

God reveals deep things in darkness. How has darkness been your teacher?

Read David’s prayer in Psalms 82:4-5.

Ps 82:4-5 NIV

Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. "They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness.

What are the weak and needy walking in?

Notice David’s concern that the weak and needy are vulnerable to the wicked. Satan attacks us at our weakest moments. Prayer is essential when we are weak and needy.

Read John 12:46.

John 12:46 NIV

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

Why has Jesus come into the world?

Notice the word “stay” in darkness. No one who believes in Jesus has to stay in darkness. We may move in and out of darkness many times in our lives but we never have to stay there.

The world experienced three hours of darkness when Jesus was crucified. On the cross, Jesus experienced His own personal moments of darkness. Read His words in Mark 15:33-34.

Mark 15:33-34 NIV

At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Have you ever wanted to cry out, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” Our Savior understands your pain.

Praise God, the world did not stay dark. Read Luke 24-1-6

Luke 24:1-6 NIV

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

Morning came in the form of the resurrection, revealing the deep things only discovered through the darkness. The Light, now separated from darkness, returned from the grave, on the third day. Jesus had accomplished His mission of facing darkness and winning. He is the Light of the World. Let Jesus separate your light from your darkness.

Application

An Episcopal priest told the following story. As a boy, he went on a retreat. Their leaders led them out in the pitch-black night and asked what they saw. It was dark and they saw nothing. Then their leaders blindfolded them for 45 minutes. Wearing a blindfold in the already dark night was terrifying. “I had never felt such darkness.”

Finally, the time came to remove the blindfolds. “What do you see?” the leaders asked.

“It was amazing,” he said excitedly. “Suddenly, we could see in the dark. The stars were brighter than they had ever been. They lit the way for our path. We could see the shape of the trees. By going deeper into darkness, our vision had improved.”

Examine the darkness in your life.

• What terrifies you?

• What is causing you pain?

• What needs improvement?

• Are there behaviors causing you shame?

• Take an honest and fearless look at yourself and your life.

It helps to write it down. If you have time, make a list. If it looks too black, remember the old expression, “It is always darkest before the dawn.” Fear not for He is with you. He will light your way. We will spend the next several days working this through. We will discuss sin, forgiveness, confession, and restoration. Please do not stop in the middle of this process. It would be like staying blindfolded in the night.

Be courageous. As you go through your day, ask God to reveal your darkness.

Journery to the Cross - Surely Confessing to God is Enough

Journey to The Cross: Surely Confessing to God Is Enough

Warning - today’s lesson is only for those courageous Christians who want to walk fully in grace. It is not for faint hearted.

Morning Meditation

Read Nehemiah 1:5-7
Nehemiah 1:5-7 NIV
O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you.

• Our God is great and awesome. Sit quietly and enjoy His covenant of love with you.
• Ask Him to let His ear be attentive and His eyes open to your prayers.
• Let yourself surrender to the humility of being a servant of God.

Morning Prayer

• Take the “sins” list you created during the previous devotion and confess them before God.
• Ask God for the courage to confess to one of your Christian brothers or sisters.
• Tell God your joys, fears, and needs. Praise Him in everything.
• Pray for knowledge of God’s will for you today and the power to carry that out.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to interpret the scriptures you are about to read.

Morning Bible Study

The Greek word for confess is homologeo. The meaning that applies to this devotion is “to confess by way of admitting oneself guilty of what one is accused of, the result of inward conviction." It also means “to agree with God.” In short, God accuses via our convicted spirit and we decide to agree with what He already knows.
(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c)1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Read 1 John 1:8-10.
1 John 1:8-10 NIV
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

• What is our promise if we confess our sin?“
• What happens if we say we have not sinned?

Read James 5:15-16
James 5:15-16 NIV
If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

• What is our promise, as Christians?
• What two things are we supposed to do with other Christians?
• What is God’s promise to us if we confess to God and each other?

Some churches have a formal way for confession and others depend on the sweet intimate fellowship of Christian brothers and sisters. Perhaps the method isn’t as important as the fact that we find a way to do it. To miss the experience of confession to “each other” is to miss the humbling bond of trust and love that develops when people share their souls.

