Shining Light

We who are part of God's creation tend to take things from one extreme to another. 
      In the past, there was a lot of teaching and sermons about the "Fire and Brimstone" side of our relationship with our Heavenly Father, but now we focus only on the love side.
     We really need to remember that God is a very complex Father and Creator, yes, He is Love but He is also Just, Righteous and Holy. (Psalms reveals so much of His heart and nature that if you long to know your Father's heart I would recommend that you read through it, taking note of the verses that list His attributes.)
     The purpose of this writing is to encourage you to not be deceived into the love side of the relationship with a blind eye to the justice that our Father requires.
      I have been trying to walk a holy path with my Saviour and while it is the best path, it is often too easy to slip off of the path with a word or thought that I need to bring back into line and then climb back to the path of holiness again.
     On this path I have had things of the past brought to mind that were "dirt swept under the rug" that were an issue on the holiness path, things that I needed to deal with, confess and be cleansed from. 
     This morning my prayer has been to be a shining light in God's Kingdom(for His pleasure), that is not an easy thing to do if there is anything that you have hidden under the rug! I had attitudes brought to me of when I have been less than respectful to the people the Lord had put over me as a covering in my life.
     Yesterday I read about how leaders are put in place by the Lord for His purpose, we have had leaders of our nation in the past that I did not think or speak properly of, that did not fit in with His purpose for me if I want to be a shining light! (Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Romans 13:1)
     As a teenager, I was not very respectful of my earthly father, and now that I am older I can see how hard he worked to care and provide for me. I have dealt with these issues I am now forgiven for this, but it was something I needed to put under the forgiveness of my Heavenly Father to be qualified to walk as a shining light.
     There are other examples of course, but my point is that if you desire to walk as a shining light in His Kingdom you need to examine yourself. Yes, He is Love and He does give Forgiveness but we need to be aware of our need for forgiveness and ask Him for it!

If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. 1 John 1:9-10 The Message

Pursue Love

     I had a Pastor that advised us to be careful about praying for patience, he told us that if we did pray for patience, then we would encounter plenty of things to "help" our patience grow. He didn't warn us to not pray to be "unoffendable" or to grow in "love"! I am warning you now!
     I have prayed for both of those and now I have plenty of opportunities cross my path to exercise and grow in this area. Scripture does tell us to grow in these things, so it's not exactly like we have a choice....you might as well jump in the deep end and start trying to adjust to the shock! No dipping your toes in the shallow end~  =D
     I do think the opportunities are there to grow in love before we pray to grow, but once we say that prayer, the Holy Spirit helps us to become more aware of the selfish ways and conflicts in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is an amazing Teacher, He knows us inside out (must be because He lives inside of us!?) He knows all of the weak places in our spirits that need His "grow" light shined on them, and shine it He does!
     Actually, I said I was going to warn you about saying a prayer to grow in love or to be unoffendable, but that isn't really true. Our Creator does want us to love and we will always need to grow in it, so I advise you to pursue love with all that you are, yes be prepared you will face situations where it is not easy to love but we are not commanded to find and do what is easy, we are commanded to love. Let it be your driving force! and remember, God is love so you are to be also!



Love never stops loving. It extends beyond the gift of prophecy, which eventually fades away. It is more enduring than tongues, which will one day fall silent. Love remains long after words of knowledge are forgotten. Our present knowledge and our prophecies are but partial, but when love’s perfection arrives, the partial will fade away. When I was a child, I spoke about childish matters, for I saw things like a child and reasoned like a child. But the day came when I matured, and I set aside my childish ways.

For now we see but a faint reflection of riddles and mysteries as though reflected in a mirror, but one day we will see face-to-face. My understanding is incomplete now, but one day I will understand everything, just as everything about me has been fully understood. Until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope, and love—yet love surpasses them all. So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run. 1 Corinthians 13:8-13

Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:36-39

The whole law is made complete in this one command: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Galatians 5:14