Shining Light

On July 14, 2025   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 9: 5

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Matthew 5: 14

You are the light of the world.

Jesus told us that while he was in the world, he was the light of the world, but now that he is seated at the right hand of the Father, he left us to be the light of the world.

It is not in our works that we are the light of the world though. It is in our interaction with people. We are to let our light shine and that light is Jesus inside of us. We are not supposed to labor to show that we are the light. Instead, we are just to allow the light inside of us to shine. Jesus inside of us is the light of glory. He is the fulfillment of our restoration. And we are new creatures, recreated in him. So, the hope of glory is in the blessing of Jesus. It is the resurrected Jesus shining out through us in the way we speak and the way we behave.

He is love; he is kindness. He is gentleness and patience. As we let his attributes shine out of us, he is glorified and people are blessed. In this way we shine the light of Jesus. Our effort, then, is in allowing ourselves to reveal him rather than in putting forth any certain effort or accomplishing tasks. It really is in our surrender to his nature, allowing him to express himself in us and through us.

The way we do this is to constantly allow ourselves to be renewed by the Holy Spirit. It is in the constant surrender of self. Being surrendered to Jesus is a comfortable place to be but it can be difficult to reach. It is very pleasant living in Jesus and allowing him to live through us, but it is very difficult to surrender our egos, our personalities, ourselves. We can be afraid that we will become lost; that we will cease being us, ut that is not the reality. We just become our fulfilled selves; our divine selves. We become the people that we were meant to be. Then it is easy for the light of Jesus to shine through us. Then all people will see the Jesus that transforms and makes new.

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Light and Life

On April 21, 2025   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Colossians 1: 13 – 14

For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

I wondered if we fully appreciate the truth behind this verse. This is an immense concept. Do we look over it lightly? Maybe it is too difficult to fully perceive.

The miracle that our Father wrought in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is not only a great story, but it is the greatest news of the gospel. We have been translated into the kingdom of light from the kingdom of darkness. Jesus told us in John 8: 12 that he is “the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” We were legally under the authority of Satan, but Jesus broke that bondage. He went to hell and came out victorious and with the keys of death and hell (Revelation 1: 18). He broke us out of hell, and we became part of his victory, part of his inheritance. Because of Jesus’ victory over hell and the grave, we have become part of the kingdom of light.

Now this is interesting. Jesus then says that we are the light of the world (Matthew 5: 14). When we accept the gift of salvation and receive redemption, then we are translated out of the realm of darkness and into the kingdom of light. Then we actually become the light because we are in the light. Jesus is the light and we are in him, so we are the light in this dark world. This is pretty heavy but what this is really saying is that we are Jesus in this world. We are his body. That makes us his hands, his feet and his mouth. We have been saved from darkness and brought into the light so that light completely infuses us. We have become full of the very essence of Jesus if we are in him and he in us.

All of the power of hell and the grave has been broken off of us. We are completely regenerated in the life giving power of God. That new life in us has the power to break the bondages off of others as well. We have new life, a life of light and power in Christ Jesus. Darkness no longer has any power over you. That has got to be a reason to celebrate.

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