Lights Shine Bright Everywhere We Go

Thanks, Toby Mac, for your great song: “Everywhere we go. Lights shine bright. Lights shine bright, everywhere we go.” It must be God's message to us because this is my second day in a row to emphasize how important it is to let our lights shine.

I remember that timeless Sunday School song that went: "This little light of mine...I'm gonna let it shine! Hide it under a bushel – NO! I’m gonna let it shine! All over the neighborhood – I’m gonna let it shine! Won’t let Satan blow it out – I’m gonna let it shine." It doesn’t take a news anchor to know that so many people in our world are living in darkness. That’s why letting our lights shine is so important. You and I might just be the LIGHTS that cause the darkness to flee -- not so much by what we say....but what we do in spite of our own circumstances. They're watching how we demonstrate God's love, peace and joy -- right in the middle of some of our darkest times.

The enemy uses daily circumstances and situations to try to douse our "light”. It may be a negative comment made to us or about us. It may be about all that TV and social media rancor. Or it is someone's bad mood or a surprising situation like a flat tire or a computer crashing (like mine on Friday) or a negative medical report or any other bad news coming our way. The "stuff of life" wields its water hose that is filled with doubt, worry, and negativity at us. What may have started out as a fun water shower from a friendly water hose that hits our flame, but it soon becomes a super water blast that douses out our fire of energy, joy and enthusiasm. With all the negativity that surrounds us, it's easy for our light to become nothing more than a little flicker.

The good news is, we have a choice to wring ourselves out from the onslaught of negativity that is coming our way. It takes a conscious effort to keep our "little lights" blazing! St. Paul reminds us, "You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5:8). That's what the darkness needs. It needs lights to penetrate it. In spite of our circumstances and the darkness around us, it needs lights that conquer every opposing force to continue shining God's light. We must keep in mind -- the more we hang out with THE LIGHT, the brighter our lights will shine.

People will be thinking "How can they be so peaceful, full of joy and hope when I know they're going through the stuff of life just like me?" Before long, they'll get it. They'll know it. And they'll want it, too! "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16.

Water for our Thirsty Souls

Bryson, my youngest grandson, and I were sitting on the deck overlooking the Sea of Cortez. We were talking about a tsunami and the devastation that it can cause. Then he asks me: "What is it that you can’t live without, but it can also kill you?” My “thinker” kicked in and I said: “WATER!” He pondered out loud: “Wonder what it feels like to be drowning?” Me: “Well, have you ever been stuck underwater and couldn’t get a breath?” Without hesitation, Bryson replies: “Oh, yes, it’s called brothers!”

Oh, that boy! The fact is water makes up about 70 percent of our body. It’s a crucial ingredient that helps our brain think, blood flow, and our muscles move. But what happens after we sweat through an aerobics class, spend a day at the beach, or simply ignore our thirst? Dehydration, and it's different for everyone. It depends on how much we’re exercising, the temperature around us, and how much we sweat, but it can get dangerous quick. Suddenly, I’m very thirsty. I just paused to get a bottle of water!

No matter if it comes from a bottle with a brand name or the faucet in our home or mountain spring, water can improve our physical health. But, it can't grant us peace and joy in this life, as well as eternal life. Jesus brought a whole new meaning to water – it is essential in the natural and it is essential in the spiritual. In John 4:5-42, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Referring to the actual well of Jacob, Jesus says “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again.” He was referring to every well, stream, lake and source of fresh liquid water. But to the woman and to you and me, Jesus tells us where the real, true fountain of “youth” (the joy and peace that spring up from within) and eternal life is, by saying, “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give, you will never thirst. The water that I shall give will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Jesus calls the water that He gives living water.

Unlike bottled water at the convenience store, we can't just go and buy the living water of the Holy Spirit. Something more is required. That something is becoming clean and pure by the cleansing of the Holy Spirit. We put so much emphasis on keeping things clean in our homes. We wash everything: our clothes, dishes, hands, bodies, even our water. It’s not enough that it gets purified at the water treatment plant, it has to be filtered and purified again.

So, we ask, “Do I give as much attention to the cleansing and purification of my soul as I do with my body from germs?” Let's return to Jacob’s well for a moment – perhaps your well is represented by your church or a small group or even in your daily devotions – the places to go to encounter Christ and drink of the living water of the Holy Spirit. And most beautiful, are the waters of baptism that represents the old man and all his sins are washed away and a new man arises to abundant life in Christ here and for eternity.

Don’t be fooled, those cheap imitations in fancy brand-named bottles can quench a thirst in the heat, but nothing compares to drinking at the springs of living water that only Jesus can provide!

Isaiah 44:3 "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants."