Arise...Let God's Light Shine Through You

Isaiah 60:1-3 - "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.  Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

 

Isaiah was technically talking about the nation of Israel. He was telling them the future…how God was coming to rule and they would be at the center of it all.  He was telling them how God was going to use them to spread his love to the whole through the Messiah.

 

Isaiah was also telling us…those who have accepted and believed on his son…and the great sacrifice he made on that cross that we need to wake up…..and realize that we already have the power of that light inside us. He was telling me to wake up and realize that God has given me this time to let his great love shine through the darkness that I see everywhere I go. He was telling me that God wants to show his glory and power through me if I will just let his glory provide the light.

 

Jesus modeled for us how to let God’s light shine through him.  People were drawn to him like they would be to God.  They followed him everywhere to hear him preach…to touch the hem of his garment….to uncover a roof so they could lower a sick friend to his reach. Lepers risked everything to ask him for healing….tax collectors climbed trees so they could see him… even the dead obeyed his voice and rose from their graves when told to do so.

 

The only people who did not run to see him and heed his word were the ones who had hardened their hearts to the truth of who he was. Even Jesus could not shine enough of God’s pure light to uncover the lies they had told their hearts for so long. Some people just love the dark more than they do the light…they have to give up too much pride or material wealth to follow him.

 

I admit that I am not always the light that I need to be to others.  I let the darkness overcome me way to many times….and hide what light I made have.  I try on my own to keep pride and selfishness under control and fail miserably. I let anger take over my emotions way too many times…and don’t spend near enough time in prayer and study of his word.

 

I needed the reminder today to stop trying to do things myself…in my own power…..and let God do what he does best. All I have to do is get up in the morning…and stay focused on him…and he will place that light inside me so strong that it will draw others to see it. I just have to let go and let God have complete control of the light switch….so he can use me to spread his light wherever I go.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that when I accepted you as my savior…I gave God permission to live inside my heart. Thank you for the light that you placed inside me that day….and help me to stop trying to control it on my own.  Help me to let the glory of your love do the work you need done with my life…without worrying so much about the outcome of all the tasks you give me to do. Help me to focus so completely on you that my light shines even when I don’t realize it.  Amen.

Have You Cleaned Out Your Sin Lately?

Isaiah 59:1-2  -  Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

 

Isaiah takes a moment in these verses to remind us that God is not too weak to help us …and he is not deaf. He has the power to save you and can hear every word you cry out…but he made have turned his back on your plea because you harbor sin in your life.

 

Bottom line is that sin offends God.  His holiness can’t tolerate it…he can’t even look upon it.  So he turns away and cuts us off until we see the sin in our life and need to repent of it. Jesus was even cut off from his father for a short time while he bore the sins of the world. It was one of the things that bothered Jesus the most while he was hanging on the cross. His cry to his father is recorded in Matthew 27:46 …. “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?").”

 

Sin is sin….from the smallest white lie…to the most horrendous murder. And as long as we let it go unforgiven….it continues to separate us from God.  It creates a huge void …an empty hole that satan loves to fill up with more sin. And that sin will stay there….until we see it for what it is and repent….and ask God to forgive us.

 

It is what God loves to do best.  Listen to our cry of guilt…and tell us it is okay.  He loves to tell us that his son Jesus already paid the price of our sin….to just start over. Then he sends his spirit to dwell in our newly humbled heart...to teach us how to make permanent changes…and clean all that sin out of the hole it lived in.  And what is really the best part…is that he fills that hole we dug with sin….with his love for others. He replaces the sin in our lives completely with a spirit of peace and desire to do what he wants.

 

What has been really cool for me…is that even if I fail to keep his love in my life….and allow sin to slip back in…he sends someone like Isaiah to remind me that I am starting to let sin build a hole in my life again. Sometimes…I even recognize that God is becoming distant on my own. He has never failed to keep the promise he allowed Isaiah to voice in the verse 21….to never let his spirit depart from us if we follow his commandments.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that sin separates me from the one thing that cans save me. Forgive mem for the times that I have allowed known sin to harbor and grow so that you could not help me.   Thank you for sending people to expose my sin…so that I could tell you I was sorry and ask you to removed it from my life.  Thank you for filling the great void that I created with your love…and showing me how to keep sin from residing in it again….and thank you for never failing to send your sprit to help me when I try to keep your commands.  Show me how to move forward this time….more steps than I take backward….and let your love that is stronger than sin….fill any void that ever is created again.  Amen.

