Devotions

Lord God, Judge of all the earth — We come before You with heavy hearts. We grieve. We are angry. And yet we hold fast to hope, because Your justice is certain. You have spoken plainly through Your word. Your heart breaks for those whose lives are crushed by the powerful. You see what we see: We see these things today, Lord. We see systems that protect the powerful and leave the poor behind. We see the cost of war borne by those who never chose it. And we hear Your word grieve alongside us: So with Amos, we long for something better: All scripture quotations are taken from the  EasyEnglish Bible (EASY) , © MissionAssist. Available freely at  easyenglish.bible . Used under their open licence for non-commercial use.

"The light shines in the dark, and the dark cannot put out the light." (John 1:5 Easy English Bible) In the cross reference and notes of the Easy English Bible it says "The Word (Jesus Christ) is like light. He shows us what is true. The dark means the power of God's enemy, Satan. Satan tries to hide what is true. God's light shines in the dark places and Satan cannot stop that light. Jesus said that he himself was the light of the world." It suggests two other verses:  [1] John 8:12 - "Jesus spoke to the people again. He said, ‘I am the light of the world. a. Those people who become my disciples will never walk in the dark. No, they will have the light that gives life.’" (a. Jesus said that he was the light of the world. The Jews lit a special light in the temple during the Festival of Tabernacles.) [2] John 9:5 - "While I am still here in the world, I am the world's light.’" In history and in our own lifetimes there has been both li...