ENCOURAGING REALISTIC CHRISTIAN LIVING. Word Bytes lets readers into insights from God's Word, which will enrich lives and enhance faith. Postings are short, practical and to the point. “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs (Mat. 10:27).”
Sunday, 9 October 2016
Shine Jesus Shine... (Part Three)
I have a hard word to bring. The Lord said to me he would like to shed His light upon us so we can search ourselves. I have spent most of yesterday praying that the Lord will show us in what areas our attitudes are not in line with His will.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23, 24). Maybe today we could pray the same. Do we grieve the Holy Spirit?
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” (John 8:12). The key condition in this promise of Jesus is ‘whoever follows me’. Who do we follow? I have seen many churches in my lifetime that copy other churches and all kinds of revival movements. I hear regularly from individuals who admire other individuals and their ministry and lift them up. One often hears of so and so who is or was such a wonderful man of God. When certain pastors are invited to speak at a particular event, the speaker’s credentials are listed. Who do we follow? What would these individuals have been without Jesus and the Holy Spirit’s anointing? Why do we focus on the individuals and give praise to them? Pastors and leaders are there to train, guide and support us in our calling, but we should not admire or obey man. We should follow Jesus through the Holy Spirit in us, obeying Him on a daily basis and giving Him all the glory. We should discern whether it is the Holy Spirit guiding us or whether it is men.
If you are a pastor or in leadership yourself, what is the motive behind your actions? Do you try to get the people stirred up emotionally so they will say they had a wonderful service and you can grow in popularity? Do you compromise the Word of God so you can preach what the people would like to hear, or do you preach truth, conviction, obedience, and life? “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths,” (2 Timothy 4:3, 4). It is so easy to fall for the temptation to please people, for pastors are dependent on their tithes and offerings.
When you think of yourself - as pastor, a leader or just a Christian - are you pleased with yourself and what you have accomplished, and do you enjoy the attention of people, or do you pass praise on to the Lord? Are we looking at others, seeing the need for Jesus and making every effort to bring the light of Jesus to them, sacrificing ourselves in the process, or do we live self-indulgent lives, convincing ourselves that we deserve the comfort?
Allow the light of Jesus to show you your attitude and your level of obedience, for “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” (Matthew 9:37), and “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven,” (Matthew 7:21). We have no time to waste or spend in self-indulgence.
Lord, please break through my self-righteousness and show me who I am.
Saturday, 1 October 2016
Shine Jesus Shine... (Part Two)
Jesus said:
“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not
remain in darkness,” (John 12:46), and “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows
me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” (John 8:12).
The devil’s
purpose is to envelop men in darkness, to blind them so they cannot see their
own condition. Some are blinded by self and all they can see are themselves,
others are blinded by success, money, fame, lust, pleasure, religions and so on,
up to the extreme of the occult and intense spiritual darkness. Many who call
themselves Christians are even blinded by religion. In other words, they are so
‘religious’ that they have no idea what Jesus is like.
“You are the
light of the world... let your light shine before others, so that they may see
your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven,” (Matthew
5:14-16). We are to bring Jesus’ light to the people. People’s darkness should
be exposed through what we do and say. They need to see who they are and they
need to recognize how the devil has blinded and deceived them. This would
happen if we started praying for them. I became aware of a dear brother’s
battle against sin and, before I did anything, the Lord prompted me to
intercede intensely for him through
continuous, passionate prayer. This opened his eyes to see his condition and
also to see what the Holy Spirit brought to his attention through me; which in itself
is wisdom from the Lord and thus light. The light of Jesus was shed on him. As
a result of the Lord’s light and power, he progresses well – praise be to Jesus.
The Lord also prompted me to pray intensely for the salvation of some people I
regularly see and I look forward to the results.
Through our
loving words and actions, together with our obvious relationship with the Lord,
the light of Jesus will illuminate the lives of those around us. Unless people
realize what they are like by seeing their sin, they will not come to Jesus.
Once they see and accept Jesus, they have the light. During the rest of their
walk with the Lord, His light will continuously make them aware of those issues
in their lives that hinder their relationship with Him. This is providing they
are close enough to Him and care enough to see what He tries to show them.
In the light of Jesus that
emits from us, sinners will also see who He is in us. If we walk closely with the
Lord and depend daily on Him, the world will see His authority, anointing,
love, joy, wisdom, peace, strength, and so on, emitting from us and they will
recognize we are different. Some will honor us for it and others will persecute
us. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they
were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that
they had been with Jesus,” (Acts 4:13). And yet they chose to persecute them.
“If you abide
in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done
for you,” (John 15:7). I often ask the Lord for His authority and anointing to
do my work well and to let my light shine well. If people see the Almighty in
us, His name is glorified. That is how our light should shine.
Lord, I need
to abide in you so my light can shine and you be glorified.
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