From the Home Place

October 29, 2025

I’m sorry for the late post today, I’ve been praying about what I am to write, and now I believe we are ready to learn from God’s truth.

Let’s travel back to Genesis 1:2, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” Please allow me to visit with you about some things the Holy Spirit reminded me of when I was reading at 4:30 a.m. today.

Our primary focus will be upon the middle of Genesis 1:2, “and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving.” Because sin was introduced into God’s creation in Genesis 3:6b, spiritual “darkness” became the dominate force upon God’s creation! Though His created light would be used for separation from the darkness (1:4), the darkness of sin would pierce the hearts of humanity.

As a result of the darkness of sin, fear became the ruling emotion.(3:10) Next, Adam and his beautiful wife Eve would enter into the blame game (3:12-13). A game that modern day psychology tends to encourage that we sinful humans continue. Most psychologists would encourage me to blame my parents, or where & how I grew up, the travesties that have been committed against my people, or improper training or teaching as the “cause” for my improper attitudes and actions. I would be encouraged to find whom or what to blame so I can find healing.

In reality, for all of us, our improper attitudes and actions are the result of allowing sin to have free reign in our lives. Remember, attitude determines altitude and the only person in charge of my attitude is me. I can’t blame others for how I view you and the world around me. Yep, darkness is still alive and well in our world today.

Yet notice that in 1:2, where we are first introduced to “darkness,” the next portion of the sentence states, “and the Spirit of God was moving.” Look closely at 1:3, God’s first creative decree was “Let there be light.” Now look at v.4, “God saw that the light was good,” implying that the “darkness” was not good!

So here we are looking full-face into another Halloween – with witches, goblins and lots of darkness. This “holiday” began as a “celebration of the dead,” the opposite of the living. I would suggest that Genesis 1 reveals to us the constant battle between “darkness” and “light.” Look at the end of v.4, “God separated the light from the darkness.”

Because of the moving of the Holy Spirit, may we each bring the “light” of Christ into this celebration of “darkness.” I’m not speaking of just Halloween; I’m stating that we Christians should be the “light of the world” each and every day. That we need to take a stand against the darkness that our culture desires to push upon us.

Tonight, in the peak of the darkness, step out your door and turn on a flashlight, or light a match if the wind isn’t blowing – notice how just a little bit of light overpowers the darkness. But also, notice that though the focused light displaces the darkness in its path, the darkness still surrounds the light.

When Christians walk into the darkness of our culture, we will only displace the darkness directly within our path. That is why, together we all need to shine the light of Jesus Christ. The bigger and the brighter the light, the less the power of the dark.

Remember, it is not our political stance that is the light of the world, it is the working of the Holy Spirit working within us so that He can then work through us, in love. In Matthew 5, Jesus tells us, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”(v.44) I’ll quickly admit, I can’t do that. But if I’m filled with His spirit, we can do it!

As we prepare for Halloween, let’s pray for those who would persecute us.

Letting my light shine with yours, Neal