Are You Still Shining?
To be able to shine you have to be plugged in a source; that will help you bring fourth light. Anything that shines is a reflection from a light source. In Matthew 5:14-16, we are told…
From the church archive
To be able to shine you have to be plugged in a source; that will help you bring fourth light. Anything that shines is a reflection from a light source.
In Matthew 5:14-16, we are told to let our light shine so people may see our good works and glorify God. So this means when we are shining, we are glorifying God. The flip side of that is when we are not shining we are not glorifying God. And if we are not glorifying God we are either glorifying ourselves or the devil.
- What does it mean to shine
John 8: 12 It is not possible to shine, without Jesus.
Jesus is the light of world, and unless we are patterning, ordering and aligning ourselves with Jesus we will never shine. We have to be saved in order to follow Jesus.
Without Jesus we add to the darkness of the world. Likewise, at night a lamp that is off in a dark room is part of the darkness, its submerged into it. It can only set itself apart from the darkness once its been switched on and its light starts to shine.
Hebrews 1:3
We are all like lamps, empty vessels waiting to be used and we all have a bulb inside of us. Depending on what or who should I say we are plugged into will determine how we bring fourth light.
So to shine, means to be set apart for God, to be a disciple of Christ, to be a believer. Jesus is our best example as he is the light of the world, so his light shines more than anyone else’s. Also, he is the provider of light, in the country I was brought up here England one of the top light/energy providers are British gas. In a country some of you may have grown up I believe Nepa is the light provider and not a very good one!
2. How does one really shine?
In order for you to know how you can really shine, really be set apart you have to identify how much you are shining right now! Ask your neighbour are you still shining neighbour ?
Ive noted down four different types of light people may have!
- Some light bulbs are dull I would relate them to people who once were shining bright, once were following Jesus diligently, but became weary as somewhere along the way they disconnected from the real source Jesus and started to use other things, or themselves to try and bring fourth light.
The other side of this is a dim light bulb, people who actually haven’t really started to glorify God yet but have given their life to him therefore they have a bit of light naturally.
Some light bulb flickers and I would relate them to people who are hot and cold Revelations 3:15-17 – these people sometimes glorify God, sometimes shine for him and other times do not but like the scripture says they will get spat out
Some light bulbs reach a brightness and stay there consistently. I would relate this to people that are glorifying God, are shining but only to a certain degree. They don’t exceed the levels they can exceed, they are treading in their comfort area, they produce fruits but they are not a Daniel they haven’t yet started to work with an excellent spirt
Some light bulbs shine very bright and it seems as if the light they shine becomes brighter and brighter each day. This light, is the kind of light Daniel would have. This light shine bright regardless of the room, area or position it finds itself in and therefore in everything brings glory to God.
Four tips/ways to help us shine
- Reading and applying the word of God to our life
Psalm 119:105. As Christians we need to mediate on Gods word day and night in order for our path to have light. We are all on a journey and to have direction on this journey we need a type of light that can only come from reading Gods word to direct us. Whilst, we are being directed and can see the light so will others. People draw near to light just like flies do. People will draw near to you, people will use your own light for direction and people will also seek the light you have. This will bring glory to God as your light will lead others in the right direction.
- Forsaking everything that brings darkness to the world
Romans 13:12
You cannot shine for God and partake in the things of the world because they are darkness. Light and dark don’t mix together one has to give way and we are told this in john 1:5
So what are things that bring darkness into the world?
SIN and it doesn’t have to be the standard sin of stealing, lying, fornication, blasphemy it can be even as little as not being a kind person not helping others ;the poor etc.
Scriptures to further highlight why we shouldn’t be in darkness. 2 Corinthians 6:14, Ephesians 5:11, Ephesians 4: 18
Looking at these scriptures I am sure that it is very clear to us that if we are walking, conversing, peeking, indulging, or concerned with the things of the world we are aligning ourselves with darkness and like I said previously this will never work.
So, If you really want to shine for God and if you want to keep on shining (Luke 9:23) we must take up our cross daily, denying ourselves from desires that our flesh may have but instead walk in spirit Galatians 5:16.
- To shine, to be a light you must be accessible and visible
We have to be make room and time for Jesus. In order to do good deeds we have to ensure that we are ready when God wants to use us. We have to abide in him so he can use us. God shouldn’t be seeking us out we should always be in presence waiting to be used by him.
We have to also be visible, not visible in a way that forceful or that seeks self-gratification but in the way desperate for others to find Jesus so they can also shine.
In our main text Matthew it says no one lights a lamp put it under a bowl.
In the same way, we are not given light by God for it to not go to waste.
We are in the world for a reason. More specifically you are In this church for a reason, you are in your school, job, uni, family, friendship group, country, area for a reason John 9:5
In the positions you have been placed in can people testify to you being a light? A light that someone will say because of you the world is brighter? A light that shines so bright people want to know Jesus? A light so bright it walks into a room and all of a sudden people want to know about your source, your religion, your God.
- Our last point is to remember when we are shining to always lift up our light source.
The reason we are the light of the world is to glorify God and draw people to him, if we do not mention God and do not take people back to the plug then we are not really shining1 Corinthians 10:31.
When we are shining, it may be easy to start getting boastful, to lose focus and to start giving the glory to ourselves. We should be very careful to make sure, in all we are doing we are giving the glory to God. This is because without Jesus we cannot shine and the light we have will be taken away from us because God shares glory with no man.
It comes from the heart, be genuine in your deeds, do everything only to glorify God and he will keep on making you shine brighter and brighter amen
Tammy Fadeyi.