INTO THE LIGHT Journal

Welcome to my INTO THE LIGHT Journal!

This journal is NOT about me but about a GREAT Savior, Lord Jesus Christ, who saved and changed (inside-out) a great sinner like me. I am attesting the words of Charles Spurgeon, "My hope lives not because I am not a sinner but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; I don’t trust that I am holy but that, being unholy, He is my righteousness. My faith doesn’t rest upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ IS and what He has done for me. The love of Jesus is the source of salvation. He loves, He looks, He touches us, and we live!"

To God be all the glory through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Serving in His love,
erlinda mejia-olsonღ

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On Pilgrim's Road

By: David and Erlinda Olson, Meditations Of The Heart

On Pilgrim's road, everyday is a mission trip. When you have the Lord in the midst, you have everything that you need — "For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s" (Romans 14:8)

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father,
and it is sufficient for us.”(John 14:8)

Oh Lord,

We reckon we are not by ourselves,

We fail to do a lot of things as we ought to do;

But, Lord, when trials are steep and pass is high,

Help us to ride it straight the whole way through.

And in the falling dusk,

When we get the final call

We do not care how many flowers they send;

For us, the happiest trail above all will be,

For You to say to us, Lord,

"Come and ride with Me, My friend."
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Please guide and protect Your pilgrims, Oh Lord!
As through hard times of life we travel
Give us strength for the battle
Hope for the future
Courage to face the unknown
Keep Your pilgrims safe from harm
As we pray for peace and daily provisions.

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"A joyful journey begins and ends in Christ."

"You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:11)

What's Victoria's Secret (She's Not Telling The Whole Truth!)

By: Bethany Baird, Lies Young Women Believe

Victoria has been boldly telling girls all across the world that the secret to true beauty is a sexy body. If you want to be beautiful, you must have tanned skin, long legs, lots of cleavage, and basically a perfect body. Wow! That's a tall order! If that's the standard, how will any man ever love me with my imperfect beauty? My body is so far from Victoria's standard of perfection that I may as well become a nun. According to Victoria, I will never be perfectly beautiful.

What are we supposed to do with the message of Victoria's Secret and other cultural voices sending the same message? Should we believe them? Is it true that having perfect cleavage makes a woman beautiful?

Thankfully, that standard isn't true. It's impossible to reach (and maintain forever). I am so glad that the Victoria's Secret message of beauty is a fraud! God's standard of true beauty has nothing to do with perfect skin, nice legs, or a skinny waist. So don't be deceived by the culture's alluring but false standards. They aren't true.

So what is true beauty? How can we find contentment in God's design for us? Proverbs 31:30 says, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." God is more concerned about your desire to please Him than He is in your outward appearance. Yes, I believe it is important to take care of your physical body, and there is a proper way to do that. God is not calling us to walk around in dark saggy clothes with a grim look on our faces. But He also doesn't want us to deck ourselves out in the latest, sexy fashions, striving to find affirmation from those around us.

According to the verse above (Prov. 31:30), God is saying that outward beauty will fade but a woman who loves the Lord is worthy of praise. If you dig into God's Word you will notice that women like Ruth, Esther, and Mary were not praised for their outward beauty alone, but for their devotion to God and their willingness to serve Him no matter the cost. They worked to make their lives a reflection of God's standards.

Think about it—you will never be able to please the standards of the world. Everyone has a different opinion. Some people like long hair, and some people like short hair. Some people like tall girls, and others prefer short girls. Some people like tanned skin, and some people like light skin. Some people like freckles, and other people don't. How can we ever measure up to that? It's impossible. And thankfully, we don't have to. Psalm 139:13 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."

God is your Creator. He knitted your physical body together just the way He wanted it to look. He created you to have the exact nose, eyes, skin, and hair you have. He chose to give you your physical features on purpose. It wasn't an accident.

If you have bought into the lie that Victoria has been selling, pray and ask God to reshape the way you view beauty. Search God's Word, and see what He desires in you as a woman. A great place to start is Proverbs 31. The books of Ruth and Esther are wonderful examples of women who strived to please the Lord and not those around them.

Remember, God's Word will not change when the summer styles end or when the latest fad is outdated. Victoria is ever changing, and I guarantee that you will never be able to please her. Join me in rejecting the lie of Victoria's Secret, and let's start living for the One who created us!