We see many examples of public confessions in the Bible. Paul often confessed his sins to others. At one point, he admitted that he did things he did not wish to do. Read 2 Corinthians 11:20-21 for an example of his confession on behalf of himself and the people he was writing to.

2 Cor 11:20-21 NIV
In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!

Read David’s sweet prayer of confession in Psalms 32:5.
Psalms 32:5 NIV
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD" — and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Yes, David is confessing to God but he is also confessing to us since we are reading this confession. Who among us doesn’t appreciate David’s honesty with us?

No one enjoys the humility of confession until the rewards afterward are reaped. Confessing to God is usually easier than confessing to humans. After all, God loves us unconditionally but we aren’t so sure about everyone else. Besides, God already knew about our sin so what have we got to loose? The reward is that through complete obedience of confession to God and each other, we get to experience and enjoy the grace that was already ours.

Christians often struggle with guilt long after they have confessed to God. By confessing to humans, we become a humble sojourner with the family of God. Unwillingness to confess to humans demonstrates a lack of humility. If you are thinking about skipping confession to humans, remember that God tends to get us humble one way or another. Most prefer a willing act of obedience to the baseball bat of humiliation.

Read 1 John 1:9.
1 John 1:9 The Message
On the other hand, if we admit our sins — make a clean breast of them — he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself.

So – let’s “admit our sins” and “make a clean breast of them.” God will be true to Himself!

Application

Karen had a terrible secret. She was 29 and still tortured by it. As she lay in bed at night, the ghosts from past screamed so loudly that she couldn’t fall asleep. She begged God for forgiveness but could find no peace. Her church taught grace but she could not release her guilt.

Karen’s story of guilt goes back many years. She was a PK (a preacher’s kid). She was active in church and enjoying being a freshman in high school. She was excited because her father and allowed her to go to a high school football game. It was her first one. She went with her two best friends.

Like many teenagers, Karen enjoyed pranks. During the football game, Karen and her friends left the stands and went behind the bleachers. As Karen stood there, she realized that they were just a few feet from the smaller scoreboard. No one was standing near it. Karen dared her friends to climb the scoreboard, wave at the crowds, and climb down before anyone caught them. Her girlfriends accepted the dare and climbed the pole. As they reached the lights, Karen watched with horror as the lights flickered, flamed, and died. Her friends fell to the ground, dead from electrocution. Karen ran back to the stands in shock.

The entire school grieved the tragic loss of these precious fun loving girls. Racked by grief and guilt, everyone thought Karen’s hysteria normal for losing two close friends. No one questioned her about the deaths. In desperation, Karen confessed to her father. “It was my fault,” she sobbed. “They didn’t want to do it but I kept teasing them. I called them a chicken.”

The father listened quietly. When she finished, he said, “You can’t bring them back. Do not tell a soul. The scandal would hurt everyone. Ask God for forgiveness and drop it.”

Karen begged God for forgiveness, night after night, but could find no peace. She began overeating to mask the pain and gained weight rapidly. She became a recluse, focusing only on her studies. “I didn’t feel worthy of having a friend,” she told me. When she went to college, she began experimenting with drugs. She’d lost all respect for herself and had stopped taking care of her personal hygiene. “At age 29, I was addicted to food and drugs, overweight, alone, and hopeless.”

Someone told Karen about Overeaters Anonymous. “I attended meetings but they didn’t help. I couldn’t understand why others could recover and I could not. One of the steps of Overeaters Anonymous is to humbly admit to God, ourselves, and another person the exact nature of our wrongs.”

Out of desperation, she sat down and talked with a Christian woman who was also a recovering member of Overeaters Anonymous. The entire sordid story poured out of her. Her friend held her as she cried. This was the first time she had talked about the incident since the night she told her father.

“As I confessed, I could feel myself getting lighter. We talked about the grace of God. I left the meeting, knowing God loved me and had forgiven me. I realized I had forgiven myself for a childish prank that had destroyed over half of my life.”

Eventually, Karen even talked to the parents of the girls and neither set of parents blamed her. Karen had to go through a process of forgiving her father for his poor and possibly selfish advice to keep silent. Karen lost weight, stopped using drugs, and began taking care of herself. She continued to be active in Overeaters Anonymous and grew active in the church of her childhood.

Secrets kill the soul. Karen’s confession to God and her father was not enough because it perpetuated her secret. By opening up to someone who loved her unconditionally, Karen was able to experience the grace that was already hers. She said, “That woman was God with skin on.”

Here comes the hard part. Take your list from yesterday:
• Pray about to whom you should confess.
• Pick a loving and discrete trustworthy Christian. If your church has a formal way to do this, work within your church’s system.
• Immediately, call and ask if you can share something with them. Keep it short and simple. A phone call may be all that is necessary.
• After talking to the individual, get down on your knees and ask God for the willingness to allow Him to remove all of these sins.
• Offer them to Him in humility.
• Stand up and walk in grace.

Keep the list. We are not finished with it yet. If you thought today was hard, wait until tomorrow when we find out if you owe anyone an apology or amends. I warned you that Easter was a time for repentance and confession.

Journey to the Cross
Sin – Up Close, Personal, and Uncomfortable

Morning Meditation

Read Psalms 32:2-5
Ps 32:2-5 NIV
Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD" — and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

• Blessed is the man in whose spirit is no deceit. Quietly check your spirit.
• Are your bones wasting away and your groaning long? Allow God to search your heart.
• Do you feel as if your strength is sapped? Prepare your heart to acknowledge your sin.
• Anticipate the joy of confession.

Morning Prayer

• Ask God to give you the courage to honestly face yourself and your sin.
• Ask God to be gentle as He reveals the sin in your life.
• Tell God your joys, fears, and needs. Praise Him in everything.
• Pray for knowledge of God’s will for you today and the power to carry that out.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to interpret the scriptures you are about to read.

Morning Bible Study

Lent is a time to examine the sin in our lives. The word for sin in the Hebrew is awen. It means "iniquity; vanity; or sorrow." Because of the roots of the word, there is an implication that awen means the absence of all that has true worth; hence, it would denote "moral worthlessness," as in the actions of wrongdoing, evil devising, or false speaking. The word sin in Greek is hamartia. It means “missing the mark.” It is the most comprehensive term for moral obliquity. (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c)1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

The word sin is in the Bible 471 times. Admit it. We may not like it but at least God warns us – sin surrounds us and permeates our lives. If that news is not bad enough, sin is getting worse. Read 2 Timothy 3:1 and “don’t be naïve.”
2 Tim 3:1 The Message
Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead.

There are indeed difficult times ahead as we grow closer and closer to the end times.

For examples of sin, read 2 Timothy 3:2-5.
2 Tim 3:2-5 The Message
As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people.

Sin is even in the church and that shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, people are going to make a show of religion but behind the scenes be animals. Again, we may not like the truth but at least God warns us.

• Do you know any “bloated windbags?” Are you one?
• What about the words cynical, ruthless, self-absorbed, crude, or contemptuous of parents? Recognize any of these?
• Are you someone people should “stay clear of?”

Difficulties and trying times make us particularly susceptible to sin but there is hope. Read Job 1:22.
Job 1:22 NIV
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

While it might be rare, it is possible not to sin when having difficulties. Look at all Job went through. Even though he was blameless, his friends blamed his problems on sin. One would think he had earned a long bout with doubt or self-pity but somehow, he managed to avoid it. Amazing but true!

If you are wondering how not to sin, read Matthew 5:29-30.
Matt 5:29-30 NIV
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

It is so simple. We figure out what is likely to make us sin. We gouge it out and throw it away. Recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, and compulsive overeaters know this to be true. To recover, they must spend the rest of their lives gouging out and throwing away their “drugs of choice.” It may be simple, but is certainly isn’t easy.

Sin is serious. Read Matthew 18:6.
Matt 18:6 NIV
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

It would be better to have a large millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea than to cause someone else to sin. Think about that the next time you:
• Lash out at someone or hurt their feelings, causing them to want to retaliate.
• Complain about your pastor and make others doubt his leadership.
• Involve others in gossip by listening or passing it on.

