Light in darkness
Did you know that the human eye is a marvelous thing? We've all seen the commercials of the woman who sees a flame in the dark from quite a distance. In fact, the human eye is able to discern, on a dark night, a flickering candle up to thirty miles away. According to scientific research, the human eye can detect between five and fourteen photons (the activation of five to fourteen rod cells). That's pretty impressive.
I say this because it sort of leads into my subject at hand...sort of. Actually, I thought it was a cool bit of trivia...now when you play Trivia Crack and the subject of how far the human eye can see, you have the answer nailed.
Anyway, I came across an article by Kevin DeYoung about John the Baptist. He made mention of how he was created to be the prophet fore-runner to Jesus, the Light of the World. John 1:6-8 says:
(KJV) (6) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. (7) This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. (8) He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
That Light that is spoken of, of course, is Jesus Christ. The cool thing is, John was sent to bear witness to the light, to talk about Him, to prepare others for Him and to lead people to Him. Jesus is the Light that you can see better than you can see the Andromeda Galaxy, which is the furthest that the human eye can see in space. What do I mean? How can I see someone who can't be seen? Tough question.
The Christian is called to bear witness of the Light (sound familiar?), to prepare others for His coming and to lead people to Him. In doing that, people who aren't saved should see Jesus in them. The compassion, the love for others, the drive to see that no one perish, that is what should be seen.
I saw a video within the last few days of a young boy about 13 maybe, standing on a sidewalk in I think was New York City. The temperature was 5 degrees, and he had a sign, a t-shirt that had holes in it, jeans, shoes and a black garbage bag. He was asking for help on the sign, but no one paid any attention to him. People would walk by, a few looked at him and his sign, but no one stopped to help. All of these folks were bundled against the cold, and no one stopped to make sure this one boy was taken care of. Finally, the boy, who was shivering, crawled into the garbage bag, curled up and laid down on the sidewalk. Finally, a man came by, took his coat off and put it on the boy, and gave him some money. It was later determined that this man had once been homeless. This man showed the compassion that we should all have. It is not known how many of the people who passed this boy were confessing Christians, but this one man, Christian or not, showed the world what living like Christ is like. This man showed the boy Jesus.
Jesus spoke about the time when He will return and judge all of the Nations. In Matthew 25:35-36
(35) for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; (36) I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.
then in Matthew 25:37-40 He answers: (37) Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? (38) When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? (39) Or when did we see You sick, or in prison and come to You?' (40) And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
Clearly, this man in the video ministered to the least of these, or at least who he thought was the least of these. At the end of the video, the man was blessed with much more than he gave by the ones who were filming this piece.
So, do we do these things just to receive the blessing? Certainly not! Yes, sometimes blessings are realized straight away, but more often than not, the blessings will be a long time coming, perhaps not in this life. We should not be doing this for the blessings anyway, but because Jesus encouraged us to do so...because we are the light in this darkened world that leads to the greater Light, Jesus. We are not that greater light, we are the ones proclaiming the coming light, but because of who we are, Jesus shines through. For loss of a better analogy at the moment, like moths to a porch light, others will be drawn to us, then we are able to proclaim Jesus risen and coming again...to judge the just and unjust. Jesus will come like the Lion He is..the Lion of Judah, to correct that which is wrong.
"So, Lois....what if you're wrong?" So what if I am? I will have lived a good life, one that shows compassion, one where I did my best to show others who Jesus is by living the life He encourages us to live. To help others who have nothing, whether I get a pat on the back or not. Then I will be remembered as one who lived out loud, who helped and loved others and did her best.
If, however, I'm right, then after doing all of this, then, with Jesus as my Advocate, I will stand before God and may have to answer for the times that I failed, but will be commended for the times I stepped up. Then He will usher me into Heaven where I will live for eternity. But for those who have not accepted Christ in their lives, they will be judged, with no Advocate but themselves, and sent to eternity in Hell, and trust me, it ain't going to be a picnic.
The choice is simple. Ask Jesus to come into your life. You don't have to clean house, you don't have to be perfect, because Jesus takes you where you are, as you are, but the cool thing is...He won't let you stay there. Because He comes into your life, you will want to change...you will want to be more like Him.
"What about going to church? Why should I go, it doesn't make me any more of a Christian."
No, going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than being in a garage makes you a car, but here's what going to church does for you: It gives you people who have been in similar situations who can help you through them. It gives you learning opportunities, helping you to know Scripture and how to apply it to your life. It helps you to live life larger, and fully. Yes, you're going to run into the Cr-Easters...those that only come to church on Christmas and Easter. Yes you're going to run into those who have a mask for Sunday and then another for the rest of the week. That's unfortunate, but happens in all realms of society. But you're also going to run into those who genuinely want to be like Jesus, and want to tell others what He's done for them. Those are the ones that you want to know, those are the ones who will teach you more than you ever thought you would ever know...not with book smarts or street smarts, but with God-smarts.
