Let Your Light So Shine Before Men

Let Your Light So Shine Before Men

 

READ: Matthew 5:13-16

Let your light so shine before men. —Matthew 5:16

It was just a routine baggage inspection, but there was nothing ordinary about the contents of the suitcase. The Swiss customs agent who examined it discovered 14 original drawings by Pablo Picasso. The artwork, which was contained in a sketchbook, was estimated to be worth as much as $1.5 million, yet the passenger indicated “nothing to declare” to customs authorities.

It’s hard to imagine anyone packing Picasso’s sketchbook between sweaters, trotting off to the airport, and hoping it would remain a secret. The man was obviously smuggling it.

We as Christians have something far more valuable than a Picasso to declare! Yet we sometimes keep the treasure of our faith in Christ locked in our hearts instead of sharing it with those around us. Jesus reminded us, “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). Part of our purpose is to reflect God’s glory so that others will understand their need for Him. He also calls us to let our light shine, so that they see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (v.16).

We risk becoming spiritual smugglers when we hide our faith in Christ. Instead, let’s open the “suitcase,” share the treasure, and give glory to the Master.

Lord, help me make my witness clear,
And labour faithfully,
So friends and neighbours turn to Christ
Through what they hear from me. —Anon.

 

 

A word well chosen can open a heart to God.

 

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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Our Spiritual Inheritance

Our Spiritual Inheritance

“Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for.” (Matthew 7:7)

God is Faithful!

Imagine for a moment that a distant relative has included you in his will. As part of the execution of that will, money is placed into a bank account for you, and you are notified of that fact. But you reason, “It can’t be true!” So you never bother to write a check against that account. Although you have the inheritance, you do not benefit from it because you lack the faith and willingness to claim it. How tragic!

As children of God, we must be aware of our spiritual inheritance and claim it by faith. Then we will experience the abundant spiritual riches God has for His children. This inheritance is both present and future.

I am told of a wealthy person who divided his inheritance into two parts for his children. He is giving them some of their inheritance now. For example, he helped his son start a business, and he helped his daughter purchase a condominium. They will receive additional money from time to time as they demonstrate that they can handle it well. But the bulk of their estate will come later.
In the same way, increasing spiritual maturity and faith release increasing measures of our spiritual riches. The riches begin the moment we become Christians, but the full riches of our relationship with God will be revealed in heaven.

Your View of God Really Matters …

God has devised the “faith method” for receiving His promises because it requires unwavering trust in Him. What one thing will you choose to trust Him for today?

What More Does God Say?

Luke 11:5-13

Because God is Faithful, I will trust Him to always keep His promises

 

 

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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Naturally Holy

Resurrection of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Naturally Holy

 

John 5:14, “Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”

 

JOHN 5:1-15

 

In saying this, Jesus shows that sin causes the tragedies that come into our lives. The reason for holiness in the life of the believer is that when we obey sin, we yield ourselves to Satan, the author of that sin. Yielding to sin is yielding to a person – Satan. God doesn’t impute the sin to us but the devil does. Our actions either release the power of Satan or the power of God in us.

 

 

Although God is not imputing our sins unto us, we cannot afford the luxury of sin because it allows Satan to have access to us. When a Christian sins and allows the devil opportunity to produce his death in their life, the way to stop it is to confess the sin, and God who is faithful and just, will take the forgiveness that is already present in our born again spirit and release it in our flesh. This removes Satan and his strongholds.

 

 

The sins of a Christian don’t make him a sinner any more than the righteous acts of a sinner make him righteous. Sin is a very deadly thing that even Christians should avoid at all costs, but it does not determine our standing with the Lord. A person who is born again is not “in” the flesh even though he may walk “after” the flesh.

 

 

What is the motive for living a separated life? We live a separated life because our nature has been changed. We were darkness, now we are light (Eph. 5:8). Many people argue for holiness in order to obtain relationship with God. We need to live holy lives because of the relationship that we already have. It’s the nature of a Christian to walk in the light and not in darkness. If Christians were rightly informed of who they are and what they have in Christ, holiness would just naturally flow out of them. It’s their nature. It’s our nature.

 

 

 

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

 

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Love God and Live by Faith

Love God and Live by Faith

Deuteronomy 8:6-7 says:

 

 

“Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills.”

We are Christians. We obey God, not to get something, but because He has already given us something. We obey Him, giving Him reverence and honouring Him. We walk in His ways and His paths. We represent Him to the world. We walk in righteousness and purity. Why? Because He has brought us into a land of such abundance, a land of goodness. God loves us so much, we can do nothing but love Him back. This is the heart of true faith. When we discover His love for us, we have no options but to love Him by living by faith.

Love God and live by faith!

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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Jesus came to fulfill the law

Jesus came to fulfill the law.

Romans 13:10 “Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Jesus came to fulfill the law, not to cast it out. The 10 commandments are still there & we need to obey them. The world, when they look at the Bible & us as Christians, they see the law “thou shalt not”. To them it’s just rules & rules they don’t necessarily want to obey. But the Word says, Jesus came to fulfill the law. How? through LOVE, for Jesus is love. When you have Jesus (love) you walk in love and when you walk in love, you fulfill the law without even thinking about it. Because love does no harm! Read Romans 13:8-14

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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Courage comes as we live with Jesus

“And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats nor be troubled. I Peter 3:13-14”

On April 18, 2007, three Christians in Turkey were killed for their beliefs. Necati Aydin, a 35 year-old pastor was one of them.

