July 18, 2013 … Go Light Your World

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 199

Devotional Song: Go to this link   … Today, even before going to meditate on the Scriptures which God led me to reflect upon today and most certainly before reading on in my blog, I beg you to use this link to hear Chris Rice, singing, “Go Light Your World”, calling all Christians to take the light, which burns from God’s Spirit within us, and go as Jesus charged us in Matthew 5 to shine the light of our good works in an every darkening world.
============

Highlight Scripture Passage of the Day #1: Matthew 5: 14-16 [Our testimony and lifestyle becomes our banner to shine Christ as our light into a dark world.] …  
14 “You are the light of the world — like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father…. “
=============
Contextual Study involving today’s passage found in Matthew, Chapter 5 … Go to this link … 
============

Reference Passage of the Day #1: Acts 1: 8 [God’s power is always greater than the power of the enemy!] …  
8 “… But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about Me everywhere — in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 

My Journal for Today: Well, normally, when I’m addressing anyone who might be reading along with my daily blogs, I would first you to get into the highlight Scripture passage for the day; and I do want you, my fellow Christians, to do that before reading my journal entry. However, today the lyrics of the devotional song I chosen, sung by Chris Rice, lead the way in what I have to share with anyone today. So, let me copy the opening lyrics and the chorus in Rice’s song to lead my way today …

There is a candle in every soul, 
Some brightly burning, some dark and cold. 
There is a Spirit who brings a fire, 
Ignites a candle and makes His home. 
So, carry your candle, run to the darkness; 
Seek out the helpless, confused and torn. 
Hold out your candle for all to see it. 
Take your candle, and go light your world; … 
Take your candle, and go light your world! …

What do those lyrics say to you when coupled by the charge from Jesus from Matthew 5: 14-16, copied above from the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount? And what do they say to us as Christians when coupled with Jesus’ charge to His disciples in Acts 1: 8, just as the resurrected Lord was taken by God, the Father, back to His throne in Heaven?

 I’m not going to write very much more this morning; because that Chris Rice song and the red-letter words of Jesus, which I’ve highlighted above, really say enough to convict us all that we need to carry Christ’s light more effectively into an ever darkening world.

Think of the image of one candle entering a pitch-darkened room. Even the one candle begins to overcome the darkness. But when my candle lights yours and we begin to spread our lights by helping to light the candles of other Christians in the dark room, the darkness is dispelled and the light becomes brighter and brighter, overtaking the darkness. Join me today and let’s carry our candles into the darkness.

My Prayer for Today … Oh,, my Lord, … my precious Savior and powerful Spirit; … blow on my candle, and that of any who read here, so that we might shine Your light with our candles to dispel the darkness in this world. … Amen