The message not to sin is a personal one to us. The focus of examining sin is to be on us and not others. Only when we are sinless, can we judge. Read John 8:7.
John 8:7 NIV
If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

At the risk of committing the sin of judgment, one has to wonder about the “honesty” of anyone who thinks they are without sin.

So, what is sin? Practically speaking, it is anything that breaks one of the many laws of God. There are plenty of sins to choose. The words “Thy shalt not” are written in the Bible 240 times, beginning with the Garden of Eden. “Thy shalt not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil!” (Gen. 2:17) You probably know the end of that story. Adam and Eve ate from the tree. That knowledge of good and evil was as useless to them as it is to us. They continued to commit evil anyway, much like us today.

If you want to see an extensive list of ways to “miss the mark” before God, read Exodus 23:3-17, 2 Corinthians 12:20, and Mark 7:20-23. These are but the tip of the iceberg.

Ex 20:3-17 The Message
No other gods, only me. No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don't bow down to them and don't serve them because I am GOD, your God, and I'm a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I'm unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments. No using the name of GOD, your God, in curses or silly banter; GOD won't put up with the irreverent use of his name. Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to GOD, your God. Don't do any work — not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days GOD made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore GOD blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day. Honor your father and mother so that you'll live a long time in the land that GOD, your God, is giving you. No murder. No adultery. No stealing. No lies about your neighbor. No lusting after your neighbor's house — or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don't set your heart on anything that is your neighbor's.

2 Corinthians 12:20 The Message
I do admit that I have fears that when I come you'll disappoint me and I'll disappoint you, and in frustration with each other everything will fall to pieces — quarrels, jealousy, flaring tempers, taking sides, angry words, vicious rumors, swelled heads, and general bedlam.

Mark 7:20-23 The Message
He went on: "It's what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness — all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.

If there are so many sins, how do we get it right? The answer lies in the cross. When we sin, like the scripture in the opening meditation, our strength is sapped. We accept our inability to live by the law and turn to grace. Read James 5:15-16.
James 5:15-16 NIV
If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Believers of Jesus Christ are to confess sins to God and to each other and accept the fulfillment of the law, Jesus Christ. Only then, are our prayers powerful and effective.

Unfortunately, most of us journey back and forth from sin to the cross many times throughout our lives. While our eternal salvation may be secure, we are perfectly capable of condemning ourselves to a “hell on earth” if we avoid regular trips to the cross. Use this “Season of Lent” to return to the cross. Examine your life. Use the above scriptures to identify the sins in your life. Become willing to “Gouge them out.”

Application

Ben was an alcoholic. To fund his disease, he broke into houses in the middle of the night and robbed them. In desperation, he cried out to God. God heard and sent him to Alcoholics Anonymous. Ben confessed his sins and asked forgiveness. Ben learned that in order to recover, he would have to give up alcohol for the rest of his life. God required even more of him. He felt the voice of God gently urging him to go to each house he had robbed, apologize, and offer to make restitution.

One by one, he checked the houses off his list. His victims were amazingly forgiving. Realizing Ben was financially destitute and rebuilding his life, most forgave him instantly without requiring anything further.

Finally, he arrived at the last name on his list. He had done damage to this house and was dreading the confrontation. He procrastinated longer than he should and became tortured emotionally. Not wanting to return to drinking, Ben knocked on the door of this family and quietly told his story. The man and his wife were stunned. The women burst into tears. “Thank you so much for telling u,” she said. “Up until now, we had thought our son had done this to us. We had completely cut him out of our lives.” Ben’s “journey to the cross” restored a family’s love. Like Ben, our journey to the cross can have the same miraculous outcome.

Look at yesterday’s list of your darkness. Reread at the above lists in Exodus 23:3-17, 2 Corinthians 12:20, and Mark 7:20-23 and notice what sins contribute to your darkness. Make a bulleted written list of your sins.
• Have you been a gossip?
• Are you mean spirited?
• Have you committed slander, lust, or fornication?
• Where have you been dishonest, fearful, selfish, or prideful?

Be fearlessly honest. God already knows where you have sinned and is patiently waiting to restore your strength. Take a deep breath, pray, and proceed. Keep this list for use in our future devotions together.