Let your little light SHINE!
” Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. ” Matthew 5:16
Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to be with us and for being The Light of the World. May we lift him up and let his light shine through us. Amen.
Let’s discuss LIGHT and it’s meaning to us and for us?
thedailylily.com 
Ephesians 5:8 tells us to walk as children of Light, by allowing the fruit of the Spirit to be evident in our lives (vs. 9); by finding out “what is acceptable to the Lord” (vs 11); by allowing the Light to expose darkness rather than participate with its deeds (vs 11); and to “walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise” (vs 15) because Christ ‘will give you light.’ vs (14).
“His Word is a lamp unto my feet and a LIGHT unto my path.”
God’s Word is direction for life!! Thank God, for His Word.
As I was leaving a coffee shop the other day some very nice ladies engaged me in a conversation about Christmas and the weather and etc. And at one point one of them said, ‘ you come here often, don’t you?” I agreed and she said I see you and your blond friend all the time.” The other lady agreed. “You all look so coordinated and put together and it looks very nice….all things match even to the shoes, etc.”
I was a little surprised but thanked them for the kindness. Then one said, “you don’t notice it but people are watching you all the time. We are watching.”
And I thought, Oh Lord, people do watch us and in the conversation we had talked about “church” etc. I pray that what they see in us is not just matching shoes and scarves but a light, a glow, a ray of joy and hope….that our lights may so shine before us and draw people to the Holy Spirit in us. For the days are getting darker and darker and we don’t want our lights to be extinguished but to flare up and glow brighter and brighter. Yes, we are happy when they like our shoes, but Oh the joy of leading a soul attracted to the Light we shine, to Jesus Christ so that they may WALK around Heaven with us, someday.
Needles, my favorite scripture. I hope I can offer His Word to many others In 2011 to enlightened their hearts and make their walk just a little lighter.
I hope to work on my words, time and space to make each word I speak a light. I pray and hope for many to speak light into my life.
I hope my social connections are more than offering a Coors Light to incite a few rounds of costly mind body trips that leaves my spirit dry as a rock.
“Let your LITTLE light shine”…and remember, LITTLE is MUCH when God is in it. So our LITTLE light can become bright when it’s the LIGHT of the Holy Spirit and not just our dazzling personalities or marvelous good looks!!! 🙂
Often I have sung this song, but during the holidays the light became clearer to my understand. We use a lot of light today in medicine in the form of lasers or to light our homes and path that we want to see. What really got me this season is that God uses the light of his Word to cut away old ways of thinking and for the person experiencing it, it is like a laser or knife which cuts away the darkness and brings more light to the person. It is painful to the person. You say to yourself how did I get to be this age and speak or think like this. It hurts so bad you want to hide under a table or run, but God has a plan to bring you into a better place within your mind and in your conversation to others. He is freeing and uplifting to you and others.
Example: I have a son who is coming to visit me with his lovely wife. In times past, when he was a child I would arrange his activities and tell him to bring certain items – coat, hat, swimming gear, etc. etc. I would also tell him of what his Dad was thinking in regards of scheduling. Well that season is gone, but I continued in that conversation or being in the drivers seat to tell him. When a friend in Jesus called it to my attention I was hurt by my own words. This friend is salty and carries a big light. I am grateful to her that she pointed it out. Hurt – yes! Anything that has been so much apart of your life which is dark when cut away by the light of God, hurts. Repent and move into the light. Controlling in my sons life is not what I want to do or to be a spokesperson for others to him is not what I need to do. My role is invest spiritual wisdom into his life and drop the worldly scheduling of his life and others. This does not mean I might not invite him to a place, but he has the chose of saying no.
The words of your mouth tell others if you are a light or not. They also tell if you are salty or not.
Rena, I sure understand. I can say I have been there. When we get past the initial sting and the change takes place freedom ensues. The Word calls it marvelous light. The word marvelous-adjective
1. superb; excellent; great: a marvelous show.
2. such as to cause wonder, admiration, or astonishment; surprising; extraordinary.
George Bev Shea wrote a song and sings it with such gusto, “The Wonder of it all”, just to think how God loves us.
As the Word says we come out of darkness into his marvelous light. What an exciting journey. Safari in Africa and a European Tour carries a swing of excitement in the mind of emotions for many. But, a tour of light in the most inner part of one’s being keeps the swing motion steadier and with great percision better than a Swiss watch that brags of it’s excellent skill.
You don’t see a lot of detail in dim light. But God’s bright Light magnifies the details. If our deeds or work or words are careless, unexact or disorderly it will show up for what it is, beautiful or ugly, when God’s light hits it.
The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day”
(Proverbs 4:18, NLT)
“… draw near to God, He will draw near to you.” Jesus is the light of the world… The closer you are to Him, the closer you are to the light, and the brighter your stepping stones will shine. Did you ever sing and practice the validity of the Hymn…Stepping in the light?”
I had forgotten the song Stepping in the Light until I pulled up this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmqRbG1brZ4
Putting into practice the words is much harder than singing the words.
What a great song to put into practice.
And how beautiful to hear and see those Christians singing to the Lord! Thanks, Rena, for sharing.
Yes, Needles, I agree. And each one’s voice is a light…all different and unique…but when they come together and put all their lights togther it makes a really bright light.
Makes me think also that when each one of us in the body of Christ/ our local church uses our little light to contribute and serve and do our part, it makes a bigger bright light also.
