Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a You Tube video of the group Hillsong singing Light of the World , declaring what should the desire of all Christians … to become a reflection of the LIGHT of the world … our Savior, King Jesus!!
Highlight Passage: Matthew 5:16 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
… Our Lord calls us to reflect His Light of Love into the world.
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Highlight Context – Matthew 5:13-16 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus calls all in God’s kingdom to be salt and light.
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Reference Passage #1 - John 8:12, 9:5 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus was/is “THE Light of the world;” … and we are called to cast His reflection in all that we think, say, and do.
Reference Passage #3 - Ephesians 5:8-14 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul exhorts fellow Christians to walk out of the darkness into the light of Christlikeness.
Reference Passage #4 - Galatians 5:19-23 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul compares the darkness of evil choices [i.e., the fruit of the flesh] with the light of Christlikeness [i.e., the fruit of the Spirit]
My Journal for Today: Our Daily Bread author, Keila Ochoa, used a delightful story to illustrate the concept of “sainthood.” She wrote: A little girl wondered what a saint might be. One day her mother took her to a great cathedral to see the gorgeous stained-glass windows with scenes from the Bible. When she saw the beauty of it all she cried out loud, “Now I know what saints are. They are people who let the light shine through!”
I hope that all who are reading with me here are “Saints;” … because, I think you know that anyone who is a converted, born-again, Christian has become a Saint by walking, in repentance, out of the darkness of their own personal sin, having been covered - in faith - by the blood of Jesus’ atonement/sacrifice. In other words, we, who genuinely know Jesus as LORD AND SAVIOR, should be walking out of the darkness in the Light of Christ.
And not only walking as His Saints, … our Savior has called (in the highlight passage) above for all Kingdom Saints to shine His light into an ever darkening world. And that’s the call of today’s ODB entry, isn’t it? And if you’ve taken in the linked song and the Scripture passages above, I’m sure you’re feeling as convicted as I am today to do all we can to live as a reflection of Christlike love and light in a world where so many are lost and walking in darkness.
That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote so forcefully - and often - for Christians to “walk in the Light” of Christ. And we can choose to do that by doing all we can to share the fruit of the Spirit (i.e., God’s Christlike light - see Gal 5:22-23) with those who are choosing to live in the darkness (i.e., the fruit of the flesh - see Galatians 5:19-21, linked above).
So, let’s all shine some of Jesus’ light in the world today.
My Prayer Today: O, Heavenly Father, … Shine Your Light brightly on my path, Lord, so that I can follow You and reflect some of Your light into the world where I walk today. Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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