Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Shine!


Matthew 5:16 - Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. 

The words 
exhibit change came into my spirit the other morning (when I wrote this). My prayer these days has been for the Lord through the power of His Holy Spirit to bring about certain changes in my life. But more than bringing them about that they be exhibited, that I shine.

I'm a bit more quiet and unassuming, to the point that sometimes people barely notice me. I'd like that to change. Not that I'm the center of attention but to be more open about Jesus. I know the risks involved and part of that is offending which comes with the territory. I would hope that God would use the part of me that best suits me for this! I would at least like to bring His name up in my everyday conversations.

The greatest fear, which should not be, is losing friends. Those who can tolerate this change will remain friends; those who cannot will not. And here's the catch, how do I know that others might not be drawn? That would be my hope.

I would not expound like I do in this blog...unless someone approaches me. But what harm is it to let others know that the major focus in my life is Jesus? What's wrong with my sharing the wonderful things He's done for me? I know there are some who think it's wrong, those who want to eliminate any reference to God in this country.

I don't even want to go to the place in my mind that thinks "no one cares." After all, it's not about me anyway but Jesus Christ. He's the One who has done the work, the One who drew me, who brought about changes, who protected me before I even knew Him. He's the same God who wants to do that for all people.

It was so amazing to look back after I committed my life to Christ to see where He had been at work. You just know that you know it was He!

I am a child of the King, made blameless (but still with faults). I look at the disciple Peter who was impetuous, always speaking at inappropriate times, putting his foot in his mouth. He turned out to be the one Jesus chose to lead all the others, to feed His sheep. What an awesome responsibility. He had the right strengths but needed to tame them. He had a lot to learn but Jesus loved Him despite his faults. Jesus could see beyond those faults and encouraged him. He wants to encourage everyone the same way and that's why there is the Word.

Then there's Paul. He started out by persecuting Christians--as Saul. But God...could see the potential behind Saul's behavior and met him face to face on the Damascus Road. God changed Saul's name to Paul and his life turned completely around. He became an evangelist leading others to Christ. Imagine those who now saw him as quite the opposite personality; they saw the change, whether they liked it or not.

Thankfully, the world has not changed as far as people wanting to lead others to Christ. That will not change until He returns. There are others today whose lives have turned just as dramatically as Peter or Paul.

Did you know Glenn Beck's life was shaped by his father's alcoholism and his mother's suicide? Substance abuse took over his own life. He overcame with the help of God. Beneath his love for this country and the values of this nation, there is an underlying love for God and His values, an underlying understanding of what God would prefer to see how we and our country be.

There are stories of street gang or drug cartel leaders whose lives were turned around by the hand of God and these people are now outspoken advocates of the saving power of Jesus Christ. There are murderers and prostitutes who have spent time in prison whose lives have changed when they got to such a low point in life that they recognized their need for Jesus because no one else was able to help. They put their trust in Him and not the "system." Even death row inmates realized they did the crime, they had to pay their time, were sentenced to death but because they received Christ knew that even in their own death, like the thief on the cross who acknowledged Jesus, they would be with Him in paradise.

Do I identify with any of these people? Not exactly; my story is all my own. It only takes is a low point in your life to come around to wondering if this is all there is to life. Thankfully that came to me.

I pray you will remember these words if you hit a low point. There is always Someone to reach out to. My only hope is that some day something I wrote will change someone's life. I may not be an "in your face" sort of person, but I'd like to be at least seen as different, to shine so to speak, in a good sort of way. There's a song by the Newsboys whose chorus says: 
"shine...let them wonder what you got, let them wish that they were not on the outside looking bored."

Philippians 2:15 - that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world...

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