The Scriptures tell us: “LIGHT arises in the darkness for the upright…” (Psalms 112:4a).
Whenever light appears in the darkness, it a wonderful and welcomed thing!
But darkness is a dreaded thing. If we are in darkness, we yearn for light!
One obvious feature of both natural and spiritual light is direction! — light always illuminates in a particular direction.
Being in darkness is like being covered with a thick, heavy blanket. Any darkness, whether natural or spiritual, causes uncertainty, and withholds direction. But, if a little bit of light penetrates the darkness, there comes direction, confidence, and great benefits!
If our life seems dark, confusing, and stressed, then that is a clue that we need the Light of God’s Words!
Walking in darkness means we will stumble, and not know what we are stumbling over, because there is no light in us (John 11:10). Stumbling in spiritual darkness can be evidenced by a life of selfishness, anger, hatred, stress, uncertainty, or a sense of meaningless.
Sadly, as we saw in Turning From Darkness to Light, some people love darkness and hate the light. But those who love truth, will come to the Light of God’s Word (John 3:19-21; 2Thess 2:8-12).
Walking in the Light
God’s Word is often compared to light. Just as light reveals direction, the Word of Yahuwah Elohim [the LORD God] reveals direction:
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105)
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: (Proverbs 6:23)
“…if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Yahushua Messiah [Jesus Christ] His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1John 1:7)
“He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” (1John 2:6)
When we are first born-again, Father places us in His Son. Then, as we study God’s Word, we begin to learn Yahuwah’s direction, His truth, His wisdom — His Light — learning how to walk in His Light, which is His Way, by choosing to obey Father’s Commandments.
We walk in God’s Light — the Truth of His written Word — as we choose day-by-day to obey Yahuwah’s Word. God’s Light becomes brighter as we seek to remain in His Way (John 15:10). When we maintain, or renew, our commitment to Him every day, then we are guarding ourselves against wandering out of His Way (Proverbs 21:16; Malachi 2:8; Romans 3:12)
The Light of God’s Word
The Light from Yahuwah’s written Word gives us much-needed direction, understanding, and hope! When the Light of God’s Word comes to us, and we walk in [obey] the Truth of Father’s Word, then we begin to know confidently what direction to take. The understanding that comes from God’s Light is a huge relief and comfort!
Little by little, we can see that we are walking further away from darkness!
The apostle Peter compares Yahuwah’s Word to “a light that shines in a dark place” (2Peter 1:19). This is a most fitting metaphor, because it clearly reveals the nature of the Words in the Bible.
The Words of the Bible address the spiritual darkness that blankets everyone’s path. The Light of God’s written Word is the only piercing ray of Truth, understanding, and direction that can penetrate the spiritually ‘heavy, dark blanket’ of our own, carnal, selfish ways.
Walking in God’s Light [His Truth] dissolves and dismantles the spiritual darkness of deception, worldly wisdom, selfishness, and demonic paths.
Any time we begin to walk in God’s Light, even one particular Truth of God’s Word, we will find that God’s Light dispels the darkness of our confusion and deception, and gives us the direction we need!
Even if we have known the Truth of God’s Word for years, we continue to have the need for walking in God’s Light, day by day. It is easy for us to stray from Father’s Ways. Our own prideful understanding can cloud our path. Or twisted interpretations of Yahuwah’s Word can seem like the right path. If we allow such things to persist, then spiritual darkness and deception can creep in.
If we choose however, to obey God’s Truth diligently, seeking Him foremost, acknowledging Him everyday, and keeping His Commandments, then, by His mercy and grace, we will receive more Light!
Many good things come to those who diligently follow God’s written Word! (see Proverbs 28:5a; Psalms 34:10a; Matthew 6:33; Proverbs 4:4-9).
Unto The Upright
There is a clue revealed in the Scriptures, that will help increase our understanding of God’s Light and Truth. This clue is seen in our key verse:
Light arises in the darkness unto the UPRIGHT: He [Messiah, the WORD of Yahuwah] is gracious, and He is full of compassion, and He is righteous. (Psalms 112:4; John 8:12)
It is upon the upright that LIGHT arises!
Father is telling us how His Light, His Truth, comes upon us.
When we begin to draw near to God, turning from our own ways, and begin to identify ourselves with Biblical uprightness – then we will receive the Light of God’s written Word, to dispel our darkness, confusion, and hardness of heart (Proverbs 28:18).
But in order to get to the heart of the matter, we must find out what Biblical uprightness is!
What Is Uprightness?
If we have a desire for the Truth of God’s Light, then we must begin to know what Biblical uprightness is. We must decide to learn what Biblical uprightness is, and what it is not!
Biblical uprightness means walking in a ‘straight‘ way — straight in-line, meaning being in agreement with Yahuwah’s WORDS [the written Scriptures, the Bible], which are the only reliable source of God’s Truth.
With God’s Holy Spirit living within us, and Father’s amazing grace and mercy to help us, we can begin to live according to the ‘straight’ way, and walk in His ways!! He would not ask us to do something beyond our abilities!
Yahuwah is ‘a very present HELP‘ (Psalms 46:1) to guide us and strengthen us! If we will begin to learn the characteristics of Biblical uprightness, then we will begin to know and understand Father’s ways, and He will strengthen us to walk uprightly!
Many religions, cults, and gurus may offer their own definitions of uprightness, but these cannot dispel dark uncertainties or suspicions.
The only standard and authority for uprightness begins and ends with the pure Word of God, from the beginning of the Bible. Any other source is deviant, degenerate, deceptive, and is darkness!
