Greetings brothers and sisters and welcome to another issue of Following God’s Trail. This month brings about the subject of being in the light. I want to be in God’s light because that allows the chance to keep my eyes open and to see the world as I should be in it. We think of light as the force that allows us to see things, but there is another type of light: God’s moral character.

I John 1:5-7 (NKJV) 5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Sometimes darkness is a hunter’s friend. The hunter gets ready to go to the tree stand when deer hunting or blind when turkey hunting in the wee hours of the morning and is able to hide under the cloak of darkness. The darkness allows the hunter to prepare for the hunt. Often a hunter knows the territory well enough to go without a light on the way to the stand, but sometimes he relies on a flashlight to shine intermittently to show him the way so he can arrive noiselessly. Actually, some flashlights have colored lenses that make it easier for a hunter to shine without the game seeing it. That gives an added bonus because the game being pursued doesn’t know that the hunter lays in waiting. Once daylight approaches, it is game on!

In much the same way that the game doesn’t know that the hunter awaits him; we sometimes fail to realize that Satan is waiting on us in a different kind of darkness. When we have Jesus in our lives, we see clearly, and we have a light and happy heart because we’re aware of sin and how to avoid it; however, darkness enters our heart through events beyond our control, and we lose some of that carefree feeling. We begin to doubt God’s love for us. Satan absolutely loves darkness and thrives when we flounder around because we can’t see- physically or spiritually.
How many of us run to find a flashlight or candle whenever the power goes off? I know that I do, and it is a little dumb to light a candle or turn on a flashlight because we’re sitting in the dark, and we just want to see. In reality, we’re not doing anything but wasting energy, but we find comfort in having the light with us. It allows us to see that “nothing is going to get us”. Some people go into sheer terror when the lights go off because they are afraid of the darkness. That may be because of the uncertainty of not knowing what is there; this is because we rely so much on our vision. It is surely an uncomfortable feeling to be scared of the darkness and to imagine what might be lurking. God shines His light on us, and He allows us to have that comforted feeling when we have Him in our hearts.

John tells us in the verses above that we can find light easily. If we proclaim to be a Child of God, then we should be true in our walk with Him. If we declare this then we need to make sure that we do it because if we tend to follow the darkness then we are basically telling a lie, and our witness is ruined, so is our relationship with Jesus. We’re not living up to God’s standards. If we want to live in total light, then we must live a moral life and put Christ first.  In order to remain in the light and to fight off darkness, it is helpful to have companionship with other Christians. We need to have fellowship with Jesus as well. In fact our fellowship with Him helps keep us in His light, and sin is revealed. This helps us avoid situations that we need to avoid. Seeing the sin enables us to maintain our salvation and keeps us close to Jesus. If we choose Christian companions, then we can hold each other accountable and draw strength from each other to fight the darkness.

One thing we should all remember is that it is only the blood of Jesus Christ that can cleanse us. Jesus died for us, sinners, to be able to one day see Him in heaven. His death on the cross makes it possible for imperfect believers to have a relationship with a perfect, holy God. If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, there is no better time than the present to ask Him to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart. It’s THAT simple.
Love in Christ!

By Kimberly Fox

Dr. Kimberly "canam" Brinson is a native of Camden County, Georgia. She teaches 6th grade Language Arts at a middle school in St. Marys. She recently completed her doctorate degree in Instructional Leadership and Curriculum through NOVA Southeastern in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Kimberly is an avid 3-D archer and enjoys attending 3-D competitions with her compound bow. Kimberly is an NFAA certified archery coach and enjoys teaching archery to potential students of all ages. She is also on the Pro Staff for Shoot Like A Girl, which is a company that helps teach women about the aspects of archery. Kimberly has enjoyed the great sport of archery since 2001. Her greatest archery moment includes finishing 3rd place in Shooter of the Year with the Archery Shooters Association and a few significant placings at national archery tournaments and local events as well as Florida State 3-D Champion in 2008.

As far as hunting, Kimberly is a licensed Master of Hounds with United Kennel Club and is certified to judge raccoon field trials and bench shows. For many years, coon hunting was a well enjoyed sport by her, and she helped work several dogs to championship status in licensed coon hunts and coon hunting for pleasure. Kimberly also enjoyed training and running Foxhounds to chase fox and coyotes. This was a short-lived hobby because it was very time consuming and quite expensive. Throughout her life, Kimberly has deer hunted. The initial experience was running deer with hounds; however, for the past few years, she has participated in still hunting with a rifle to a slight degree. Building food plots and scouting are Kimberly's favorite parts of deer hunting. She has not harvested an animal while still hunting, but she intends to hunt from a treestand this upcoming season instead of in a blind. Hopefully, her luck will change. In theory, she is a rookie still hunter.

In her spare time, Kimberly enjoys reading, playing seek and find computer games and hanging out with her husband, Evan. She also enjoys spending time at her church, Harbor Worship Center in Kingsland, GA and writing weekly devotions for Talk Hunting.

Credentials:
Shoot Like A Girl Pro Staff
BowTech Pro Staff
Carbon Express Pro Staff
Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Huddle Coach
Talk Hunting Magazine Staff Writer and Editor
TH Weekly Devotions Writer