Light

A few weeks ago I had a post about “Being the Light“.  Well on this past Sunday our pastor spoke about this topic and he gave us an acrostic for the word “LIGHT”  that I wanted to share with you.

L – Live Laughter – enjoy life and laugh a lot.  Psalm 126 says “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations,  “The LORD has done great things for them. The LORD has done great things for us,  and we are filled with joy.”

I – Initiate Influence – Opportunities to influence others and spread God’s word will not just land in your lap.  You must seek out ways to serve others.   Hebrews 10:24 says”And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

G – Give Gifts – Be generous with your time and your money.  In 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 Paul says ” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”

H – Heal Hurts – Help others.  Use your past to help others with their present.  This is one of my favorite verses regarding comforting others.  It is found in 2 Corinthians also.  1:3-4.  It reads ” Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” Amen.

T – Tell Truth – Tell your story and how Jesus has changed your life.  Tell the truth about Jesus to others.  Let them know why you choose to follow Jesus.  1 Peter 3:15 says “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

In a dark world, choose to be the LIGHT.  You CAN make a difference!

Be The Light

We had a great Easter weekend this past weekend.   On Friday night we attended a free Good Friday celebration at the Long Center here in Austin.  It was called “For The City” and 5 churches (including ours) put it together.  It included the worship bands from each of the churches along with the pastors.   The evening included a lot of great inspiring music and 4 shortened, but still powerful, sermons.  The main theme was that we need to be good examples of Christians in our city and to serve others.  We need to be different for Christ and do all things for the glory of God.

We were reminded of what Jesus did for us on the cross and that we need to be living our lives for him, not for the world.  We, as Christians, need to be loving and kind to those around us.  We need to reach out and help as many people as we can.  We need to be the light in a dark world.

The only way we can do that is to allow Jesus to live through us, and the only way that can happen is if we die to self.  We must die the slow death to self to allow Jesus to take up full residence in our hearts and to live out his will through us. 

What can I do today to be a light in this world?  That should be the question I ask myself every morning when I wake up.