November 5th follow-up

Philippians 2:12-30
“How to Shine for Jesus”

I want you to imagine you are at home, it’s nighttime, and your power goes out. You go outside to see if it is just your house or if others are having the same issue. As you look around, all your neighbors are in the same boat as you but one. One of your neighbors has a home generator that kicks in when the power goes off.

Now imagine you are living in Phoenix during the middle of the summer when this happens. Where the temperatures are still hovering around 90 to a hundred degrees at 10:00 p.m. You are sweating because it is hot and there is no breeze. Yet your neighbor isn’t because of the generator. I guess most of us would be envious of them and wish we had a generator as well.

Many of those around us live in a perpetual state of darkness. They have no concept of what it is like for us to live in the light of Jesus. They live without hope. Not only do they live in spiritual darkness, but their lives are void of the truth. They desperately need the light of Jesus to shine upon them.

That is where you and I come in. You and I are like the bright flashlights or lanterns. We are not the source of the light, Jesus is, but we can shine His light through our lives. Just as you and I can shine his light, so too do we have the ability to make it hard for His light to shine through us.

Right now God is doing an inward work in each of us. He is working to conform us to the image of His Son. This inward work is being done by the Holy Spirit. Our part is to live out what God is doing inwardly. When we do, we allow His light to shine.

One thing that can hinder us from shining His light is living according to our sinful nature. Our sinful behavior becomes spiritual light pollution. Thus making it hard for the unsaved to see the Light of the world.

Let’s pray this week for God’s enablement to live in such a way that our lives will shine His light. The Holy Spirit is the generator. Stay plugged into Him and you will shine for Jesus.