The scriptures in today’s Word of the Day all hit really close to home for me. Starting with the very first sentence; “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters.” Isaiah 8:1
When I first started writing God kept giving me Habakkuk 2:2 “And the LORD answered me, ‘Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.'” So this morning when I read Isaiah I about fell off the couch! His timing is always so amazing; today we’re starting a new book, a new chapter in the life of Tamar. And the first words from His lips are “write”. It makes me smile. Especially with today’s technology, we are again writing on tablets! 😉 How funny is that!?! I’m not, but some of you may be!
There were many other scriptures that fell close to my heart this morning, but none closer than Isaiah 9:2. “The people who walked in darkness, have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
My friends, I have been that person. For the majority of my life I lived in a place of darkness that I *thought* was light. I had been told that it was the light, but then I had a breakthrough to the real light and I can tell you with absolute confidence that religion is not the light. The radical Grace of Jesus that forgives COMPLETELY, that’s the LIGHT. It may sound funny, but for weeks after my breakthrough I truly felt like I was walking around aboveground for the first time after living en entire lifetime underground. The sun was brighter, colors were more vibrant, people were so much more fun to be around. I had been forgiven COMPLETELY of everything that God could ever hold against me! And honestly, if God wasn’t holding anything against me then who cares if anyone else is!
I felt free, really free, for the very first time in my life. It was amazing. And ever since that moment all I’ve wanted to do is to teach others about the amazing Grace of Jesus and tell them about the freedom that it brings in that moment of climbing out of the cave of darkness into His truly marvelous light.
And that is precisely what I intend to do for the rest of my life, no matter what my job title is. I have been filled with the marvelous light of His love, and that shouldn’t be hidden under a bed in fear of rejection or shame. It needs to sit high on a hill so that it can be a beacon for all to see and be drawn to his loving warmth and Grace.
Music you might enjoy: Marvelous Light by Christy Nockels
To read more about my journey from darkness into Light, you may want to check out my books: The Pink Polka dot Kitty (before and leading up to the receiving of His radical Grace) & You have been Redeemed (after receiving His radical Grace and figuring out what life aboveground looks like).
Tamar Knochel 