Let it Shine, Let it Shine!

I've been thinking about what it means to shine...

In Matthew 5:16 Jesus says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." A few verses before that He said, "You are the light of the world." I Thessalonians 5:5 reminds us that "You are all sons of light and sons of the day."

So what does that mean? What is the light that we are supposed to be shining?

I remember as a kid someone took a glow stick (that plastic tube with a glass ampule inside that you bend and break so the two chemicals mix and it glows a green light for 20 minutes) and cut it open and spread the chemical around his mouth and on his face. In the dark he glowed - not really shined - but is that what we are supposed to do? Maybe not....

Let's go back to the first text: "Let your light shine so people see your good works..." Part One (letting your light shine) results in Part Two (people seeing your good works). Something about letting your light shine causes you to do good things, and people will notice those things. Notice that it doesn't say "Make your light shine." It says, "Let it shine." To me that means something happens that, as part of the transformation, the result is a "shining" that you allow to burst forth. But what is it that happens that causes the light to start shining?

It can't be something that happens naturally. Our sinful natures are far from beacons of light. So something has to transform us.

Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be born again (or "from above."). He made it clear it was not something that he could do on his own. Peter says "...having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever..." (I Peter 1:23).

Just like the fact that we cannot cause ourselves to be born again, this process is completely outside of our ability to make it happen. We can't do it. But we can be willing to submit and let God do it for us!

Imagine this! We are lost in the darkness and cannot find a way out. But Someone comes and says, "Hold on to My hand and I will lead you out of this darkness." All we can do is grasp on and follow. And as we walk we see that we are starting to change. Perhaps it starts with a lessening desire to go our own direction, and we start to enjoy the warmth of the hand that we hold. And something else is happening. We realize that we were not just in the dark - we were also blind, but we are starting to see. And we are starting to glow!

Now can you imagine saying this? "...giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated (transferred) us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:12-14)

Now does Matthew 5:16 make more sense? When we take God's hand and accept the gift of salvation - redeemed through the blood of His Son - we begin to change. Rather than hold it back, we let and even embrace the change, and we are transformed. The more we become like true members of His family, the more we become like Him, and Part One (letting our light shine) begins to take over. And people start to notice (Part Two). And they start asking questions.

That is when Part Three starts: "...and glorify your Father in heaven." Not because anything that we have done, but who we have become. All glory goes to God!

And that's how you know your light is really shining!

God bless you abundantly!

In Other Words...

Del am tang sho deh....

Sometimes you can't really express yourself in the English language. It's not that there aren't enough words - it's more that the subtle nuances seem to be missing. I'm sure that it's because I have emotional attachments with the words in another language - in this case, it's a Persian phrase that seems to fit my feelings.

It means my heart aches....

Have you had those times when, for unknown reasons, you long for heaven more than usual? When every fiber of your body yearns for a heavenly embrace? When you can't wait to leave the pain of this world behind you and walk on those streets of gold with your friends and family forever?

That's what I'm feeling today. I am so tired of what sin has done to this world - what the devil has wrought on relationships of those closest to me. To look into the eyes of my friends and see the hurt that they have encountered and feel their scars of past injuries. To be reminded of my own keloids from one painful cut after another - one scar on top of the previous one. Sometimes I feel that I don't want to go on....

"Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Rest. I long for rest. Not just a night of closing my eyes. Not just the oblivion of a restful sleep. I want rest in the days as well. I read the words again in Matthew. "Come to Me...." That's what I want. To run up to Him and throw my arms around Him and crawl up into His lap and just rest in Him.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I don't have to carry this burden. I am reminded of the words of the song, "Give them all, give them all - give them all to Jesus." I can feel the tension slowly release. Heaven is just around the corner - my Jesus is coming soon to take me home.

Arram... Sometimes it hard to express yourself in just one language. Arram... it means "peace." The kind that passes all understanding. The kind that only God can give.

My heart is feeling better already...

God bless you abundantly!

The Wind in my Face

I have a reason this is late....

I know - you are going to say it is just an excuse. And perhaps you are right. But I made a choice that took me away from my computer at the time I had planned to sit down to write my blog. But today my chair was empty, and I was gone.

It started when a friend said, "Do you have anything planned for this afternoon?" At first I hemmed and hawed - I knew I had to get my blog written and find the quotes for "Prayers of Faith" this week. Then he said, "We are going for a ride this afternoon and would like it if you and Toni could come with us."

That was all it took.

After a hurried lunch I pulled the car out of the garage and started up the motorcycle. It ran just fine, so we grabbed our helmets and jumped on the bike. We rode over to our friends' house and met up with some others, and ended up having a most enjoyable afternoon.

So while I wasn't sitting in my house typing up my thoughts, being out in the open with the wind in my face didn't keep me from thinking. Can you believe I was thinking of heaven and the new earth?

You see, to me heaven is not a place where we sit on clouds and strum harps. Oh, there will be music, but such music that will swell up from our very souls and fill us with joy like we have never experienced here on earth. We will worship God for all that He has done for us, and I believe that our praise for Him will only grow over the years as we understand more of what His sacrifice means for us.

But I believe our lives will be far more fulfilling than we could ever experience here and now. We might think that what the world has to offer is pretty amazing, but "eye has not seen" what God has in store for us there.