Once more Sara challenges with this question….”did you ever sing and practice the validity of the lyrics of this hymn?” Although I was not familiar with this hymn the first thing I noticed that gave me hope were the words “TRYING to walk”. In other words we MUST make a conscious effort and try to do it. How?: “by shaping our lives by His blessed example.” The examples of His life and deeds and actions are written in the Gospels. How DID He walk? The lyrics of the song tell us…He walked in gentle forbearance…that is patience, endurance, longsuffering…not easily angered or impatient. So we have that as an example, the Fruit of the Spirit….patience. His footsteps were of faithfulness, mercy and love. More Fruit of the Spirit…which is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, self-control. Jesus had all of the manifestations of the Fruit of the Spirit without measure and thus He walked in paths of light and righteousness. And we, as sons of God, must PRACTICE these virtues of being merciful when we want to be judgmental; to love when we want to strike back at someone, by being able to tell them the truth with gentleness and kindness ; to be patient and kind when we want to scold or reprove someone because they are too slow or too fast or too late or too, too! To practice self-control when we want to strike out with our tongues in retaliation or gossip or jesting or foolishness.
These are the paths of righteousness that Jesus walked in and they are light and life. And if we follow in His footsteps we will be in the light as He is in the light. We will be “STEPPING IN THE LIGHT”
Also, if I understand John 3:21 correctly, when we are following in His footsteps we will want to be in the light because we have no wrong actions to hide or be ashamed of; and we will want others to see the good that God is doing through us so they will be drawn to Him and want to do His deeds also. “But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
Light Walking
Oh, and another thing…WISDOM. Jesus walked in the Light in wisdom. In fact the Bible says Jesus Christ has been made unto us, Wisdom. But how can I be wise like Jesus when I make all these mess ups and errors and miss the mark while still trying to “step in the light? In James 1:5 it says, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. “ So The Lord has even taken care of that part for us by generously providing the wisdom that is Jesus Christ, for us, if we ask and don’t doubt that He would give it or that it might not be God’s wisdom.
After reading all these books on Heaven and the glorious accounts, it makes me reinforce my resolve to be “stepping in the Light” so that I don’t dismiss that glorious encounter when I will look into the Master’s eyes, for real, and know I did not miss HOME.
This this verse from “Stepping in the Light” is encouraging when we do fail and miss the mark. Instead of giving in to discouragement or defeat, which is taking a step backwards into dark, we have to pick ourselves up and take a step again towards the light…to learn to do the right thing in each circumstance. “Pressing more closely to Him Who is leading, When we are tempted to turn from the way;”
This Hymn, which I love, describes how sinners can walk out of the darkness into the LIGHT of Jesus Christ …….
AT THE CROSS
Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
for sinners such as I?
Refrain
At the cross, at the cross,
WHERE I FIRST SAW THE LIGHT
and the burden of my heart rolled away;
it was there by faith I received my sight,
and now I am happy all the day! (REFRAIN)
Was it for crimes that I have done,
he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree! (REFRAIN)
But drops of grief can ne’er repay
the debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give myself away;
’tis all that I can do! (REFRAIN)
That is where I first saw the LIGHT those several years ago and how it enlightened my darkened soul as I turned from the old, ugly life to a brand new life in the LIGHT of His Glory and Grace.
Ephesians 5:6 “Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.”
Debi has posted Ephesians 5:8 above and I have quoted vs 6 and 7 to help me understand 8….if we have light darkness will be exposed. This makes for rocky relationships in many cases, doesn’t it?
This makes me think…when someone is sleeping and another goes in the room and turns a light on it seems from my experience the sleeper wakes up. I wonder why?
I looked online to try to find the answer to why a sleep wakes up to light and Wikipedia said that “Light enters through the eyelids triggering the body to begin its wake-up cycle”. Also found this on a yahoo health website: “Daylight signals your biological clock to stop the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy, and promotes wakefulness,” says James B. Maas, PhD, a professor and past chairman of the department of psychology at Cornell University.”
Apparently light is very powerful in influencing us being awakened.
Ephesians 5:14 says, “…for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
Let your little LIGHT shine!!!! Everywhere, everyday, let it shine!!!!!! Let ______
put it out_________!
Dr. Mercola, on his website says, as Debi referred to it above, Melatonin is the sleep inducing hormone but it can only be produced in darkest dark. If any trace of light seeps through, it stops producing. So health inducing sleep is due largely to melatonin production in the body in the dark. It reminds me of the Psalm “You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the Darkness of the womb. Ps. 139:15 In the dark, sweet restorative sleep is created and then cometh the light.
Don’t let satan put it out….(and Billy Graham says…NO!!!!) I’m gonna let it shine.
I love what Eph. 1:18 says about the light…
Ephesians 1:18 “I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.”
I pray that the lilies’ hearts will be flooded with light in this new year of 2011…
Listening to the Gospel of John, today, I was again overwhelmed by the Words of our Lord testifying that He is the Light of the world. He came into the world, the true LIGHT that illumines every person who will step in the Light. And
1 John 1:5 says, “This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
So I take that to mean that if God is Light, which He is, and Jesus Christ is Light, which He is and in THEM is no darkness whatsoever, at all, then for us to be in Christ Jesus we must not have any darkness, because we can’t be IN CHRIST is we have darkened minds & souls. That means we must renew our minds and spirits if we want to abide in Christ Jesus because HE cannot and will not have any darkness within Himself.
If when a fellow believer shines light on a subject that can bring help and correction to us we buck up, not step into the light and learn and change, we are not receiving the light. When I rode horses, ones that bucked were discipline problems and unless you could train them to stop the bad behavior they were untrustworthy, dangerous and virtually useless to the rider. Yes, we do need to step in the light, not buck up.
Maybe we should ‘buck up ‘ to darkness.
That’s a good idea. Buck up and throw it off of us and others. I think there is a scripture about throwing off the works of darkness (Rom 12:13 World English).