"THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE"

Good Evening to All!

I had started out in one direction tonight, but when I was looking up one scripture, another jumped out at me, and I felt in my spirit that I should go with the latter one instead.

Matthew 5:16 says, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Now the NKJV reference for this verse says: The believer does not have inherent light; rather we have reflective light. As we behold the glory of the Lord, we reflect it. Therefore, we need to make sure that nothing comes between us and the Lord's light (see 2 Cor. 3:18; Phil.2:14-16).

And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18)

(14) Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves], (15) That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guiltless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world, (16) Holding out [to it] and offering [to all men] the Word of Life, so that in the day of Christ I may have something of which exultantly to rejoice and glory in that I did not run my race in vain or spend my labor to no purpose. (Phil. 2:14-16)

Now first of all, I'm sure there are a lot of you out there that are a lot smarter than I am, but I had to look up the word "inherent". My thesaurus gave me synonyms such as: natural, native, congenital, inborn, inbred and real.

Therefore, we do not have natural light in us. The Bible tells us we were born in sin. We as humans have a sinful nature. Therefore the light which we have in us is God's light reflected in us.

It is possible to be "good people" and not be a "Child of God". A person can have a sense of right and wrong. He can be a good person, do nice things for people, volunteer, not steal, lie or things of that nature, and still not have God in his life. The sad thing is, if he doesn't have God in his life, then he is bound for a bleak eternity.

We need to get God in our life and keep Him there. We need to do what is required of us to be Children of God. This means fulfilling what I fondly call the "prerequisites" of salvation, which doing what Peter said and abiding by Acts 2:38. Then start your life over by living for God. Yes, it is a journey. Part of that journey is letting God's "reflective light shine through you to others, so that they too will want to know how wonderful it is to live for God and have the expectation of an eternity in Heaven with our Savior.

The reason I am saying this is because we need to make sure that when we take steps to change our lives (or I should say let God change our lives) then we need to make sure that NOTHING comes between us and the Lord's light.

If we aren't careful, we can let the worries of this world, the day to day battles get hold of us, and wear us down until it gets between us and the light. If we get tired of fighting what this "world" is shoving in our face constantly, it is possible if we don't keep God's light in the forefront of our lives that we could "fall away". The Bible even talks about that happening in the last days, and the last days are definitely here. I'm not saying that the end is coming tomorrow, next week or even 2 years from now, but it will be soon. All we have to do is look at the signs, and feel the spirits in the air. The immorality, the unbelief, children against their parents, parents against their children and on and on.

Let God's light shine bright in your life. Do it for yourself and for others. When you do, it makes you feel good deep down in your soul, and it also helps others to see this and maybe even bring them to Christ. It is time for the harvest. God needs "laborers out in His field. If we let His light shine through us, that alone can bring people to Him.

I feel like the "reference verses" are pretty self-explanatory. That we as Christians, as Children of the Most High God, are His ambassadors to the World. We are to be examples to the "world". We are God's hands, feet and mouth. The Bible says God made us in His image. I truly don't believe it was talking in the physical sense. When He first made us, we were perfect in every way. It was His intention that we would live forever with Him until Satan showed up and Eve allowed him to deceive her.

Therefore, I contend that when God says He made us in His image He was referring to His attributes, or having the "Fruit of the Spirit" in our lives. When we have the Fruit of the Spirit, we are kind, loving, patient, we have peace, joy, faithfulness, gentleness, practice self control, we show compassion, charity, and love. When these attributes are active in our lives, then God's light shines through us and others know there is something different about us from the "world", and they will want to be part of it also.

In case you are wondering about my choices of pictures, I liken the lighthouse to Jesus, because He is the light of the world. His light is so bright that He can shine it through us and we can allow others to see it if we don't let "junk get in the way". I liken us to a candle shining in the darkness. we are but a little flame, but as long as there is light coming from it, it cuts through the darkness of the world.

We must not let the world get between us and God's light. If it does, it will not only harm us, and make us into hypocrites, (I say this because I have seen people from churches I have been to in the past, turn toward the "world" after being in a relationship with Christ, and start doing things that it's obvious that God would not approve of, yet still call themselves Christians. Those are who I call hypocrites.

If a person is going to affiliate themselves with Christ our Savior, and call themself a Christian, then they need to talk the talk AND WALK THE WALK. This means letting God's light shine through them to others in full view.

If you have to, get that little song in your brain until it makes you want to start doing what it says: This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Another one is : You can't be a beacon if your light don't shine (the author's grammar not mine), you can't be a beacon if your light don't shine, shine a little light in all the world by God's design, you can't be a beacon if you light don't shine.

I learned these songs when I was a child, but the words still ring in my heart.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

"A LAMP UNTO MY FEET"

Good Evening to All!

Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)

I was hoping to cover another subject tonight kind of in line with last night's, but I feel that God is wanting me to do a bit more studying before I get into it.

I direct your attention to the verse above.