"How then can we be proud? Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by which you have been cleansed; see the thorn-crown; mark His scourged shoulders, still gushing with encrimsoned rills; see hands and feet given up to the rough iron, and His whole self to mockery and scorn; see the bitterness, and the pangs, and the throes of inward grief, showing themselves in His outward frame. Hear the thrilling shriek, 'My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' And if you do not lie prostrate on the ground before that cross, you have never seen it: if you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus, you do not know Him. Think of that, and as Jesus stooped for you, bow yourself in lowliness at His feet. A sense of Christ's amazing love to us has a greater tendency to humble us than even a consciousness of our own guilt. May the Lord bring us in contemplation to Calvary, then our position will no longer be that of the pompous man of pride, but we shall take the humble place of one who loves much because much has been forgiven him. Pride cannot live beneath the cross."
-Charles H. Spurgeon-

How Do You Know You Are Going To Heaven?

By God's Simple Plan of Salvation: What Does It Mean To Be Saved?

"And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment," (Hebrews 9:27).

Dear Friend,

God is asking you the most important question of life. Your joy or your sorrow for all eternity depends upon your answer. The question is: Are you saved? It is not a question of how good you are, nor if you are a church member, but are you saved? Are you sure you will go to Heaven when you die?

God says in order to go to Heaven, you must be born again. In John 3:7, Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again." In the Bible God gives us the plan of how to be born again—which means to be saved. His plan is simple! You can be saved today. How?

First, you must realize you are a sinner. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Because you are a sinner, you are condemned to death. "For the wages (payment) of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). This includes eternal separation from God in Hell ...."it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement" (Hebrews 9:27). But God loved you so much He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to bear your sin and die in your place. "...He hath made Him (Jesus, Who knew no sin) to be sin for us ... that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus had to shed His blood and die. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11). "...without shedding of blood there is no remission(forgiveness)" (Hebrews 9:22). "...But commandeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Although, we cannot understand how, God said my sins and your sins were laid upon Jesus and He died in our place. He became our substitute. It is true. God cannot lie. "God ... now commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). This repentance is a change of mind that agrees with God that one is a sinner, and also agrees with what Jesus did for us on the Cross.

In Acts 16:30-31, the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas: "...'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' And they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...'" Simply believe on Him as the one who bore your sin, died in your place, was buried, and whom God resurrected. His resurrection powerfully assures that the believer can claim everlasting life when Jesus is received as Savior. "But many as received Him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12). "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). Whosoever includes you. Shall be saved means not maybe, nor can, but shall be saved.

Surely, you realize you are a sinner. Right now, wherever you are, repenting, lift your heart to God in prayer. In Luke 18:13, the sinner prayed: "God be merciful to me a sinner." Just take God at His Word and claim His salvation by faith. Believe, and you will be saved. No church. no lodge, no good works can save you. Remember, God does the saving. All of it

Just Pray:

"Oh, Father in Heaven, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus was my substitute when He died on the Cross. I believe that His shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection were for me. I believe that apart from Your Son's finished works on the Cross, there is no other way I can go to Heaven except through Him and in Him alone. I now receive Him as my Lord and Personal Savior. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins, the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of Your merciful grace. Amen."

God simple plan of salvation is: You are a sinner. Therefore, unless you believe on Jesus Who died in your place, you will spend eternity in Hell. If you believe on Him as your crucified, buried, and risen Savior, you receive forgiveness for all of your sins and His gift of eternal salvation by faith. You say, "Surely, it cannot be that simple." Yes, that simple! It is Scriptural. It is God's plan. My friend, believe on Jesus and receive Him as Savior today.

If His plan is not perfectly clear, I'm encouraging you to read this journal over and over again, until you understand it. Your soul is worth more than all the world. "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).

Be sure you are saved. If you lose your soul, you miss Heaven and lose all. Let God save you this very moment. God's power will save you, keep you saved, and enable you to live a victorious Christian Life. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). Do not trust your feelings. They change. Stand on God's promises. They never change.

After you are saved—there are three things to practice daily for spiritual growth: Pray—you talk to God. Read your Bible—God talks to you. Witness—you talk for God.

After you are saved—you should be baptized (by water immersion, a symbolic picture of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection) in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ as a public testimony of your salvation, and then unite with a Bible-believing church without delay. "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord..." (2 Timothy 1:8) ... "Whosoever therefore shall confess (testify of) Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in Heaven" (Matthew 10:32).

I pray that you may come to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior ... Today.

Love in Christ,
Erlinda Mejia-Olson
-INTO THE LIGHT Journal-

""President Abraham Lincoln once said: "I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends." In Matthew 5:43-45, the Lord has instructed us to love our enemies, "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." It may sound difficult to love someone who hates you. But, it is more difficult to hate someone when you are doing something good for them.""
-Erlinda Mejia-Olson-

"I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.
"'Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.
I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow'r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.
Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow'rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.
Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.
Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
"'Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.
These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me."
-John Newton-

INTO THE LIGHT Journal

Pages

On Pilgrim's Road

What's Victoria's Secret (She's Not Telling The Whole Truth!)

Devotional Readings: