Living in the Light: A Journey of Goodness and Mercy

By Kay Vandevier Henry

In her book Living in the Light: A Journey of Goodness and Mercy, Kay Vandevier Henry invites you to join her in a journey of finding abundant blessings and amazing grace in Christ. With joyful and love-layered pragmatism, she shares Bible stories, scriptures, spiritual sagas, and guided journaling suggestions to help illuminate life’s journey. Reading Living in the Light will stimulate ah-ha moments, switching on spiritual light bulbs so you can discover and rediscover:

eternal truths unveiled in chapters about Jesus’s identity, teachings, Gospel stories, questions, promises, and more

relevant Bible verses to help you grow emotionally and spiritually beyond the baby life of the now (the already) to the intended, mature life of eternity (the not yet of heaven)

engaging family anecdotes to ground your Bible study in the reality of life’s challenges

insights for journaling your personal journey to seek and find God’s goodness and mercy

Kay’s encouraging words bid you to experience and celebrate divine, living light in Jesus Christ, based on his words in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664250987

Kay Vandevier Henry

Kay Vandevier Henry has expanded her Spirit-inspired newspaper columns into an amplified message of God’s grace in her insightful devotional book Living in the Light: A Journey of Goodness and Mercy. She previously served in church ministries and authored preschool resources. She was an assistant vice president at Oklahoma Baptist University, retiring after fifteen years in leading alumni and donor projects.

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Copyright © 2022 Kay Vandevier Henry.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version® Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used with permission.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5097-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5096-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5098-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021924081

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/06/2022

CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

A Word (or Two) from Kay—It’s about Love and Light!

Accepting Jesus as Your Savior

Journaling Your Journey

Introduction

Chapter 1 Who Is Jesus?

Chapter 2 The Greatest of These Is Love

Chapter 3 The Fruit of the Spirit

Chapter 4 Parables of Jesus

Chapter 5 Questions Jesus Asked

Chapter 6 Promises of Jesus for Believers

Chapter 7 The Blessedness of the Beatitudes

Chapter 8 Loving God

Chapter 9 The Armor of God

Chapter 10 Seeking God in Season and out of Season

Epilogue

Notes

About the Author

Dedicated to

God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Our All in All and One and Only–

Creator, Savior, Sustainer!

The words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, along with and illuminated by Holy Scripture (Psalm 19:14), are shared in this book to exalt and magnify the Almighty Redeemer God, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow … and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).

IN GRATEFUL APPRECIATION

To Joe, my husband (for fifty-three years!). Thank you for your loving encouragement, suggestions along the way, and for your example of a light-filled life of love in service to the Lord and to your family and friends. You are a husband and father extraordinaire! I could not have put this book in proper manuscript form without your computer skills. The book would have stayed in my heart and head without you.

To my family. You know who you are! My desire is that this book provides a legacy of love from my heart to yours, rather than remain in the undeveloped form of my crumbling stack of yesterday’s newspaper columns. I hope you see any story I shared about you—along with the greater story of God’s words in scripture—as messages of love, joy, and sweet family memories. The journey of living in the light together is ours to cherish, as we are blessed by the goodness and mercy of salvation through Jesus Christ!

To my friends and colleagues. You have encouraged and challenged me during my more than forty career years of living and serving in the light with amazing servants of God. You are the loving and lovely mentors who helped prepare me for service in churches, Christian publishing endeavors, church leadership conferences, Oklahoma Baptist University staff roles, and various charitable community groups. You are my heroes in the Christian faith. I am so blessed and thankful!

FOREWORD

God is faithful.

—Philippians 1:6

I have had the privilege of reading Kay Henry’s newspaper columns for several years. I am so glad that she is now putting them into a book, Living in the Light: A Journey of Goodness and Mercy.

Her spiritual insight is amazing. God has truly anointed her. You will be blessed and challenged as you read this book. Your spiritual walk will be enhanced. I encourage you to read it daily as you seek to grow in your relationship with our wonderful Lord.

I truly believe that the Lord is going to use this book to grow His kingdom!

—Pastor Paul D. Simpson, Retired

Claremore, Oklahoma

Fifty Years of Service in the Ministry

SBC Pastor, ordained 12/28/1969—retired 4/8/2018

PREFACE

A Word (or Two) from Kay—It’s about Love and Light!

Come join our journey of living in the light. It’s an ongoing expedition to embrace a life of goodness and mercy, now and forever!

Our granddaughter (now seven years old) told me recently that our life is like a baby life, Nana! She said that babies can’t do everything yet, and they need lots of help. She also knows that our life is happening now, but we want to go to heaven at the end of this life. With big, happy eyes, she exclaimed, "One day, Nana, when your baby life here on earth is over, you will be in your real life in heaven. And I will come after a long time—and then I will find you and say, ‘Hello, Nana!’" Hallelujah, she gets it! Even at seven years old, she gets it!

But before we start our journey through this book, I want to explain how it all came about—this book, that is. In an interesting sort of way, Will Rogers contributed to this book. Here’s the story:

Will Rogers told folks where to find the truth! This plainspoken cowboy humorist famously made a tongue-in-cheek quip, All I know is what I read in the papers. Few folks today know much about Will Rogers. But I know about Will. I live in his state and in his hometown.

Will Rogers was Oklahoma’s favorite son in the 1920s and ’30s. He was a movie actor, famous political satirist, and prolific writer of more than four thousand nationally syndicated newspaper columns. He won the hearts of generations of people through his clever, folksy columns.¹

Imagine my surprise when I was invited in my retirement years to write a column for the Claremore Daily Progress, founded in 1892 and predating Oklahoma statehood. In fact, the Progress is one of Rogers County’s oldest continuous businesses and was around in Will’s day.

I was enlisted in March 2019 to write an inspirational column for the newspaper’s Faith page. I proposed a standing title, Living in the Light. Through the column, I wanted to help dispel some of the bleak confusion and turmoil of our times by writing about biblical truths and insights that would help reveal the illuminating light of God’s goodness and mercy.

Preparing the Living in the Light columns, however, quickly brought me into conflict with Will’s famous quote. With all due respect to the newspaper for which I have been writing, I can’t agree with Will. I can’t say, "All I know is what I read in the papers." Instead, I honestly and humbly can state, "All I know, of eternal significance, is what I read in the Bible."

In contrast with the transience of today’s news cycles, the goodness and mercy of God’s grace is grounded and revealed in the ancient texts of the Bible. And eternal life’s truths about Jesus Christ are writ large on its pages. Moreover, the Bible is the living Word of God, and it points us to living truth. We read in Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword … and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

With this in mind, I edited my Living in the Light columns previously printed in the Claremore Daily Progress, and I wrote this book. The chapters in this book present the column contents in a topical format. Revision of my original columns into book form has provided an orderly sequence and created a primer, of sorts, for insights on Christian living—and for the joyous journey to seek and find the light of God’s goodness and mercy, in season and out of season, regardless of news cycles.

Of course, the Bible’s overarching and comprehensive eternal truths provide the context for God’s plan for redeeming sin-weary humanity. With diligence, I have attempted to focus on the good stewardship of rightly handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). With relentless constancy, I have relied on relevant scriptures in clarifying and focusing on the light of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The standing title for my newspaper columns was Living in the Light because Jesus is the light. As he said in John 8:12, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Therefore, the title of this book also had to be Living in the Light!

Folks from all backgrounds and beliefs read newspapers looking for information, and many are seeking inspiration along the way, for their day. Therefore, my goal—in my column and in this book—has been to stimulate ah-ha moments and switch on spiritual light bulbs to brighten paths. The Bible does that for us, as Psalm 119:105 declares, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Thus, I must reiterate with conviction, All I know, of eternal significance, is what I read in the Bible!

My prayer for readers is that the Bible stories, spiritual sagas, and simple scriptures in this book will illumine the moments and miles of their spiritual journeys. After all, Jesus asserted, You are the light of the world … Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14, 16).

Accordingly, my earnest prayer, dear Lord, is that we seek you and find you as your goodness and mercy help us live in your light! And then one day, we will greet you in heaven, Lord—and also beloved family and friends saved by the light of your grace—and we will shout out, in our happiest and biggest voices, Hello!

Accepting Jesus as Your Savior

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. (Ephesians 1:7)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8, 9)

Are you experiencing the sweet blessings of amazing grace in your life—grace that has saved you from dangers, toils, and snares? Also found in the beloved hymn Amazing Grace are the words the Lord has promised good to you.¹ That good is his grace of salvation through Jesus Christ.

God’s grace means undeserved favor—and forgiveness. Acknowledging that all have sinned and that the wages of sin is death, we can express remorse and repent, then receive forgiveness for our sinful nature and actions (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Furthermore, the apostle John states, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us–and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Sin separates us from a holy, righteous God. True repentance means we reverse direction and move forward and away from willful, sinful behavior. Jesus redeemed us by sacrificing his life through crucifixion on a cross, thus providing his perfect righteousness to cover us. God through Christ reconciled [reunited] us to himself (2 Corinthians 5:18).

