August 4, 2015 YOU ARE THE LIGHT
Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city set on the hill cannot be hidden.”
Matthew 5:16: “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is heaven.”
The fact is that believers are the only “lights” in the world, and they are lights only because they have been made new and have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Anything outside of the kingdom of God is darkness. Even though a non-believer may have a desire to help others, the help he may give is limited and the “good deed” he does is done out of the flesh- his own strength. Because the world is in darkness, there is a need for us to let our light shine. We don’t have to “try” to let our light shine, because we “are” light. We are called to let our light shine in such a way that it glorifies our Father who is in heaven. It is a wonderful, life changing truth to realize that we are the light of God in a dark world. Even though we are saved by grace and not by good works, we are called to be about “good deeds” because we are saved. A misunderstanding of God’s grace can lead to a neglect of the “good deeds” that each believer is called to be about. I have heard it said that “it really does not matter so much about what I do, because God loves me as I am and it’s not about what I do.” There is certainly some truth in such a statement, but there is also a great lie as well. Yes, God does love us no matter what we do or don’t do, BUT it does greatly matter what we do. We are called to let our light shine “in such a way” that it glorifies our Father in heaven. The spirit or the attitude we have when doing good deeds is what determines whether or not our good deed glorifies our Father. If we are doing good deeds in such a way that we want the credit, then our Father is not glorified. In the scripture above, we are told to let others see our good works. There can be a false humility about doing good deeds, but the truth is that there should be no shyness or hesitation about engaging in good deeds because that is the very thing we are called to do. Doing good deeds-letting our lights shine, is something that believers who know their identity, do on a consistent basis. Jesus demonstrated good deeds and He is our example and we are His disciples. Our view of people in general has an effect on our being willing to do a good deed. Our view should be that God wants to demonstrate that He is good to all-even to those who are “undeserving” or “unlovely.” If we are evaluating, or judging people to determine whether or not they deserve a good deed-then we are in the wrong and out light is not shining. Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Acts 10:38 states that “Jesus went about doing good..” Again, God has made us new and we have been transferred to His kingdom of light and we have become light. It is possible for us not to let our light shine, or for us to hide our light, but it grieves our Father and we lose the blessings that come to us when we let our lights shine. We are light, so let us glorify our Father by letting our light shine in a dark world.
Blessings,
Buddy
Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city set on the hill cannot be hidden.”
Matthew 5:16: “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is heaven.”
The fact is that believers are the only “lights” in the world, and they are lights only because they have been made new and have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Anything outside of the kingdom of God is darkness. Even though a non-believer may have a desire to help others, the help he may give is limited and the “good deed” he does is done out of the flesh- his own strength. Because the world is in darkness, there is a need for us to let our light shine. We don’t have to “try” to let our light shine, because we “are” light. We are called to let our light shine in such a way that it glorifies our Father who is in heaven. It is a wonderful, life changing truth to realize that we are the light of God in a dark world. Even though we are saved by grace and not by good works, we are called to be about “good deeds” because we are saved. A misunderstanding of God’s grace can lead to a neglect of the “good deeds” that each believer is called to be about. I have heard it said that “it really does not matter so much about what I do, because God loves me as I am and it’s not about what I do.” There is certainly some truth in such a statement, but there is also a great lie as well. Yes, God does love us no matter what we do or don’t do, BUT it does greatly matter what we do. We are called to let our light shine “in such a way” that it glorifies our Father in heaven. The spirit or the attitude we have when doing good deeds is what determines whether or not our good deed glorifies our Father. If we are doing good deeds in such a way that we want the credit, then our Father is not glorified. In the scripture above, we are told to let others see our good works. There can be a false humility about doing good deeds, but the truth is that there should be no shyness or hesitation about engaging in good deeds because that is the very thing we are called to do. Doing good deeds-letting our lights shine, is something that believers who know their identity, do on a consistent basis. Jesus demonstrated good deeds and He is our example and we are His disciples. Our view of people in general has an effect on our being willing to do a good deed. Our view should be that God wants to demonstrate that He is good to all-even to those who are “undeserving” or “unlovely.” If we are evaluating, or judging people to determine whether or not they deserve a good deed-then we are in the wrong and out light is not shining. Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Acts 10:38 states that “Jesus went about doing good..” Again, God has made us new and we have been transferred to His kingdom of light and we have become light. It is possible for us not to let our light shine, or for us to hide our light, but it grieves our Father and we lose the blessings that come to us when we let our lights shine. We are light, so let us glorify our Father by letting our light shine in a dark world.
Blessings,
Buddy
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