Whew! That's a lot to take in, and I hope it is crystal clear and not muddled. Dear Ones, it is my desire that those I love, whether I'm family or if I've never met you before, will come to the saving grace of my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Have a wonderful Palm Sunday weekend and a beautiful Easter.
I say this because it sort of leads into my subject at hand...sort of. Actually, I thought it was a cool bit of trivia...now when you play Trivia Crack and the subject of how far the human eye can see, you have the answer nailed.
Anyway, I came across an article by Kevin DeYoung about John the Baptist. He made mention of how he was created to be the prophet fore-runner to Jesus, the Light of the World. John 1:6-8 says:
(KJV) (6) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. (7) This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. (8) He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
That Light that is spoken of, of course, is Jesus Christ. The cool thing is, John was sent to bear witness to the light, to talk about Him, to prepare others for Him and to lead people to Him. Jesus is the Light that you can see better than you can see the Andromeda Galaxy, which is the furthest that the human eye can see in space. What do I mean? How can I see someone who can't be seen? Tough question.
The Christian is called to bear witness of the Light (sound familiar?), to prepare others for His coming and to lead people to Him. In doing that, people who aren't saved should see Jesus in them. The compassion, the love for others, the drive to see that no one perish, that is what should be seen.
I saw a video within the last few days of a young boy about 13 maybe, standing on a sidewalk in I think was New York City. The temperature was 5 degrees, and he had a sign, a t-shirt that had holes in it, jeans, shoes and a black garbage bag. He was asking for help on the sign, but no one paid any attention to him. People would walk by, a few looked at him and his sign, but no one stopped to help. All of these folks were bundled against the cold, and no one stopped to make sure this one boy was taken care of. Finally, the boy, who was shivering, crawled into the garbage bag, curled up and laid down on the sidewalk. Finally, a man came by, took his coat off and put it on the boy, and gave him some money. It was later determined that this man had once been homeless. This man showed the compassion that we should all have. It is not known how many of the people who passed this boy were confessing Christians, but this one man, Christian or not, showed the world what living like Christ is like. This man showed the boy Jesus.
Jesus spoke about the time when He will return and judge all of the Nations. In Matthew 25:35-36
(35) for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; (36) I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.
then in Matthew 25:37-40 He answers: (37) Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? (38) When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? (39) Or when did we see You sick, or in prison and come to You?' (40) And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
Clearly, this man in the video ministered to the least of these, or at least who he thought was the least of these. At the end of the video, the man was blessed with much more than he gave by the ones who were filming this piece.
So, do we do these things just to receive the blessing? Certainly not! Yes, sometimes blessings are realized straight away, but more often than not, the blessings will be a long time coming, perhaps not in this life. We should not be doing this for the blessings anyway, but because Jesus encouraged us to do so...because we are the light in this darkened world that leads to the greater Light, Jesus. We are not that greater light, we are the ones proclaiming the coming light, but because of who we are, Jesus shines through. For loss of a better analogy at the moment, like moths to a porch light, others will be drawn to us, then we are able to proclaim Jesus risen and coming again...to judge the just and unjust. Jesus will come like the Lion He is..the Lion of Judah, to correct that which is wrong.
"So, Lois....what if you're wrong?" So what if I am? I will have lived a good life, one that shows compassion, one where I did my best to show others who Jesus is by living the life He encourages us to live. To help others who have nothing, whether I get a pat on the back or not. Then I will be remembered as one who lived out loud, who helped and loved others and did her best.
If, however, I'm right, then after doing all of this, then, with Jesus as my Advocate, I will stand before God and may have to answer for the times that I failed, but will be commended for the times I stepped up. Then He will usher me into Heaven where I will live for eternity. But for those who have not accepted Christ in their lives, they will be judged, with no Advocate but themselves, and sent to eternity in Hell, and trust me, it ain't going to be a picnic.
The choice is simple. Ask Jesus to come into your life. You don't have to clean house, you don't have to be perfect, because Jesus takes you where you are, as you are, but the cool thing is...He won't let you stay there. Because He comes into your life, you will want to change...you will want to be more like Him.
"What about going to church? Why should I go, it doesn't make me any more of a Christian."
No, going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than being in a garage makes you a car, but here's what going to church does for you: It gives you people who have been in similar situations who can help you through them. It gives you learning opportunities, helping you to know Scripture and how to apply it to your life. It helps you to live life larger, and fully. Yes, you're going to run into the Cr-Easters...those that only come to church on Christmas and Easter. Yes you're going to run into those who have a mask for Sunday and then another for the rest of the week. That's unfortunate, but happens in all realms of society. But you're also going to run into those who genuinely want to be like Jesus, and want to tell others what He's done for them. Those are the ones that you want to know, those are the ones who will teach you more than you ever thought you would ever know...not with book smarts or street smarts, but with God-smarts.
Whew! That's a lot to take in, and I hope it is crystal clear and not muddled. Dear Ones, it is my desire that those I love, whether I'm family or if I've never met you before, will come to the saving grace of my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Have a wonderful Palm Sunday weekend and a beautiful Easter.
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