SHINE LIKE STARS 

 

“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life”

(Philippians 2:14-16).

 

The other morning I rose early to spend time with the Lord and in His Word. I walked outside to let the dog out. It was still dark but the sky was lit up with shimmering stars. In all of my seventy years I have never seen so many stars in the sky. It was like a dazzling canopy over the whole earth. I was in awe.

 

It must have been such a clear night (without competition of city lights) when God took Abraham outside to behold the night sky and said to him, “’Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that—too many to count!’ And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord declared him righteous because of his faith” (Genesis 15:4-6 NLT).

 

God promised Abraham descendants as many as the stars in the heaven shining on a clear night. God has kept His promise and millions of children have come forth from the loins of Abraham; not only from his loins but all the children of Abraham by faith. Galatians 3:6-7 says, “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.”

 

God does not want a sprinkling of His people in the earth; he wants them to fill the earth, as the stars fill the sky.

 

He does not want them to only fill the earth, but to shine with His glory. God’s purpose for His people is for them to reveal His image in the earth. We are His lights to shine in this dark, deceived and depraved world. We are to shine like stars on a clear night when there are no clouds. We must dispel all sin and murkiness in our lives that would obscure the revelation of God to the world.

 

Philippians 2:15-16 Way says, “That you may show yourselves blameless, uncontaminated, irreproachable children of God, in the midst of a society morally warped, spiritually perverted, amongst whom you shine out clearly, like stars in the world’s sky, holding out to it the light of the Word of Life.”

 

The word “shine” is phaino and means “to be conspicuous, to be seen, to lighten, to show, to shine.” We must not hide our light. We are to be conspicuous. Matthew 5:14-16 says, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

 

Paul confessed that God “kindled a flame in my heart to make me a world’s beacon of the knowledge of the glory of God as revealed in the face of Jesus the Messiah” (2 Corinthians 4:6 Way). Often you cannot see the brilliance of the stars when you live in the city. Therefore, you may have to think of yourself as a beacon light! Don’t dim your light but put your headlights on full and expose all the darkness of evil and depravity around you.

 

We are living in an hour when we need to be more conspicuous than ever. Evil is encroaching over the earth, but the more evil intrudes, the more we must shine the light of God’s truth and righteousness. It is time for the fulfillment of Isaiah 60:1-2, a word that God originally spoke to Israel but is also a word to us who are Abraham’s children by faith in Christ, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His gory shall be seen upon thee.” The darker the days, the more conspicuous we must become. The greater the evil, the more we must shine (Matthew 13:43).

 

Daniel 12:3 says, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.”

 

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org

 

PRAYER:

 

Thank you, dear Jesus, that you are the light of the world. You now light the world through me. Please save me from being a foggy light that blurs the vision of your truth.

Amen.”

 

AFFIRMATION:

 

Shine!
Make 'em wonder what you've got
Make 'em wish that they were not
On the outside looking bored!
Shine!
Let it shine before all men
Let 'em see good works, and then
Let 'em glorify the Lord!

~Newsboys