Let Your Light Shine

 

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16

Jesus does not speak passive words to us; He speaks words that call us to action.

Jesus challenges us to live in a way which demonstrates our Christian beliefs by doing what is good and right. It is easy to sit by and complain about the state of the world, it is more difficult to get up and do something. When we help people we demonstrate God’s love. We may think we are only saying encouraging words or feeding a few poor people and debate what difference our actions make. But the truth is when we step out in faith and do something, we unleash the love of God upon the world.

Light up your light so all may see God.

Peter Was Famous For Messing Up

 

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.”

John 18:25

The Apostle Peter was famous for messing up. He was the guy who cut off the Roman soldier’s ear in the garden and who denied Christ three times in one day. Peter was not perfect, but he was forgiven and he became one of the most dynamic evangelists in the world, bringing thousands to know Jesus. So, awe inspiring was Peter’s ministry that he is the model for the Pope of the Catholic Church. 

With this in mind, we need to consider how we judge one another and ourselves and understand this:  No one is perfect - but all can be forgiven.  We all mess up. We all sin. We can beat ourselves up for our shortcomings and have a regular pity party. Or, we can ask God’s forgiveness and get on with the mission God has assigned us – to take the Gospel to the world.

Forget your sin because God has forgiven you, and get on with your awe inspiring ministry.  

Attitude and Gratitude Adjustment

 

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

Don’t you hate it when you are restless and agitated about something over which you have no control? Flopping around in bed at night, with a brain full of stuff that you can’t resolve and then facing the next day with a less than pleasant attitude is not the way it is supposed to be. The next time this happens rather than getting all bent out of shape, try doing an attitude and gratitude adjustment.

When we trust in God, it means that we trust God to take care of all our problems. All we have to do is pray and surrender our problems to God, and feel the rush of His peace fill our hearts, and then be thankful.

Rest For Your Soul

 

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 11:28-29

I have noticed that so many people work all the time.  They have jobs which often require that they work twelve hour days, seven days a week with only a couple of days break every few weeks.  They have no time to do anything but eat, sleep and work.  

To say they are weary is to put it mildly.  They resent not having time for their families and friends.  They are worn out physically and emotionally.

Here Jesus acknowledges this exhaustion and says, "I will give you rest."  

When we pray for relief and answers, we can trust that God hears us.  This may come in the form of more time off from work, or an opportunity to get a job with a less demanding schedule.   

So, if you are feeling over worked and exhausted, take heart that God cares for you and you will find rest for your soul.   

You Can't Go Home Again

Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man learn these things, and what is this wisdom that has been given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are His sisters not here with us?” 

And they took offense at Him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not dishonored except in his hometown and among his own relatives, and in his own household.” And He could not do any miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He was amazed at their unbelief. 

Mark 6:1-6 

Jesus had a difficult time ministering to people who knew Him as the carpenter's son.  We would think that His reputation would have preceded Him and people would have known that He was a great minister and healer of men by the power of God, because He was the Son of God.

But that is not what happened, Jesus was dismissed by those in his home town because they thought they knew everything there was to know about Him - that being that He was just the son of a carpenter.

This still happens today.  We should not be surprised if family or friends throw at us what they consider to be our sins from long ago and fail to recognize that we have changed. 

Maybe, we can't go home with the Gospel, but there is a big wide world full of people who need to hear the Gospel and need prayer and understanding.

Go boldly and share the Good News. 

More Than Lilies

 

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" 

 

"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

 

"And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ..."

Matthew 6:25-29

Several years ago a friend told me that the first years her husband was in the ministry they had little money to spare.  Her daughter was starting school and she was worried about where they would get the money to buy her clothes.  The church parsonage where they lived had an old treadle sewing machine.  She said something to one of the women at church about needing clothes for her daughter and the lady said, "Why I have lots of fabric leftover from sewing projects and I have patterns for girls clothes from when my daughters were young that you are welcome to."  

 

My friend said, "I don't know how to sew."

 

The lady said, "I will teach you."

 

And, she came to the house and worked with her to make the first dress on that old treadle sewing machine.  After that my friend made four more dresses for her daughter.   

 

That is the way it is with God.  When we don't see an answer to our problems, He sends the answer because He cares for us.

 

Have faith you are of more value than the birds and lilies. 

The Ministry of Righteousness

For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.

2 Corinthians 3:9 

How about that?  

There are those who specialize in preaching hell fire and damnation sermons, thinking they can scare people into becoming Christians.  It works sometimes. But  Paul speaks of the ministry of preaching righteousness.  It is the idea that people respond to a positive message - that is, when you come into the church you are coming into a righteous community and you, too, can become righteous as you leave your old life behind and embrace the teachings of the Gospel.  The ministry of righteousness is a message of God's love and forgiveness. 

This appeals to our higher aspirations - that we want to be better people. 

And, isn't that the heart of the Gospel?