Keion Henderson - Leave the Light On

I want you to do me one favor. Are you ready? Make sure that you leave the light on. That 's what I want to talk about today: leave the light on, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. I want you to leave the light on. Listen, this is true, at least in my own experience. I have never seen any person who was greatly used by God, by a movement, or by an economy. I’ve never seen anybody who was greatly used who didn’t have some kind of opposition. I want to say that again because this is very important. I know of no great success story that isn’t birthed in some kind of pain. If you are not careful-and this is for all of you who are seeking destiny, who are using these moments to write a vision, to make it plain, to ensure that you come out of this stronger than you were when you went in-this message is for you. I want you to remember what I’m getting ready to tell you: if you’re not careful on your way to your dream, you can be overwhelmed by the darkness that is competing for your light. I want to say that again as I teach you in this Bible study, because I think that everybody’s trying to figure out what to do in this moment, how you are going to come out, and how things are going to look on the other side. I don’t know the answer to that, but here’s my advice: I want you to make sure that you are careful, paying attention, so that on your way to your dream, you do not become overwhelmed by the darkness that is competing for your light. This is so fundamental and key because there’s an old saying that says no good deed goes unpunished. So even when you think you’re doing well, it will be met with opposition. I want you to hear this; I want you to allow this to sink in. Make sure that you are careful while you’re on your way to your dream, that you are not overwhelmed by the darkness that competes with your light. Look at verse 5. You got it? Good! Here 's what it says: «And the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.» The word «comprehended» is a compound word; it’s a Greek word, «καταλαμβάνει» (katalambanei). In Greek, it’s a compound word: «κατά» (kata) is one part, and «λαμβάνει» (lambanei) is the second part. Let 's deal with the prefix and the first part of it. «Κατά» (kata) means to dominate. Okay, so «κατά» (kata) means to dominate. «λαμβάνει» (lambanei) means to take hold of or to grip. So here’s what it actually means: «καταλαμβάνει» (katalambanei) means to dominate, to grip, or to draw hold of. When you combine it, it actually has a meaning; you can translate this verse this way: darkness does not have the ability to grab hold of, to suppress, to grip, or to hold tight the light, which is a part of your life that has authority. So here’s what it’s saying: «And the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.» The light shines in darkness, and the darkness could not grab hold of, could not grip, could not dominate the light. See, you will be tempted in your journey towards greatness to be infiltrated by that which opposes you. You will be tempted, on your way to building a multi-million dollar business, to think that there is no way it can happen. You will be tempted to think that there is no way you can apply for the new home because you’ll look at your credit score. But here’s what the Word of God says: it says that when you have light inside of you, you must understand that even though darkness wants to snuff out your light, listen, the darkness does not have the ability to suppress, to take hold of, to put out, or to dilute that which God has put inside of you. Why? Because Jesus is the light of the world! So when the Bible says, «And the light shines in darkness,» for the Christian, it means that Jesus is shining inside of us. As long as Jesus is the Son- don’t miss it-not the S-U-N, but the S -O-N- as long as the S-O-N is still shining, no darkness can comprehend that which God has given you authority over. Are you with me so far? This doesn’t mean, though-you’ve got to hear me-this doesn’t mean that the darkness won’t attempt to overcome your light. It doesn’t mean that; it doesn’t mean that sickness won’t attempt to enter your body. It doesn’t mean that negative thoughts won’t attempt to infiltrate your godly mindset. It doesn’t mean, according to Isaiah, that weapons won’t be formed against you. But what God is saying is that even though the weapon, the darkness, is formed, it will never have authority over that which God has given you. Why? Because light cannot comprehend darkness, and darkness cannot understand light. Here 's what it means-are you ready? You better write this down and remember that I told you: it means that the efforts of darkness will come up against you, but it also means because of the light of Jesus Christ that every dark spirit that comes up against your dream or your future-here it is-God is going to frustrate it and make it unsuccessful. He’s going to frustrate it and make it unsuccessful. Do you know how frustrating you are to people?