The Scriptures assure us, and as we saw in How God’s Word is a Light For Our Path, that the Words of the Bible are indeed ‘the lamp’/’the light’ we need for true guidance and wisdom. And it is our obedience to Father’s Words that will reveal the needed lamp/light for our path.
As believers in Messiah, we delight to be obedient, but it is obedience out of love, to which we are motivated by the example of our Saviour/Master.
Characteristics of the Upright
Let us now consider what it means to ‘be upright‘ according to the Scriptures! Let us look at some of the characteristics of the upright, as we see in the Bible.
The above characteristics of uprightness are beautiful! Deep within everyone is a desire for such good and noble qualities!
The KEY to walking in uprightness begins with a decision — a decision to follow God — the true, eternal, living God — and pursue Him to the best of our ability.
Such a decision does not mean things will suddenly be perfect for us. Failures and mistakes are a normal part of life (Psalms 34:19).
But if our decision is a commitment to God’s truth and the ‘Good News!‘ of Yahushua Messiah, then we will begin to Come Out of Spiritual Darkness, and we will begin to know the joy of Father’s wonderful and marvelous Light (1Peter 2:9)!!
In the midst of weaknesses, failures, trials and afflictions, we must be determined to keep on following Yahuwah’s written standards, found throughout the entire Bible, and not give up! Such a commitment is vital and necessary for learning how to ‘walk in God’s Light’ and thus be pleasing to God.
If our heart is turned toward Yahuwah, with a desire to honour Him by keeping His Word, living before Him in honesty and integrity, then we will know the reward of His goodness. When we seek to prepare our heart and follow after Yahuwah with a true and sincere heart, then He has a wonderful promise for us:
“There is none like unto the God of Yeshurun, who rides through the heavens to our help!” (Deuteronomy 33:26)
Yeshurun, which means the “upright one” or the “beloved one”, is a symbolic name for Israel describing her ideal character.
When we are needing help and rescue of any kind, we can call upon Yahuwah Elohim, the God of Yeshurun, who rides through the heavens to our help! — to help His upright and beloved children, guiding us into the pathway of the upright (Proverbs 16:17)!
Riding through the heavens to our help accurately describes the loving heart of our heavenly Father!!
He That Follows Yahushua
With such a loving, heavenly Father, let us therefore determine to learn to follow our Saviour, Yahushua Messiah [Jesus Christ], by walking in His footsteps (see 1Peter 2:21).
Let us begin to walk as He did: keeping Father’s Words, obeying Father’s Words!
When we begin walking in Father’s brilliant Light [His written WORD], we learn how to avoid stumbling, as Yahushua warned: “If a man walk in the night, he stumbles, because there is no light in him” (John 11:10).
Yahushua promises spiritual direction [His Light], for those who choose to follow Him:
“I am the light of the world:
he that followeth Me
shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life.”
(John 8:12)
As we saw in The Key to Gaining Understanding, when we purpose to live a life that is upright, then the Light of God’s Truth will give us the direction we need!
When we are walking in the light of God’s commands, they keep us from everything harmful, from everything hurtful, from every wrong path. – Derek Prince
Ordering Our Ways
Seeking Yahuwah through prayer, and obedience to His Truth, are the steps toward uprightness and coming out of spiritual darkness. It is a process of one-step-at-a-time — learning for ourselves, what God has said in the Scriptures — learning His ‘House Rules’ for His children.
We must avoid trusting in man-made teachings. Instead, seek to walk in Father’s written Word, as it is, without any twisting of its meaning, without any preconceived notions!
We must trust Yahuwah to strengthen us with every ‘baby’ step of obedience we take. When we are faithful to a very small bit of God’s Light [direction], then our faith is strengthen for bigger steps!
Let us seek Father’s help to adjust our actions and lifestyle, and come into agreement with Yahuwah’s Words [the Bible]. As we do, then He will show us more of His direction, His rescue, and His salvation (see Psalms 50:23; Proverbs 28:18; Deuteronomy 33:26).
Little by little, and line upon line, we will learn that ‘Light arises in the darkness — for the UPRIGHT!’
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Related Articles:
- Good News
- The Holy Spirit Will Guide You Into All Truth
- That It May Be Well With You
- First The Natural, Then The Spiritual
- The Pathway of Purity
- Unite My Heart To Fear Your Name
- Preparing to Walk Into The Land of Uprightness
- The Light of the World – an excellent post by GRACE in TORAH about what light is, and a comparison between natural light and spiritual light.
- Lead Me In Your Truth: Part 1 – The Basics
- Lead Me In Your Truth: Part 2 – The Ancient Paths
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(1) Proverbs 16:17 – The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
(2) Psalms 25:21 – Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on You.
Proverbs 10:9 – He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.
Proverbs 11:3 – The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.
(3) Psalms 119:7 I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned Your righteous judgments.
(4) Psalms 15:2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
(5) Proverbs 10:29 – The way of the LORD is strength to the upright, but destruction to the workers of iniquity.
Proverbs 15:21b – A man of understanding walketh uprightly.
(6) Proverbs 14:2 – He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth Him.
(7) Galatians 2:14a – But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said …
(8) Psalms 19:13 – Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
Psalms 18:23 – I was also upright before Him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
(9) 1Kings 3:6 – And Solomon said, You have showed unto Your servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before You in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You….
1Kings 9:4 – And if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my judgments….
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Cold Waters to a Thirsty Soul
Cold Waters to a Thirsty Soul 
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