Let it Shine

Psalm 90:12

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

I have often thought about time and the time I have here on Earth. I am so quick to believe that I will live a long, full life and that I have plenty of time to do all of the things that I want to get accomplished in this lifetime. I am ignorant of death and the fact that God says in Isaiah 51:6, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner…” Time is fleeting and life is but a vapor, and how am I spending my time? And who am I dedicating my time to? It has taken me quite a long time to realize this simple truth, but maybe my time should be dedicated to the author of my life, the one who numbered my days before I was born, and has directed my feet to stand where I am today. Maybe my life isn’t about me. Maybe it is about sharing the same love and grace Jesus has so freely showered upon me with everyone I meet? I can’t help but be reminded of that old Sunday school song, “This Little Light of Mine.” All the song says is, “this little light of mine, I am going to let it shine.” If only life were that easy. If only the darkness weren’t so engulfing and overwhelming. If only I had more time. But the second part of Isaiah 51:6, gives me hope. It says, “But my salvation will be F O R E V E R and my righteousness will never be dismayed.” That’s it. That is the hope my heart has been longing for. That is the fullness of wisdom. I am redeemed. I have life and life more abundantly. My Abba father, my creator, has taken these bones from the dust and breathed life into my soul. My life is full of purpose and meaning and on this earth I can receive a heart of wisdom, if my gaze is set on my Savior. And when your gaze is fixed on one point, there your feet will follow. So this little light can shine, and this heart will ever beat for the one who graciously offered me life and forever love. I have the opportunity to do something bold and something bright with the grains of sand within my hourglass of time. Jesus, teach me to be okay with not knowing the what, when, where, and how, and focus on pursuing you more passionately than the day before. May we take a hold of that which is truly life: knowing Jesus deeply, loving people freely, living life boldly.

Application: I will write out the song this “little light of mine” and tape it on my bathroom wall, so that I see it everyday and am reminded to live as Jesus would have me.

What do I Boast in?

2 Corinthians 1:12

“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God and supremely so toward you.”

What do I boast in? Do I boast about how the Lord has transformed my life? How he has worked in and through me? How he has poured out love upon me, when I deserved nothing at all? Or do I boast in myself? My gifts and abilities? How I have been able to survive in an evil world without being totally destroyed? Pride has always been a struggle for me. If I am being honest, there are times that I look at other people’s sin and glory in the fact that my sin is not “that bad.” But God sees all sin as evil and equal. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” I am foolish to believe that I am any better than anyone else. The overarching fact of life is that we are all searching. We are all searching for something more. We are all searching for God. In that pursuit, we all fall and become entangled in sin that trips us up and sometimes, holds us down. As a believer, I fall every single day and I am constantly battling the evil within my flesh. But the hope that I have found is in Romans 3:24. “And are justified by HIS grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” That’s it isn’t it. I am redeemed. I am set free. I am washed clean. I am made whole. I have life and life more abundantly. I will make mistakes, but God will be gracious and forgiving. I will become ensnared in sin, but God will rescue and deliver me. Psalm 22:3-5 says, “In you our fathers trusted; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.” Our situations do not change the character of God. He is faithful, through and through. So I then, as a child of God, will boast in my father. My father who took me from the dust and breathed life into my bones. His free and lavished gift of grace is all that I will boast in. Because of his power and strength, I am able to go through this corrupt world and remain planted in the love of Jesus. 

Application: I don’t want to boast in myself, I want to boast in Christ and Christ alone. Today, I will keep a list of the ways Christ has blessed me today and how I have witnessed the goodness of his might in my life. 

Come to Jesus

James 1:5

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him.”

I am in awe of the fact that all Jesus wants, is all of us. He wants us to come to him and to come just the way we are, for he is faithful to meet us right where we are at, every single time. In order to find wisdom, to receive grace, to be filled with strength, I just need to approach Jesus, my Savior and my friend. This has always been a hard concept for me to grasp. I feel like I have to wash myself, heal myself, fix all of my problems and get rid of all of my sins, before I come to God. He is perfect right? Shouldn’t I also try to come to him as ‘holy’ as I can. This is a common misconception within the church, but if it is not corrected it can lead to our own downfall. All Jesus wants is all of you. The beautiful thing is that if we are broken and thick in sin, he will still take us in and answer the desires of our hearts, even more so when our desires line up with his. We deserve nothing, but he has given us everything. This is grace, the gift that allows us to “Ask…seek…and knock” and gives us confidence that we will “receive…find…and have the door opened to us.” (Matthew 7:7-8) The more we come to him, the more we will receive from him, and he will pour out upon us in abundance; not necessarily of the things that we want, but the things that we need. He gives generously, he goes above and beyond and honors those who fear him. When I was trying to decide whether to do Ignite or go to college, I prayed for three days (because that was all the time I had) and cried out to God for wisdom and strength. Not only did God provide me with clear and specific words that led me here today, but he answered in abundance and went above and beyond all I could ask or think. God began to reveal himself to me in ways I had never known and he brought up sins in my life that I needed to lay aside. What a great Father I have. What a King that I have the ability to approach and ask anything in his name.  

