From: Beverly French [frenchb@vcss.k12.ca.us]
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2005 6:30 AM
To: Heritage
Subject: April 24, 2005 Greetings

"But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day." Proverbs 4:10

Last week we looked at the "pressing on of the upward call of Christ", 
today's
verse describes the path of the righteous or 'the just' as in some translations. It is like the light of the sun that at dawning gets brighter until it reaches its full brightness.

Concerning spiritual progress, there are characteristics of the righteous as we see in the following: "Nevertheless the righteous shall hold to his way, And he who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger." Job 17:9

For those whose strength is in the Lord, Psalm 84:7 says,
"They go from strength to strength."

"The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." Psalm 92:12

As for the path,
"All the paths of the Lord are loving kindness and truth
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies." Psalm 25:10

A father teaching his son says in Proverbs 4:11-13,
"I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.
When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
And if you run, you will not stumble.
Take hold of instruction; do not let go..."

And in Isaiah 26:7,
"The path of the righteous is level;
O Upright One, You make the way of the righteous smooth."

Of the light:
Light is promised to the righteous:
Jesus explaining the parable of the Tares to His disciples tells them in Matthew 13:43, "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."

There are other promises of light:
To the obedient:
"Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart." Psalm 97:11

To the upright:
"Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness." Psalm 112:4

To those who desire to do good for others; to those who are benevolent: The Lord in Isaiah 58 is speaking of fasting -- their fasting was being practiced in unrighteousness , but He desires that which is done from a benevolent heart. When that is so, He goes on to say in Verse 8, (Read Verses 1- 12) "Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard." And in Verse 10, "And if you give yourself to the hungry, And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness, And your gloom will become like midday."

To the followers of Christ,
"Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.'" John 8:12

As we press on I close with the words of Jesus from His Sermon on the Mount, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and
glorify your Father in heaven."   Matthew 5:16

All praise to our Lord God! Amen.