Routines...Examine Yours For What Is Best

Isaiah 58:12-13 -  Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.  "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

 

In two verses….Isaiah hits the Israelites right in the heart with one of the most serious problems organized religion creates.  If you take the time to go back and read the whole chapter…you get to read how he chastises them for their routine worship… fasting just to shout out they were fasting….and doing good deeds for others just to be praised in public for being so loving and kind. They might have been doing good things…but their heart was doing them for all the wrong reasons.

 

Church isn’t just a building to go and worship God. It does us no good if all we do is go every Sunday and sit in a pew and listen intently.  It should be a place to heal…to repent of our own pious behavior and sins. It should be a place that accepts all people regardless of how they are dressed…or what they have done. It should welcome them and show them the true love of God. It should be a place where needs are met…and lives are changed.

 

Church isn’t just a place to say our prayers out loud….or fast just to make ourselves look more caring….or make sure we throw a offering in the plate each Sunday. The prayers we say should be followed by our hands and feet actually taking care of the needs we have the resources to take care of. Our fasting should be because we feel in our spirit that God wants us to pray more intently for the reasons we fast.  The thing we gave up is supposed to give us time to petition to God to provide for that need. The tithe we give…and any extra we feel led to put in that offering plate each Sunday should represent our best…not just a calculation of the 10% the Bible tells us is required.

 

I think of Cain and Able…and how badly it turned out for both of them. One gave of his best…and the other gave what he thought was required.  Then satan planted a seed of jealously and bitterness that consumed one brother.  He let it take root in his soul…and committed the first recorded murder.  God allowed it…perhaps because he knew that the brother that gave from love and faith deserved a spot in Heaven….perhaps just to have an example of what not to do in the Bible.

 

I will be the first to admit guilt. My prayers do not always find feet and hands….my fasting is often times exposed because I simply feel the need to explain why I have given up something…..and even though I write my tithe check from my gross income…and give extra to many mission efforts….I have never given till it truly hurts…never really sacrificed my best. I know in my heart that my worship and prayers are “just enough’  and God wants more than the meager offerings I manage to give each paycheck.

 

I sure needed a reminder this morning that God wants more than the routine I have become accustomed to.  God wants a two-way relationship that grows in understanding….depth…and helps me identify even the smallest sin in my life…so I can use the worship time he has given me to truly draw closer to him.  God wants to use the time I spend in corporate worship to help me be a better humanitarian…to learn to be more like his son.

 

Father…thank you for the fresh tears of conviction that wash over my being this morning. I am so sorry that you have had to work so hard to help me understand such a small…yet very important concept of your love.  Forgive me…and help me to break out of the routines that bind my heart into boxes of right and wrong.  Help me see everything around me with the eyes of your son…so that I can become your hands…and feet that healed…fed…..clothed….and taught others about his father’s love.  Amen.

Don't Let Questions Of Why Rob You Of The Peace That Passes Understanding

Isaiah 57:1-2-  The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.  Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.

 

Isaiah gives us just a glimpse at one reason that good people might be taken away from us…in our human perspective …way too soon. He says that one reason might be that God wants to spare them the evil that might exist around them in the future. God allows him to remind us that death brings a peace that we can never know here on earth.

 

I am guilty of asking God why he took a loved one too soon from my life. I question in my heart many times a day why he took the best gift he ever granted from me so quickly from my life. I admit that it is very hard to understand….even harder to accept that God wanted to spare Mitchell some sort of evil that was coming…but needed me to stay here longer.

 

Perhaps it is our need for human companionship…human touch…that keeps us from embracing the idea that God took someone we love…but left us here.  For me…it manifests itself in a sort of jealousy….a longing to join them….even an anticipation of when he might call me home too.

