Day 210: Don't Cover your Light

Matthew 5:13-16

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

John 8:12

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."

Galatians 2:20

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

I think the first thing to take away from the above scriptures is that Christ is the light of the world. In Him there is no darkness. Jesus is the light this world needs, and the light this world craves. He brought something that we could not attain on our own. He brought light into a world of darkness. Darkness is the absence of light, and if Christ is the light, and we are in darkness it means that we are living without Christ. However, when we submit our lives to Christ, and Christ is in us then we have that same light. So when Jesus tells us in Matthew that we are the light of the world, it’s kind of like a responsibility. If He lives in us we are lit by Him. The light we illuminate is the light of Jesus Christ. What I’m saying here is, while we are here on earth we are representatives of Christ, ambassadors. We represent the life death, and resurrection of Christ in the way we choose to live and love. There are so many people out there searching for Christ and don’t know where to look, so many people stuck in darkness that could use a little light. According to Jesus, we are that light. As disciples of Christ it is our duty to shine our light in a dark world. If we have accepted Christ into our lives and received the Holy Spirit, we have this light, Let’s not cover it up or try to dim it. Let it shine, let it shine bright. Be a beacon of light, the light that we have through Jesus Christ is a beacon of hope for someone.

All this to say, don’t cover up or try to hide your light. Let it shine so that people may see the glory of God through you. That people may find hope in Jesus Christ. Be a representative of the gospel, an ambassador of Jesus Christ. Allow your light to lead people to the cross and further more to salvation that will allow them to live a life that is eternal.

Response/Prayer Time

Respond today however you feel led. Allow the Holy Spirit to dwell within you. Talk to God about being a beacon of light. Have a conversation with God about whatever is on your heart today.

If you have not accepted Christ into your life, if you have yet to make that decision, I believe that now is the time. If you want to step out of darkness and into the light, choose today to dedicate your life to Christ and live with Him all the days of your life, for all eternal. This decision is eternal, and so worth it. If that’s you, if you want to make that decision today, pray this prayer with me.

Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sin and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I love you, congratulations to those of you who have decided to follow or rededicate your life to Christ today. THe next step would be getting plugged into a church and a small group if possible. If you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact me.

I love you, and I hope have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 211!

Day 175: One Heart, One Soul, One Love- Day 4

Proverbs 31:8-9

Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Isaiah 1:17

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

Psalms 82: 3

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

The whole idea of being selfless is being willing to put someone else’s needs above your own, or putting someone else above yourself. It is the opposite of being selfish, meaning our main focus is other people, and we are not worried about what we will get out of something or how it will benefit us. We are looking to benefit someone else and be totally fine with walking away empty handed. I think one of the biggest problems with the world and why there seems to be so much discord and violence and injustice, is that we are so concerned with ourselves. The world is a selfish place, and we live in it, but can we dare to be selfless in a place that is so consumed by self? I know our generation gets told a lot that we are selfish, but let’s combat that and show them what it means to be selfless. I truly believe that our generation is very selfless as we stand up for what we believe in, but also speak up so that others who are oppressed or being beat down are given a voice. We fight against injustice, and oppression and give a voice to the mute. I believe that as people of God we are called to speak up and stand up for His people, not just for ourselves. When our brother and sister is hurt or falling we are there to help them and pick them up.

I bring this up because with so much going on in the world we have no time to be selfish. With people hurting and oppressed, people facing injustice everyday, people being killed for the lifestyle they lead and the choices they make, we have no time to be selfish. If anything we have to be the ones to stand up and say  this isn’t right, to come to the defense of our brothers and sisters. We know what’s right and we know what’s wrong, let’s not sit back and let our world fall into a path of unrighteousness. People deserve to live freely, people deserve basic human rights, people deserve a place of refuge. I know some of us are going to say, “It’s not my responsibility”. If it’s not our responsibility then whose is it. The same way Jesus took on the responsibility of saving humanity, and the disciples took on the responsibility of spreading the word of God, the same way the church took on the responsibility of selling all their possessions to take care of one another, we have a similar responsibility to stand up and stand in the gap for God’s people. We are equipped with the Holy Spirit and the word of God. We have a duty to right the wrongs and correct the injustices. If Jesus, The disciple/apostles, paul, and all the many men and women of God in the bible had not stepped up to the plate and taken responsibility then we wouldn’t be here today. So yes, it is our responsibility to help our brothers and sisters in need to stand up for those being oppressed by the justice system, those being denied access to freedom and health, and those being denied basic human rights. It is not our job to evaluate whether or not they are worthy of our help, because Jesus did not do that to us. If He evaluated how worthy we were before coming down from heaven to save us, we would not be saved. We are not here to judge or decide who deserves a helping hand, no we give a helping hand with heart full of love and leave the judgements to God.

Reflection

1. Do you believe your responsible to stand up and be there for those who are suffering and oppressed?

Prayer Time

Allow your answer to the above question guide part of your prayer. Talk to God about what it means to be selfless and ask Him to teach you and help you lead a selfless lifestyle. Pray for the people of our nation, pray for those without a voice who have been silenced, pray for those who are oppressed. Pray for the things that have become normalized that continues to plague humanity.

One of the biggest thing I want to pray for today is, rape culture, and the treatment of sexual assault towards both men and women. It is something that has been normalized that continues to plague the world. The attitude towards these issues are too casual and it is a very serious and sensitive situation. People’s lives are ruined and forever scarred due to rape and sexual assault and many times the government and it’s citizens brush it off. I can’t stress enough how important this is, that we talk about it. Pray that the whole idea of rape culture ceases and pray for those who have been affected by it.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 176!  

Day 139: Representing the Cross

2 Corinthians 5:20

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

ambassador-an authorized messenger or representative.

I want to pay attention to the first part of this scripture, as it tells us who we are in Christ, and as Christians. When we look at our lives and the lifestyle we lead, do we represent Christ? Does our lifestyle, our choices, our actions, do we represent Christ?

I ask this question because the scripture above tells us that we are ambassadors of Christ, and an ambassador serves as a representative.

As Christians, we are meant to live a life that points towards Christ. We are to live our lives as Jesus lived His. Representing what He did on that cross, carrying ourselves with holiness living righteously. He went through so much to ensure that we could live a life of freedom and abundance, to ensure our salvation. We must use the gift of freedom He has given us to represent Him and the cross.  

We cannot be representatives of Christ if we are still living in sin,. We cannot rep Christ and sin and the same time, it is one or the other. When we give our lives to Christ, when we make that decision to follow Him, we must be fully devoted to Him. We must live our lives to honor and glorify Him. We also must live our lives like Christ to be an example to our brothers and sisters who might not know what it means to live like Christ.

Those of us who have given our lives to Christ and made the decision to follow Him knows what it means to follow Christ. We must dive into His word, that is where we will get all the answers we are looking for. The bible shows us how to live through Christ, and Paul, and the disciples, and so many men and women in the bible who lived their lives fully devoted to God. The scripture also tells us how to not to live. It shows us the consequences of a life that is not fully devoted to Christ.

Reflection

Today’s message is short but I will end with the big question proposed today. Ask yourself, “Does my life represent Christ?”

Prayer Time

Allow your answer to the above question lead you in prayer today. Talk to God about your discoveries and have a conversation with Him.

If you are reading this today and you realize that you have made the choice to follow Christ but your life doesn’t quite look like Him, or you’re not representing Christ with your actions and lifestyle; today is the day to choose to fully devote your life to Christ. If you’ve never made the decision before, today is the day to make that decision to follow Christ if you feel the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart today, respond.

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and is justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

And repeat these few words,

Jesus, I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sin and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Congratulations! The angels in heaven are rejoicing right now.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for Day and every day for the rest of the year!

Day 52: Role Models

1 Corinthians 11:1

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Before we go too deep into this I would like to point out that the ultimate role model is Christ. We model our lives after the life he led. Our lives are moulded and shaped to fit the life of Christ. We learn to take the steps He took, we learn to love like He loves, live like He lives. Not by word alone, but because He gave us an example, He came down to earth and showed us how to live, and live freely and abundantly.  We get our instruction from Christ. He is our example, He is our role model, we look to Him for guidance and direction. With that being said, as we start to walk to this walk with Christ and live this holy and righteous life we will start to notice people following our example. We will start to lead God’s people to Him by living according to His word. Due to this we must make sure that we are not leading His people astray, that we are following Christ as they follow us.

When I became a Christian and eventually and youth pastor something my mom told me that I will never forget is, “Sometimes you’re the only Jesus people will ever see. You’re the only bible some people will ever read.” This struck me, as I began to realize that we are quite literally, ambassadors of Christ. We represent His Kingdom, and if we are going to do it, we must do it right, because it is a dangerous thing to lead God’s people astray.Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble (Luke 17:1-2).

When I think about being a role model or an ambassador for Christ, i think about the generation coming up after us. We have a duty to be for them what the generation either was or wasn’t for us. I think about my younger cousins, and their friends, and how they are watching me more than I know. I didn’t grow up with great examples as far as older siblings and cousins, I’m just being honest. So I made it my mission to be the person I needed when I was younger, I made it my duty to be the example to my younger cousins that I did not have or needed when I was their age. I have been given this gift, and this knowledge, I’d be cheating God’s people if I didn’t share it.

-Dyamond

We must be an example to those coming up after us, teaching them  the ways of the Lord. Teaching them what it means to truly live. We must teach them integrity, morals, the word of God. It starts with us. We have to be the person we needed when we were younger, so another one coming up can look up to us as an example. That's also our duty. To teach our little ones. It is so important to stress this because we know what it’s like to be their age. We know the awkward changes, the things they think no one understands. We have been there, and it wasn’t that long ago. A lot of times young people rebel, and they won’t listen to their parents, but we might have a platform to reach them, being closer to their age than their parents. We can use that platform to instill morals and Christlike values into them. It's takes a village. We are now part of that village. Lend a helping hand. Don't talk about this corrupt upcoming generation. Help weed it out. Purify it. Pray for them, reach out to them. We were once in their shoes and God sent someone to help us.  We must lift up our kids and teens even if we didn't give birth to them. We cannot watch them go down wrong path. Not when we can help them down the right one.

Reflection

1. Does the life you live represent Christ?
2. Do you believe that it is your duty to lead people to Christ?
   
   

Prayer Time

Today take the time to reflect on what it means to be an ambassador of Christ. Allow your answers to the question above guide you prayer. Pray for the generation coming up after us. Lift up the kids and teenagers in your life, community, church. Keep them lifted up in prayer.