He nearly didn’t go the office that morning. He’d been travelling and his wife, Semse, wanted him to stay home and rest. He admitted his weariness, but went on to work. There was much to be done. Semse recalls, “As my dear husband walked out the door, he smiled at me one last time. I didn’t know that was the last smile.”

Later that morning, attackers came to Necati Aydin’s office insisting he pray: “There is no God except Allah!” When Necati refused, the torture began. The last word from the office was the cry of an unswerving Christian: Messiah! Messiah!

I ponder the martyrs of Malatya and wonder, Would I make the sacrifice? Would I cry out, “Messiah! Messiah! Would I give my life?

How do we prepare? Linger long and often in the presence of Christ. Meditate on his grace. Ponder his love. Memorize his words.

Courage comes as we live with Jesus!

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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Forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us

Forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.

Let the mercy of Jesus be your model

Jesus Christ is our Example

(Matthew 6:12)

In 1944, during the horrible days of World War II, in the Ravensbruck concentration camp, Corrie Ten Boom and many other emaciated women worked long hours every day under the watchful eye of the prison guards. That year, Corrie’s sister, Betsie, died, a victim of the tortuous conditions.

In 1947, after the war, Corrie spoke to a group of Germans in a sparsely furnished Munich church basement. During her talk, she said, “Those who have been able to forgive their former enemies have been able to rebuild their lives…We, as Christians, have every reason to forgive each other, for our God richly lavishes His mercy on us.”

When she finished, she was approached by a balding, heavyset man in a gray overcoat. Horror filled her as she realized he had been one of the prison guards.

He thrust out his hand. “How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!” Dumbfounded, Corrie did not take his hand.

He went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me… but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein, will you forgive me?“

Corrie remembered how he had pushed Betsie with the butt of his gun. Slowly, her hand moved toward his. Their hands touched and she finally vigorously shook his hand. With tears in her eyes, she said, “I forgive you, brother…with all my heart.“

God loves us no matter what we have done. He forgives us when we ask. Since God richly lavishes His mercy on us, we must show mercy. And that means letting go of hurts caused by others.

Your View of God Really Matters …

If you have been offended, how does it compare with the experience of Corrie ten Boom, and Jesus, both of whom forgave their attackers. You can too. Let the mercy of Jesus be your model.

What More Does God Say?

Acts 7:59-60

Because God is merciful, He forgives me of my sins when I sincerely confess them.

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s Love

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s Love (Romans 8:38)

God Is Love

Wandering, But Not Lost

Robert Robinson became a Christian when he was 17. He later entered the ministry to serve Christ with great devotion.

But Robinson was an honest man, and he acknowledged his love for Jesus was not dependable. At times his well of his devotion ran dry. Troubled, he began to write out his thoughts and feelings, and finally produced a timeless hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing .

As time moved on, he wandered farther and farther from God. He came to feel that the distance between God and himself had become too great to be reconciled. He was miserable man, consumed by his own guilt.

One day, riding in a stagecoach, a young lady was seated across from him. She was filled with the joy of Christ and could talk of nothing else. He was a captive audience. Handing a hymnal across to him she said, “Sir, I’d like your opinion of one of these hymns.”

Robinson looked at the page and found himself confronted by his own words. His throat ran dry. He began to nod slowly, the words finally followed: “I am the man who wrote that hymn,” he said. “Many years ago. I’d give anything to experience that joy again—anything.”

The young lady, although shocked, pointed to the lines he knew so well. She began to speak gently about the “streams of mercy, never ceasing” that were still deep enough to drown his tears. That day Robert Robinson, broken and defeated, rediscovered the love he had left behind.

Your View of God Really Matters …

Do you ever feel, like Robert Robertson, that the distance between you and God is insurmountable. If you don’t have a traditional hymnal, go online and search for “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” . Let the words sink into your heart.

What More Does God Say?

Romans 8:38-39 ; Ephesians 3:16-19 ; Romans 5:8-11

Because God Is Love, He Is Unconditionally Committed To My Well-Being

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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You are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

Česky: Kříže - symbol utrpení Ježíše Krista a jeho ukřižování (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

Ephesians 5:8

READ: Ephesians 5:1-10

To be honest, I wasn’t happy to be making another trip to the store. For the previous 4 weeks, my wife and I had been trying to get a refund for a bad refrigerator. As I spoke with the manager—again—it seemed that we were heading down another dead-end road. As we talked, I wondered if we would ever get our money back, but I tried to be gracious.

At one point the manager said, “By now, customers are usually yelling at me, but you’ve been so patient.” Then he said, “Let’s try something else.” He asked me some questions and punched some numbers into a cash register. After a short delay—and some stories about irate customers—the machine spit out a receipt showing a refund! Our appliance nightmare was over. “Thanks for being so good to work with,” he said as we parted ways.

While I think being nice when I didn’t feel nice helped in this process, getting refunds is not why we should show kindness to others. The real reason is that as Christians we are to reflect the light of Jesus (Eph. 5:8) on everyone—whether it’s an irate neighbour, a bumbling waiter, or a department store manager. Our speech and behaviour are to be a positive witness (Eph. 4:29-32; Col. 4:6). Are you facing a conflict? Let Jesus’ light shine through. —Dave Branon

As people of the Lord we’re called
To follow in His way;
And then all those who watch our lives
Will see Him on display. —Sper

People are attracted to Christ when you shine His light from your life.

Culled from: www.odb.org

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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God’s Treasured Possession

Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber to be an example of a charismatic religious leader. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)