Application: I want to practice true wisdom and listen more than I talk. Caitlyn will hold me accountable for this and keep track of how often I listen, rather than talk.  

The Fruit of Wisdom

Matthew 11:19

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say, ‘Look at Him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

I have heard it said many times that actions speak louder than words and once again I have heard it in this verse: “wisdom is justified by her deeds.” True wisdom, the hatred of evil combined with the wonder of God, will be clearly displayed through the actions I take and the fruit that is produced within me. In Matthew 11, I see two types of fruit displayed. One is the fully alive fruit that is grown in abundance. A good example from the context is John the Baptist. He was a hater of what God hated and a lover of what God loved. He pursued Jesus to the point of imprisonment and even then, he was not moved. There is also the fruit that grows to rot and decay. In verse 19, Jesus calls out those who are claiming him to be a drunk, a glutton, and a sinner. If those people had true wisdom, if they actually knew God because they deeply adored him, they would never claim him to be a filthy sinner, to be one of them. People of this time had grown up hearing stories upon stories, and prophecies upon prophecies about the Son of God, their redeemer and King. I am sure it must have become so redundant to hear over and over again that God was going to send his Son to set them free from sin. I can understand how easy it would be to let knowledge become knowledge and not wisdom, and I have done it so many times. But I think of how Jesus must have felt. I am sure his heart broke. He was the fulfillment of prophecy, God in the flesh, their freedom and redeemer, and so few recognized him to be all that he truly was. They should have known who he was, they should have latched onto him and treasured all of the moments they had with him. But who am I to point a finger. I should know who he is, I should latch onto him and treasure all the moments I have with him. If I am honest, I strip Jesus of his titles every day when I try to do life on my own and understand his word through my own power. I am just like them. Through the empowerment of the holy spirit, however, I can be different. I can long to know, to deeply know Jesus, no matter the cost. 

Application: I want to know who Jesus is and live my life in awe of the Lord. This week I will write down five reasons why I love Him, every single day. 

Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord

Psalm 111:10

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all those who do his commandments. His praise endures forever.” 

         It’s funny that our verse today is about wisdom and the fear of the Lord. This morning I came across a verse in Proverbs that says, “The fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil…whoever finds me (wisdom), finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.” (Proverbs 8:13, 35) If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil, than the key to finding wisdom is found in hating evil. Evil is not just a list of sins written down on the ten commandments, but it is whatever may hinder you from pursuing Jesus more passionately. For some evil may be social media, friendships, hobbies, or relationships; but as someone who has grown up in the church, my one thing that has kept me from pursuing Jesus has been my constant fear of failure. I hate disappointing people, and throughout my life, I have had many expectations put on my shoulders, that I just can’t meet. I started to gain a lot of knowledge about the character of God, but it never made me fear the Lord because it was just that: head knowledge. I wasn’t in awe of my creator, my savior, and my friend. I knew exactly who God was, and I thought that was enough. The difference between head knowledge and wisdom stems from a fear, a holy fear of the Lord and an overwhelming devotion to God. God requires us to be in wonder of who he is and he desires for us to learn more about him through the reading of his word, that we might gain a deep and intimate understanding of Him and the love he has so demonstrated for us. Drink deep of his mercies every moment of every day and let the sustenance of his word be more than enough to carry you through every trial you experience, that his praise might endure forever on your lips. 

Application: I want to know Jesus deeply and in order to do just that, this week when I do my devotions, I will write down the characteristics of God that are revealed to me through his word. 

Faith in Action

Matthew 8:5-13

"When we had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion replied, "Lord I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment."

Back in the New Testament days, a Centurion would never dare be near Jesus unless he was slandering or arresting him, but there was something different about this Roman soldier. He was not afraid of the potential punishment his government could inflict upon him and boldly he came before the son of the most high God. There are three things I learned from the faith of this man. First, the centurion took a step of faith and came to Jesus (verse 5). He came with a constant expectation that Jesus would heal his servant and prove himself to be exactly who He said He was. The centurion laid himself bare before the Lord and completely placed all of his burdens at the feet of Jesus. “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) Secondly, the centurion recognizes that he is a sinner (verse 8). He did not waver in the fact that he was unworthy and undeserving of God’s grace and love, however, he believed that Jesus would freely pour out his grace upon him, regardless of the sins he had committed. Finally, the Centurion recognizes that Jesus is under the authority of God (verse 9). Many people believed that Jesus was simply a good teacher or a prophet, but very few called him the Son of God, and even fewer called him the Son of God before he had performed a miracle. He didn’t come to Jesus saying, “show me your power and I’ll believe you,” he came saying, “I believe you, now show me your power.” So how do I come to Jesus? Do I come to him with an eager expectation that he will heal and restore? Or do I come to him with a wavering hope, doubting that he is actually able to help me? If we truly are children of God, our faith should be manifested in our actions and words.

Application: Today, I will use these three steps as a guide to my prayer life. I will first, come before the Lord holding nothing back, acknowledge that I am a sinner, and lastly, recognize the authority of Jesus as my Lord and Savior.