Barnabas Bulletin ~0188
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!
By Joan Emery (Gisborne, New Zealand)
Have you noticed how the morality gap between the Christian and the world is growing wider by the day? Let your light shine! The world is willing to accept any kind of love except Jesus’ love. Let your light shine! The governments of the western world are frantically introducing new legislations and laws to accommodate practices that the Lord defines as abominations. Let your light shine! Secularism is all around us, just as it surrounded Noah as he built the ark. Let your light shine! "The arrival of the Son of Man will take place in times and conditions like as in Noah's day . . . the Son of Man's arrival will be like that” (Matthew 24:37 & 39b). Let your light shine!
“Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen on you. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise on you, and His glory shall be seen on you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising”(Isaiah 60:1-3).
“ARISE AND SHINE!”
Despite the fact that evil works cover the earth, and people are deceived by the false glamour of them: despite the fact that people choose to willfully turn their backs on a loving, merciful God, to us who know and love Him, the LORD says, “Arise and shine!” What an encouragement to know that, despite the darkness, we who follow the LORD are surrounded by His light and His glory as we arise. This is our day!
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This is the day that God’s light will burst through the darkness if we let our light shine.
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This is the day that the light will penetrate the darkness in people’s lives, bringing them to salvation if we let our light shine.
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This is the day that whole nations will see our light.
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This is the day that the LORD will cause nations to bow the knee to His Lordship.
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This is the day that kings will be drawn to the brightness of our shining light when we arise.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it (see John 1:5).In this very hour, we, the Body of Jesus Christ, are called to “Let our light so shine before men that they may seeour good works and glorify our Father Who is in Heaven”(Matthew 5:16- MKJV).No wonder we are exhorted to “Arise! Shine!” We are the light of the world because Jesus lives in us. We can shine because we have a glorious hope; the Spirit of God identifies with us that He is at work in us.
In all the earth there is no other name like the name of Jesus. There is no other name that can light us up like the name of Jesus. When our light shines we are as a city set on a hill, visible to be seen from long distances. Can we imagine being lost in a desert then suddenly coming up over a sand hill to see the lights on a hill of a distant city? We would be drawn to those lights as if by a magnet because our life would depend on it. And that’s exactly what happens when our light is shining – it overpowers the darkness, causing peoples, rulers, and even nations to run into the name of Jesus. This is the very day when people’s faith in religion is being exposed, crumbling to ashes if it does not centre on Jesus Christ.
The LORD, our Mighty God is doing amazing miracles in the most unlikely people groups. I heard just recently over RT television (Russia Today) that, as a result of major atrocities occurring throughout the Middle East and elsewhere, many people are discarding their ‘inherited’ religion and becoming Christians; yes they’re turning to Christ and experiencing new life. The LORD is reaping a great harvest as a result of man’s false religion, for He brings forth even miracles out of dark, evil situations.
Have we prayed lately in response to Joel 2:28? How often have we quoted this verse . . . “l will POUR My SPIRIT out on ALL FLESH . . . there will be visions and dreams . . .” God, in His awesome mercy, is doing just that right now among multitudes of disenchanted, unsaved peoples, giving them powerful visions, vivid dreams, angelic visitations, even calling them with an audible voice, etc, pointing them to Christ, the One Who is above every other name (or god). And He’s doing it without them ever having read the Scriptures to give them foreknowledge of salvation and intimacy with Christ.
We live in a day when, as Christians, we are looked upon as narrow-minded bigots because we choose to follow the LORD and His ways instead of being swept up with the world’s ever-changing set of ‘modern-day morals’. As we passionately follow the LORD, we have a greater and greater assurance that the tide is surely turning and that a nation can come to Christ in ONE DAY! Therefore, ARISE! LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE for it will overpower the gross darkness. We are focussed on Christ, the POSITIVE LIGHT, the LIGHT OF THE WHOLE WORLD: so we are not daunted by the negative darkness with all its ugly deception.
Cheer up, lovers of the LORD; our victory has been sealed long, long before the devil played his card for abominable practices to be made legal and for untimely deaths to terrorize the human race. The rewards that await us for faithfulness make every arrow fired at us of no consequence, for our hearts are tuned into heaven, our vision sees beyond the clouds. We are in the LORD’S ARMY – we are following Jesus Christ – the Way – the Truth – and the Life! We are devoted to the only One Who gave His life for all of mankind, and then proved His sovereignty and power by breaking the chains of death and hell.
So we pray and declare, “POUR OUT YOUR SPIRIT, LORD, UPON ALL FLESH, AND WE WILL GIVE YOU ALL THE HONOUR AND GLORY THAT IS DUE UNTO YOUR HOLY NAME.”
Bible Reading: Matthew 5:13-16 Isaiah 60:1-5
Prayer: “Dear God, I come to You in the name of Your only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and I thank You for making me more aware of the need to let my light shine more brightly today. Please help me to do this. I thank You for Your love and commitment to me. Praise You, Lord. In Jesus’ Name I pray these things, Amen.”
The Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry, New Zealand. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.