And beyond the things that we will be able to do is the fellowship that we will be able to enjoy with each other. We will be able to connect on a level - so pure and encompassing - that will far surpass anything that we have experienced on earth. We will truly understand what it means to be "a friend that sticks closer than a brother."

Today I was with friends, and we were able to enjoy a common passion. I was blessed to ride through the country side, watching the deer jumping the fence as we cruised by, seeing the hawks circle in the clear sky, feeling like I was at peace. But heaven has so much more to offer me than even an afternoon with friends on motorcycles.

Now here's what I really want to feel: The wind in my face as I am leaving this earth to meet my Savior! "And so shall we ever be with the Lord."

That's the ride I am truly waiting for!

God bless you abundantly!

Music of Heaven

Have you ever heard a song that immediately turns your heart to heaven? Has music ever affected you to the place where you wonder how the heavenly music could ever be better? Have you wished that you could just absorb the melodies and watch the performers for hours on end?

I was blessed to experience that last week. I was visiting my parents in Arkansas and as part of our time together we visited the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View. This unique center houses craftsmen of all sorts that use the historic methods of making everything from candles to brooms to quilts and everything in between.

Music is a significant part of the Ozark Folk Center, and since Mountain View is called the Folk Music Capital of the World, you can expect to hear some quality folk music. Several evenings during the week local and visiting musical artists will take the stage to perform acoustic music written before 1948. These musicians demonstrate their skills on a variety of instruments and perform vocal numbers as well.

Age was no limit, and performers as young as 11 took the stage along side of men in their 80's. I sat spellbound as one musician after another brought music to life and enveloped me in the joy of music. While all of the music was exceptional, there were two groups that truly touched my heart. One was a group that had three brothers, ages 11, 12, and 14. With the help of an older gentleman providing rhythm guitar, their upright bass, mandolin, and fiddle music was truly unbelievable. The second group was three girls - two sisters ages 14 and 16, and a 17 year-old friend - playing a bass, guitar, and fiddle. Their instrumentals were also amazing, but their a capella voices brought down the house.

One of the greatest blessings of heaven I believe will be the music that we will not only hear but also participate in. Perhaps it will be like the music I heard from these young people.

If it was, I now have one more reason to be there!

God bless you abundantly!

The Best Laid Plans

It was one of those days. ...

I'm sure that you have experienced a similar one in your life. It started out with the alarm clock gently reminding me that it was time for me to get up and go to the gym. My body, on the other hand, gently reminded me that I had not had enough sleep with all my tossing and turning throughout the night, and that I could certainly benefit from a couple more hours of rest. The mental tug-of-war continued for the next few minutes; unfortunately, the alarm clock won this round.

I quietly got out of bed, trying not to waken my wife from her own night of restless dozing. I put on my workout clothes and gathered more clothes for work. The cats were meowing at the kitchen window, so I fed them on my way out to the car.

It was still dark outside, and the 20 minute trip into town was uneventful. I tried to see if there were any Great Horned Owls sitting on telephone poles, but all I could see were the silhouettes of large crows as I passed by.

As soon as I got to Main Street I knew something was wrong. Normally at 5:00 in the morning I would see 10 or more cars parked in front of the gym, even on a Friday. But there were only 3 cars there, and as I pulled up, I could see that there were people still sitting in their cars. A quick glance towards the gym told me that whoever was supposed to be there to open the doors at 4:45 had experienced a different outcome with his or her battle with the alarm clock.

I waited for several minutes, but after a while I, along with the other would-be exercisers, started up our engines and drove away. I went to work.

Sometimes we have such wonderful plans for our lives. Think of some of the Bible greats. So many of them had decided where their lives would lead, and then something happened that changed everything. Paul, as Saul, was destined to be a great leader in the Jewish tradition, but ran into a brick wall when he tried to ignore the prodding of the Holy Spirit. His life ended in chains - a prisoner in Rome because he proclaimed the very Man he had tried to destroy. Peter was going to be a fisherman, but ended up giving his life for an itinerant Preacher. Most of the apostles suffered a similar fate.

Then there was the rich young man who was drawn to Jesus, but went away sorrowful because he couldn't bring himself to part with his possessions. Of course, we can't forget Judas, who had such opportunity as he spent day after day at Jesus' feet, yet in the end could not even stand himself for his betrayal of his Master.

And what of your life? Has it gone the way you anticipated? What detours have you taken? Are you currently in the very place you want to be, or is there more you want to accomplish?

It has become a common text, but it still bears repeating. Jeremiah 29:11-14 has some interesting points that it makes, and they all apply to our lives today. First, nothing is a surprise to God. He says, "I know the plans I have for you - the thoughts for your future that are in My mind." Remember that God is saying this while the Israelites are in exile. That's not where they were supposed to stay. God says, "I see your future, and it is full of hope."

What facilitates this change? Verses 12 and 13 say, "Then you will call upon Me and pray to Me and I will listen and answer. And you will find Me when you seek for Me with all of your heart."

Have we fully found God - do we know Him intimately? Are we seeking Him with all our hearts? Is He the most important relationship in our lives?

Verse 14 says that when we find Him, then He will free us from captivity. He will bring us back home.

Perhaps you had great plans for your life, but the cares of the world got in the way. It's not too late to go back home. We can still find Him if we seek Him, and He will bring us back to the place He has prepared for us - and not us only, but all those who seek His appearance!

Are you willing to see what plans He has for you?

God bless you abundantly!