This Little Light of Mine...

I'm sure we have all sung that song growing up as loud as our voices could sing!  How long has it been since we have really remembered the words of that song?  'This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!'  My main question this morning is this:  Are you letting Him shine through you, or are you casting a shadow?

Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." John 8:12, "Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of he world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." Go back a couple verses in Matthew 5, verse 14 says, "You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden..."  Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." John 9:5, "While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world." Isaiah 60:1, " Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."

Those are just a few verses that speak about the Light.  We as Christians have Christ, THE Light, dwelling within us.  We know this, this is an elemental foundation to our belief system.  The issue is, are we letting our flesh cast a shadow?  Are we allowing ourselves to hinder God's work through us? Let's face it, the world hears, sees God through Christians!  What kind of God do they see when they look at you?  We are the only Bible sinners often see.  How much of the light is shining through your life?  Someone just cut you off on the highway.....are you quick to scrunch up your eyebrows, raise up your hand allowing one finger to be pronounced, and open your mouth letting words fly??  Well, after all, we are only human....and besides, no one can see me, I am in my car by myself.  It's just my temper anyway, I can't help it.  Hmmm..... Well, let's really examine this.  You may very well be in the care alone, but there is someone out there who possibly saw the attitude you just portrayed, but more importantly, God saw it.  We are quick to tell our children how God watches them, but we forget that He is always watching us as well.  Now you have given way to the flesh, you have casted a shadow and dimmed His light in you.  You are dimmer now, and others can tell the difference. 

Same scenario, someone just cut you off on the highway.....but before you left home, you had been in God's Word, you have prayed and talked with the Father, and continued that conversation in the car, while listening to Christian music on the radio.  As the person cuts you off, you feel angry....the Bible tells us it is perfectly okay to be angry.....just to sin not! (Ephesians 4:6).  Before flesh has a chance to cast a shadow, God let's you think, that guy may be rushing to the hospital to be at his dying mother's bedside; that guy may have just been fired from his job and is desperately trying to figure out what to do next......who knows?   Instead of self righteous indignation setting in, you find yourself whispering a prayer for that person....WHATTTT????  Yep, that is letting your light shine.  Stop casting shadows! 

One of my favorite quotes is this:  Your attitude determines your altitude with Christ!  You can see with a 15 watt bulb in your lamp.....yes you can.  It won't be very bright, but it will be a light.  But you can also put a 60 watt bulb in that lamp and see a lot clearer, see the world brighter, shine the light further!  It's your choice.  How much of His light do you let shine through??

I recently watched some older people.....who are supposed to be very seasoned in their Christianity...allow a small little night light shine, where it should be a big ole 100 watt flood light be shining.  It broke my heart, and made me furious as well!!  It is so true what they say, it is so much easier for bad to pull down good.  That is why you must watch who you hang around.  You want to rub the 'good' off on someone...but 9 times out of 10...bad will rub off on the good!  This is what I witnessed.  Convictions lost out to 'good times'.  Being separated for Christ fell to the waste side so that they could 'fit in' with everyone else. I am a Christian, and I could not tell who else was because they were all doing just as the world does! So sad.  And yet, I was made to look like the bad guy because I didn't join in?  Isn't that just like ole Lucifer?!! Wow....fellow Christians can be meaner than sinners!  It truly is getting harder to tell Christians from the world!  Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!!!

We have to work daily at letting our light shine brightly!  We have to keep our vessels clean so the maximum light can shine through!  You dip your lantern in the mud, the light wont be able to shine through!  Study His Word daily, pray, hide His Word in your heart, meditate on Him, be faithful to the House of God, keep what is going in your ears and go through your eyes Holy.....be the cleanest vessel you can be so that the light is shining through you, and you are not casting shadows.

This may be a long blog, but this is my total desire.  To become less me, and more Him!  What better way thing to write about on this, my 100th blog!  People are watching....even when we don't think they are....are you letting Him shine, or are you casting shadows?  It's not only sinners that are watching, it is fellow Christians as well.  Are you directing them down a dim lit path?  Are you disappointing your fellow brothers and sisters with the way the light is shining in you?  You may be the one thing that shows a fellow brother or sister that it is worth staying in the race.....will your actions keep them keeping on??  What you think you do that no one sees.....does affect your ability to let Him shine through you when someone is watching.  Keep your spiritual 'windex' out at all times and keep your windows clean!! 

II Corinthians 6:17- 18, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."  IF you are saved, then get in God's Word and grow and mature in Him.  Get your convictions settled with Him and stay strong in them.  Be separate from the world and stop trying to blend in with them.  Sin is still sin, wrong is still wrong!  Your are saved, you are no longer like the world, show them that!  Not with a haughty or high minded spirit, but with meekness, humility and love!  If it is a sin or a conviction at home....then it is on vacation as well!  It still is with whatever friends or family members you are around!  God's light is in you.....don't fog up the windows so His light is dull.  The world is watching.....they are in search for that hole in their heart to be filled....you've been there....you know that feeling!!!  Don't cast a shadow that causes the world to not see the Light that you received to fill the void in your life that nothing else could ever fill!!!!  Stop trying to fit in......be OUTFITTED in Christ's light!!