If we will allow it to be, God's Word can be the most illuminating thing in our lives. It can tell us how to raise our children successfully to be wonderful God-fearing people, it can direct us in the way to prosper with our finances, it is very helpful in helping us to have healthy and happy marriages and so many other things.

I love the fact that if I have a question about something whether it be of a practical nature or moral nature, I can go to my Bible and look it up and receive an answer. Of course, it also helps to have loving friends in my church who, if I can't figure out where to look, they can help me. God has an answer for everything. We just have to be humble enough to ask Him, curious enough to look it up, and patient enough to wait on the answer (if it's a prayer).

I can't count the times that I prayed and didn't get an answer very quickly so "I thought I would help God out a little bit" and help myself. I usually ended up messing things up pretty good, then kicking myself because I didn't wait. If I would have waited, things would have worked out much better. It was just the wrong time. God wasn't ready yet. If I would have listened to the Holy Spirit when it nudged me to wait a few more days or not to spend the money, things would have been better. I let impatience get the best of me and suffered the consequences.

God's Word, written and spoken, are and would have been if I would have let it those times, a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

There is nothing more supernatural than the Word of God. I get so frustrated when I hear people say, "it's just a book written by men". That really gets my dander up. It was "penned" by man, but the "author" was God, Himself. He inspired these men and told them what to write. They were His "secretaries or reporters" one might say.

There is not a question that a person can ask that cannot be answered by the Bible. It is full of life's principles, God's mercy toward our reckless disregard for each other and toward even Him at times.

He knows His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, so He thought enough of us to teach a lot of lessons in parables or examples that we might understand. These parables are filled with truths and lessons for everyone on earth. Not just certain nationalities or ethnicity, but the human race as a whole.

I have asked in the past (when I was a younger Christian) where does it say we can't do this, or we have to do that? I quickly learned that the Bible leaves some things to our common sense. For example, it doesn't say "thou shalt not smoke cigarettes, or do anything to deliberately hurt your body. What it does say is not to defile our bodies. That includes anything that will hurt us, or make us sick. That's just one example there are a lot more I could go into, but I'm not a Pastor. The point I'm trying to make is if a person will PRAY before they read God's Word, it will come alive to them and they will be able to understand a lot more than if they just pick it up and start reading it as words.

If people would look at His Word like a love letter from their parent, or spouse, with all of the affection and attention that they would give to this letter, they would grasp a lot deeper meaning than if it was just a novel or text book they were reading.

The more we read and understand His Word, the easier it will be to hear His voice when He speaks, and the easier it will be to pray to Him. That's another thing I've heard a lot is "I don't know how to pray." By reading His word, you will gain knowledge of the scriptures and according to the Bible, God enjoys hearing His Word spoken back to Him. I'm not saying a person has to pray scriptures, especially in the beginning, but if you will start off by Reading His Word, and praying, then bringing the two together, it will come much easier. I also talk to God just like you and I having a conversation. There is no formal way we HAVE to pray, although the format for prayer according to Jesus is the "Lord's Prayer", meaning to acknowledge who God is, Praise Him, ask your requests and thank Him. If we will show Him that we care enough about Him to include Him and His Word into our lives we would notice a huge difference.

He wants good things for us. He wants us to be successful in everything we do from our jobs, to raising our families and any other endeavor we may undertake, but the only way that will happen is if we care enough to get to know Him by reading and studying His Word, praying, and even spending time with other Christians who will encourage us and lift us up, and even help us with our studies of His Word.

Yes, I choose to let His Word shine a light on my path. We all need this to stay on the path to righteousness.

Good Night To All and May God Bless!

Bible Challenge - "Light"

Good Evening to All!

1. True or False: The second thing God called for in creating the world was light.

2. What did the psalmist say is "a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"?
a) the sun by day, the moon by night
b) God's Word
c) God's love
d) God's mercy

3. The Proverbs teach that "the commandment is a lamp, and the ________is light."
a) lamp
b) Sabbath
c) rod
d) law

4. Isaiah prophesied that Israel would be a light to _________________.
a) the poor and downtrodden
b) the Gentiles
c) the Romans
d) the Greeks

5. Who was sent to Israel "to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe"?
a) Elijah
b) Ezekiel
c) John the Baptist
d) Jesus

6. Evil doers hate the light, Jesus said. Who, on the other hand, did He say are drawn to the light?
a) the meek
b) the truthful
c) the lost
d) doers of good

7. Jesus said you should "let your light shine before men" so that
a) they could see wrong from right
b) they could see forward from backward
c) God would be glorified
d) you would be glorified

8. What did Jesus say is the "light of the body"?

9. Who was surrounded by a light on the Damascus road?
a) Mary Magdalene
b) Jesus
c) Saul/Paul
d) Epaphroditus

10. Who referred to God as "the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning?"
a) Isaiah
b) Micah
c) Peter
d) James

Happy Hunting!
Good night to All and May God Bless!