Do You Shine as a Witness for the Spirit?
Good Morning Friends,
Christmas decorations are already in the stores and on the street lights. It will not be long before the Advent Season is being celebrated with the lighting of candles. Advent means coming or arrival. We need to be anticipating the event that dawns in us the everlasting fullness of light and time. It is a process that prepares us to invite Christ into our lives and rejoice in His gifts that He brings for us to share in the dark world of disorientation and despair. The Advent wreath and candles are a visual focus for this experience. The round evergreen wreath represents the fellowship of believers in the eternal, everlasting circle that has no beginning and no end. In this eternal and timeless plan of salvation we celebrate the coming of the Christ child and His light in our lives. The four outer candles represent the spiritual gifts of hope, peace, love and joy. The first three are purple to represent the sorrow and repentance in our lives and the fourth pink to symbolize joy. The center candle is the Christ candle that reminds us that Christ was born into this world to save us. Think about these gifts of light in our lives. So today on the eve of Advent we explore how we are to remember to become like a child…born of the Spirit into the Kingdom of God. Do You Shine as a Witness for the Spirit?
Scripture: You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Matthew 5:14 (NRSV)
and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3 (NRSV)
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Isaiah 60: 1-3 (NRSV)
Message: Grasping this concept of being like a child and being like light is more difficult than we would like to admit. There is a supernatural energy and power in it that we too often deny. We tend to consider it an optional thing… or as unimportant… but that is not what scripture is saying. There are many things that a child is or will do or not do that is different from an adult. In looking through the eyes of a child we need to see the good attributes that a child has in common with what God’s word tells us a Christian is to do. Let’s see… a young child is trusting… is dependent upon a mother, teacher, mentor…or for the first century Hebrew, his father, for wise guidance. A wise child asks his father for everything. And a father wants his son to look to him for his needs. A child is expected to be obedient. A child does not think that he or she is more important than others in the family. A child submits to the will of the father. A child will imitate the parent more and more as the child grows. With God and His children, there is nothing that we do not want to imitate. We want to be close to our heavenly Father as a child desires to be close to their parents….Here we learn to grieve separation, to rejoice in the security and safety linked to God. Here we have peace of mind knowing we have a relationship with the Father through Jesus…we have a communion covenant…where our sins have been forgiven. We are children of the new and everlasting communion….a covenant of love.
Pray we become truly totally dependent upon God. Pray we trust in our Heavenly Father. Pray we include God in our daily activities as Jesus did with the Father. Pray we are frightened as a little child would be if we do not see God in our lives. Pray we miss Him when He is not near. Pray we remember that if we do not become as little children we will not enter into the Kingdom of God. Pray we remember who He is and who we are to become. Pray about the value of light in our lives. Pray about the giver who is the Gift of Light. Pray about the reason behind the Light of the World…and know that our purpose is to be His light. Pray we let our light shine with the joy of a little child and give God the glory.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 