 

One side of my heart tells me it’s not time yet…that I still have work to do. I have three children and a granddaughter that still  need their mother’s/nana’s touch….financial support….prayers. The other longs for the peace that Isaiah talks about…a peace I will never feel as long as I live on earth.

 

Perhaps it is just another way that selfishness can creep up and take over your thoughts….but it is the peace of God that helps me shut out the selfish thoughts and move forward.  For if I allowed the thoughts of joining not just Mitchell…but all my family members that have been called home to heaven… to take over...it only brings pain….and depression. Perhaps it is what causes some to spiral completely into suicidal thoughts if they let it take completely over both sides of their heart.

 

Paul reminded us in Philippians 4:7 how important it is to turn all thoughts of doubt over to God in prayer ….to just let God do the thinking for us.  He said… “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 

That’s how I get through the really bad moments….the times that I miss him the most.  I pray…and ask God to help me accept…for I know my heart will never understand completely.  I ask God to reveal a tidbit of his purpose for me…and what I need to do to complete the job he placed me here to do. I try to think about the fact that someone here on earth still needs me to do something for them…the way he did so much for those around him.

 

Father….thank you for the fresh tears that remind me how very much I loved and cherished the gift you gave me in Mitchell. Thank you for letting me hang out with him for even the short time you allowed…so that he could help me feel loved after the divorce you allowed to happen in my first marriage.  Help me to use the memories of that wonderful healing relationship to power thoughts of peace.  Help me to place all the memories and sadness in your hands so you can use it somehow to help others who have to walk the same path of pain and loss. Amen.

Keep The Sabbath Holy...AND....Be Flexible About What Day It Has To Be

Isaiah 56:1-2 -  This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.  Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."

 

The Sabbath was defined in Exodus 20. It was to be a day of rest. It was to be a day that the people focused only on God. It was to be a day that they worshiped him for how great and merciful he was…thanked him with sacrifices befitting the sins they needed to repent of. It was to be a day filled with only thoughts of what God had done for them…and what they could do to let God know how much they appreciated his love.

 

The Jewish people that began this tradition picked Saturday as their Sabbath….it was their 7^th day.  They rested and worshiped in their homes…or traveled to the closest temple. Modern Christians began to use Sunday to rest and do their worshiping. Sunday became the day as it marked the day before the workweek began.

 

To me….it does no good to debate which day is actually the Sabbath….the point Isaiah is trying to make here is that we should set aside a time….a whole day….to rest and focus on God. He says that God will bless the one who holds at least one day of the week as holy….who doesn’t desecrate it with work….or other activities that don’t help us focus on God.

 

That sure make me reflect on some of the things that I engage in on my Sabbath.  I am one of the people who is blessed to work a 5 day week…..with 2 days off each one to do as I please. Perhaps some of the things I have done on the Sunday…my day of worship and rest…don’t always completely focus me on God.

 

And I will go ahead and open the can of proverbial worms …and say that since some people must work on my Sunday...they need to feel comfortable that they can worship on a different day. But let’s face it…not many churches offer an alternative worship service to accommodate all the different days that people are given as off days.  And people have to work…all of us do not have the perfect job…with the perfect days off….that follow the traditions of worship in the past.

 

It does my heart good to know of at least some nontraditional services in my town. Thanks goes to the 1^st United Methodist church of London, Ky…who have transformed an old dollar store into a place of worship on Tuesday nights. ‘Connect’ is a casual service…with great contemporary worship music…where people are even fed a snack and given time to fellowship as they enter. They have baptized many new believers…because they have rewritten the rules of ‘WHEN’ the Sabbath has to occur.  (You can read more about it or become involved in their services by exploring this link   http://www.london1umc.org/connect   )That’s really what Jesus did when he came folks…he explained the difference in true worship….and simply keeping a rule that Moses was given.

 

Father…thank you for reminding me that I need to re-think the activities of my day of worship.  Help me to focus completely on you that day…and only do things that help me reflect on what great things you have done for me….and how I can have a stronger faith. Thank you for opening my mind to include new ways to help people find a Sabbath day that fits the crazy work world we have come to know.  I ask you to keep your promise and bless the ones that help keep Connect an opportunity of worship on Tuesday nights. Amen.

