Open Heavens Devotional for Friday, June 27, 2014: COMMANDED TO SHINE

TOPIC: COMMANDED TO SHINE

Memorise: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  Matthew 5:16
 
Read:Ephesians 5:8-14
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
 
Message
Light and darkness are antithetical. While light is welcome by everyone, darkness is shunned and rejected. Light is an illuminating agent. It affects everything and without it, there will be no life. Light is mostly used when referring to goodness and godliness. 1 John 1:5 reveals to us that God is light. This means whoever is born of God must reflect the attributes of light. A keen study of light reveals many attributes which believers should endeavour to reflect. One of such attributes is the wave. Simply put, a wave is a disturbance. 

Whoever is born of God is light, and because light has the nature of a wave, his or her life must be a disturbance to the works of darkness everywhere. Acts 4:15-17 is a classical example of a situation where believers reflected this attribute of light. Are you born of God? Then your life should challenge both the works and the workers of darkness. Another attribute of light is force. Light as a force causes movement or change. Everyone that is born of God is expected to shine by provoking positive change. You should be able to cause positive change and movement to the glory of God. You are expected to be a strong force of progress in your home, family, community, society, place of work, church and nation.

There is no denying the fact that light is life. Light is life to both plants and animals. While animals rely on plants and (sometimes) other animals for existence, green plants turn carbon dioxide and water into food using energy obtained from the light radiating from the sun. This process is known in biology as photosynthesis. Every child of God should radiate light and life, because in Jesus is life which is the light of men. John 1:4 says:

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

As a Christian, you have life, and this life is eternal. Moreover, this life is capable of making all impossibilities become possible. Going through Luke 10:19, we can deduce that light is power. Are you born of God? Rejoice! In you resides the power that upholds all things (Hebrews 1:3). You have been empowered by God to do the unimaginable for Him. I pray that no sickness, darkness or evil shall rule over you. Light reveals. Implicitly, light reveals specific information about a matter. The good news is that you should no longer operate in ignorance, because light exposes hidden things (Ephesians 5:13). Finally, light travels in a straight line. This denotes integrity, faithfulness and trustworthiness. If we operate as light, we will not be perverse or crooked in our ways.

Prayer Point: Father, help me to always reflect all the attributes of light.

Bible in a year: Numbers 7:84-10:10; Psalm 140

 Source: OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL, VOLUME 14, 2014 by Pastor E.A Adeboye of RCCG