Tag Archives: James 4:7-8

BEING the light of the world

“You are the light of the world.” – Jesus, to His followers (Matthew 5:14)

We may be tempted to think being a light bearer, the light of the world, is all about doing all sorts of grand things. Or, like the random act of kindness movement, doing all sorts of small things to randomly brighten a person’s day. It’s not a bad thing to do. But there is a way to shine even brighter.

Light is not only revealed by what it does.

What it does IS what it is.

That is the message of James to us. It shines because that is its nature. It doesn’t hide under a bushel and then once in a while jump out to shine. Being the light of the world is to let your everyday character reflect your God-given hope with others. It illuminates darkness by shining truth, love, grace, and peace.

James tells us in the fourth chapter that this kind of light submits to God (period). After all, He IS light. Just as two candles, when drawn together become brighter, so our light is brighter when we draw close to God. Our light doesn’t quarrel with others, especially over petty things. It doesn’t consider itself friends with the world’s ways. Unlike my old flashlight whose lens is scratched and obscures the light, our light seeks to be pure. That is, we must submit our thoughts, motives, actions, and even our life ambitions before God and ask Him to make us pure. How otherwise can our light shine clearly when it is dulled by our worldly ways? We are either friends with the world’s ways or friends with God. We can’t have it both ways.

Acclaimed researcher George Barna repeatedly finds that the thoughts and ways of many Christians in the United States are not very much different from those of unbelievers. If that is the case with you and me, how can our darkness bring light to others?!

James warns us that our life plans are futile, “like mist that vanishes”, if they are not submitted to God. He also reminds us that it is not just the way we live selfish, self-absorbed lives, but the fact that we ignore the needs of others – our sins of omission – that drag us down. Perhaps we just don’t care enough about others who walk this path with us. God will give you the desire if you ask Him to give you eyes that see as He does.

BEING the light of the world reveals the nature of God’s love. THIS is the light that shines into the darkness of a twisted world that is filled with darkness. BE the light of the world today by becoming who you were meant to be!

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ” James 4:7-8

Draw Close

Do you want to be a “better person”?

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Have you ever found yourself asking God to make you a better person, to help you to gradually become more and more like him? It seems an honorable thought at first blush, and yes, our life as a believer is a journey of ever-growing and maturing in Christ. But God has already provided more.

When Christ rescued us, when he paid the price for our sins on the cross, he redeemed us fully. He didn’t give us a temporary ‘salvation permit’ that we would have to someday convert to a full license to join his kingdom. He gave us his all so we would see ourselves wholly (and holy) redeemed. There is nothing we can do, no effort or achievement we can accomplish that would make us more precious in his sight than we already are. In his eyes we are already presented without blemish. We are perfectly his. Yes, he sees us in our imperfect state, but he doesn’t regard us as such. If so, Christ’s work on the cross would have been incomplete. But it isn’t; we were wholly transformed into a new creation in his eyes. Paul tells us that whoever is in Christ IS now a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come! Our job is to accept that reality and to act as if it is true (because it is). Our job is not to continually strive to become better Christians but to be the children he declares us to already be.

Dan Stone used an illustration in his book, The Rest of the Gospel, that is helpful. Take a blank sheet of paper and draw a line from left to right across the middle of the page. Under the line write words that describes how you see yourself, your physical being and your often tumultuous soul: failure, never good enough, always sinning…etc. Now above the line, write words that describe how God sees you and your spirit which is already united with his spirit: His precious child, redeemed, fully his, holy. etc. You see, if you have asked Jesus to live in your heart, he gives you his holy spirit to guide and comfort you and to tell you the truth about who you are in his sight. When you ask the spirit to fill your life and lead you, Jesus sees his spirit at work when he looks at you. Believe it and act on what you believe. You are indeed precious in his sight.

Yes, there is also a transformational process of becoming more and more like him and yes, we won’t fully achieve that until we get to heaven. But learn to see by faith who you are “above the line”. as Paul says, reckon it to be true. Continually lean into him and experience him drawing close to you.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:7-8

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Tag Archives: James 4:7-8

BEING the light of the world

Draw Close

Do you want to be a “better person”?