Seek God With Prayer And Bible Study

Isaiah 55:6-9 -  Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.  "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

The chosen people of God had just come through a long hard storm. The freedom from captivity they had just received gave their soul a reason to shout and proclaim God’s goodness. God used Isaiah to remind them that this was a great time to draw as near to him as possible….because their limited human understanding of him would be heightened by the joy they felt in their souls.

 

The sadness they had just experienced put most of them in withdraw mode. It was harder to find God and his peace because depression dulled their hearing….even clouded their vision of what God could do. The fear of how long they might suffer…the constant reality of oppression had caused them to focus too heavily on the problem. 

 

God’s thoughts included a season of freedom and growth. But their own thoughts of fear and depression limited their vision of what God had in store for their future. God always has a better vision for our lives than we do….because his thoughts are higher than our own. Jeremiah 29:11 says…. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.  They are plans to prosper you, not to harm you.  They are plans to give you hope and a future.”

 

One of the best cures for the depression major storm in your life causes…. is to begin to thank God in advance for the storm you are going through. We need to put on our best headphones...those new kind that block out all the noise from the world telling you that you are suffering too much. We need to put on some new glasses….with a little stronger prescription than we thought we needed….so that we can look a little further than the pain we are in…to the shore on the others side that is clear and focused.

 

After we block out the world and increase our vision we need to use them to focus on God.  We need to open that Bible and pray….so that God can begin to reveal the secrets that will move us forward from the storm. We need to focus on his thoughts for us….and the future of hope that is waiting at the end of the storm he is using to teach us. Bible study and prayer are the fresh drops of rain that water our thirsty soul….and begin to grow what God wanted there all along.

 

Father… thank you for the reminder that I am nearest you when I seek you actively. Forgive me for the times that I skim and speed read your word because I am tired….or just too lazy.  Forgive me for thinking that my few prayers at church…or quick requests before I lay my head down at night are enough to feed my soul. Help me…not just say it this time Lord. For you know how many times I have asked you to help me to better my prayer life with you.  Give me a new passion to really learn to pray…to let you give me the words that will increase my faith and ability to lift others up to you.  Amen.

God has a Reason For Asking Us To Walk Through Pain

Isaiah 54:1-2 -  "Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the LORD.  "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.

 

Isaiah brought them the wonderful news of God’s increased blessings.  They had endured the long captivity.  They had learned what God had placed them there to learn. God wanted them to know that as soon as he released them…he was going to bless them and increase their number.

 

A time of sorrow and pain can make one bitter and untrusting.  It can lead you so far away from God that you begin to wonder why you ever loved him in the first place. And satan does not waste your doubt and anger at why God would have allowed such great pain in your life in the first place. He tries to plant it deeper in your soul…so that you become separated from the one thing that can bring you out of your pain.

 

But if you see your pain and sorrow as a time of training…a blessing from God…then you build trust instead of lose it. Your faith grows stronger…so that you begin to see how complete trust in God is all that you really need to be happy. He becomes your focus….and the pain becomes a way to shed more of the sin that keeps you from knowing God’s full power.

 

Job toughed it out…and was blessed 100 fold after his great encounter with pain.  He learned that God was really the only one he could trust.  The Israelites wandered for 40 years before they saw the blessing of Canaan.  They earned that God meant what he said. Jonah spent 3 days in the belly of a whale before he admitted that God was bigger than the racial issues of where he was sent to preach. And Jesus died on a cross ….taking on the sins of all man….before he could sit victorious at the right hand of his father.

 

It reminds me that no matter what happens in my life that I perceive as bad…God has plans to use it to better me…not harm me. God wants to use the things I perceive as bad things to teach me about his perfect love.  For his love can conquer all….just like Isaiah ends this chapter in verse 17…. “no weapon forged against it can stand.”

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you had a reason for asking me to walk through the pain I have felt in my life. Forgive me for the times that I have allowed satan to trick me into being bitter and hopeless…increasing the depression I felt in my heart.  Help me to grab hold of your hand for as long as it takes to see the light at the end of my pain.  Show me how to focus so strongly on you that I can begin to see the blessings that you have waiting on me when I have finished my training.  Amen.