When repentant individuals receive Jesus as their personal Savior, they are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Holy Spirit convicts and prompts sinners to seek spiritual rebirth through the resurrection power of the risen Christ. The righteousness of Jesus breaks the bonds of sin and death for believers, redeems them, and they are born again spiritually into eternal life in heaven.

Salvation is God’s freely offered gift. However, to become a Christian, to be saved, you must accept and receive by faith this gift. Then these hymn words become a reality. Tis grace hath bro’t me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.

To accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, please pray with trust in your heart and mind, words similar to the prayer below. God provides the Holy Spirit to convict and prompt you. Following your prayer for salvation, share this decision with a Christian friend and begin attending a Bible-believing church. May God bless and bolster you in your daily Christian walk!

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Prayer for Salvation

Lord Jesus, please forgive me for my sins. I believe you died on a cross and rose from the grave to rescue and redeem me from my sins. I want to repent and obey you as the Lord and Master of my life. Thank you for the gift of salvation and eternal life in heaven with you. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Journaling Your Journey

You will find suggestions throughout this book for journaling—for writing, printing, drawing, or doodling—your private, spiritual insights and thoughts.

Folks of all ages have intense and sometimes almost inexpressible thoughts and views. I have twin sisters, one of whom didn’t have the option of writing or drawing pictures about her feelings when she was frustrated one day. (She was five years old at the time, and I was eleven years old and assigned by Mother to babysit her.) Being upset with me, she put one of her dresses (and its wire clothes hanger) in an old suitcase and started dragging it down the sidewalk. Her angry response in the situation was to get out of Dodge, so to speak. She didn’t get far, by the way.

My other sister, twin to the above-mentioned sister, when she was about six years old, sang a song to entertain our family. She went all out and expressed herself by using a dramatic vibrato voice. She was so cute that everyone laughed. She was embarrassed, and she ended her song.

Folks, regardless of age, need positive and productive opportunities to express their thoughts and feelings. The helpful aspect about journaling, of course, is that it can be maintained as a private endeavor. Frustration, embarrassment, confusion, and other sentiments can be expressed privately to the Lord. Feelings are very personal, especially when expressed in prayer thoughts, doubts, questions, anxieties, sorrows, insecurities, hopes, dreams, love, joy, gratitude, praise, ah-ha insights, and so forth.¹

Therefore, guided journaling ideas are provided under the headings of Journaling Your Journey of Living in the Light. The suggestions are for you to use however you wish and to assist you in your spiritual life. To begin journaling, buy a simple notebook or a journal with blank pages to use as a companion piece along with this book. You might use your journaling space to write prayer requests, poems, songs, or love notes to God. (Is it possible that some of David’s words in the book of Psalms in the Bible began as his informal love songs to God?)

Perhaps you are an artist or calligrapher, and you want to create beautiful illustrations. Your efforts may not resemble the illuminated texts of ancient scribes and churchmen, but all respect is due to those who desire to present artistic beauty and creativity as corollaries of the eternal truths of the Bible. Certainly, your artistic use of colored markers, pens, and pencils can be your expressions of heartfelt love and adoration for the Lord.²

However, maybe you just want to jot down lists of answered prayers. Your journaling notes might become your condensed hope chest of aspirations and dreams in your spiritual walk. Your journaling space might reflect some or many of these different forms of expression.

It’s up to you. You could start journaling in this book’s small spaces now—and then go big and find a larger notebook to further express your creativity and faithful commitment. But this book provides you with an opportunity to get started with journaling. The effort likely will help you grow in your understanding of yourself and God.

As you remember, reflect, and respond, your words and pictures can bring you peace and clarity, and then you will find yourself rejoicing in God’s answer to prayers, in his goodness and mercy, and in your ongoing journey of living in the light!

And by the way, feel free to mark up the contents throughout this book you are holding in your hands. Flag important concepts to remember. I use colored pencils and highlighters to underline words and sentences. I use pens to draw stars, circles, boxes, arrows, brackets, or crosses to mark sections. And then there are question marks, exclamation marks, and short words like YES! Oh, yes, and I also use color-coded sticky notes and tabs. Use whatever is meaningful to you! This is your book. May God shine the light of his love on your journey and your journaling!

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INTRODUCTION

(by Joe V. Henry—husband, collaborator, and

spiritual companion on the journey)

Living in the light—in the powerful luminosity of God’s love—is today’s reality and tomorrow’s promise, according to Kay Henry, writer and author of Christian materials for many years.

Kay’s book Living in the Light: A Journey of