{"id":20658,"date":"2017-10-08T00:10:31","date_gmt":"2017-10-08T07:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lccredding.com\/lcc\/?p=11749"},"modified":"2017-10-08T00:10:31","modified_gmt":"2017-10-08T07:10:31","slug":"october-8-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/10\/08\/october-8-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"October 8, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \u201cThen the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, \u2018Where are you?\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/em>Genesis 3:9<\/span><\/p>\n

Choices Matter<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Have you ever been really, really lost in a dark place, like a cave? The farther in you go, the more twists and turns there are. The narrow passageways just keep going until you are hopelessly lost. What began as a Saturday afternoon meander becomes a nightmare of terror from which you cannot emerge. After countless bends, corners, angles, and zigzags, crouching and crawling and squeezing through increasingly tight spaces, trying to find your way out, you finally must sit down and wait to be found.<\/span><\/p>\n

The thing about caves is that we usually enter them innocently. We just want to look around. Check it out. I wonder where this will lead\u2026. I wonder what\u2019s just around that bend\u2026. And suddenly, we realize we are in deeper and farther than we ever intended to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sin is like that. Choices matter, every single time. Sin never lets you end up where you thought you\u2019d end up.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the introduction of even a nearly imperceptible light from a very great distance gives hope of being found and rescued\u2014that is, if you want to be rescued. If not, then the approaching light causes you to hide ever deeper in the recesses of your dark place.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.\u201d<\/span><\/em> (John 3:19-20).<\/span><\/p>\n

No matter how dark your darkness is, God can see you. He is right there shining the light. Since He is omnipresent (everywhere at once), He is also outside of your darkness, calling you like He called Adam. \u201cWhere are you?\u201d Make no mistake, He knows where you are\u2014but He wants you to admit it to yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am here, in this dark place. I didn\u2019t know I would end up here. I can\u2019t find my way out. I need Your help. Shine Your light and show me the way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The thing about lost people is that usually they aren\u2019t only in a dark, convoluted cave, but they are also blind. How great is that darkness! They are deeply lost in lies, deception, cover up, hiding, excuses, fear, and doubt.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lord says to us, \u201cCome out into the Light! I\u2019ve come to get you! Don\u2019t shrink back now\u2026 your deliverance is near!\u201d And along with deliverance comes peace. Rest from running and hiding. The end of having to feel your way along the passageways and getting in even deeper.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFather, we come to the Light. We have loved darkness in some areas more than we loved the Light, but now our eyes are open. We need to be rescued, and we hear You calling us out. Thank You for loving us so much that You sent us a Light, Your beloved Son. Amen.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThen the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, \u2018Where are you?\u2019\u201d Genesis 3:9 Choices Matter Have you […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-5nc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20658\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}