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Listen while you read: "Send The Light"1 (Lyrics) |
Philippians 4:13 – I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (NIV)
Peace and quiet reigned. The colourful Christmas lights framing the black of night through the windows reflected back upon themselves giving a 3D effect. It was then that I noticed that there were a few gaps in the lights. Some of the bulbs were not working. I checked them but discovered that they were not replaceable. Oh well, I thought, for the most part, no one would notice. But I did.
This small incident got me thinking about my Christian life and how it is a lot like that string of Christmas lights. Like them, I was connected to a power source. In my case, the power of Christ flowed through me. My life, for the most part, was glowing day-by-day for Him through various works, words, and attitudes. But I also knew that there were still gaps in my string of lights. Areas dark or flickering, areas of attitude that needed renewal through the mind of Christ in order for them to be changed, to be replaced by the light of His life. Perhaps others did not notice, but I did, and I knew that God did, too.
But thankfully for me and for you, the lights in the string of our life are replaceable. Our thoughts, words, deeds, and attitudes can all be changed, for as the apostle Peter has stated:
2 Peter 1:3-4 – His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (NIV)
As the new year approaches, we thus have hope. We have hope in the divine power that Christ has given us. We have hope that the gaps in the string of our life lights will be brighter in this new year ahead than they have been in the past, as we continue to place our faith in His very great and precious promises that ensure that we can do all things that He calls us to do, through Him who gives us strength.
Prayer: Father God, what a great and marvellous Lord You are, Who is willing to allow us to share in Your divine power that we might live lives of godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. May the song that our heart sings this new year be: "Shine, Jesus, shine" through the string of our life, shedding light throughout the world. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
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I’m with you!! Thanks!!
Beautiful! Happy New Year!
Wishing you the happiest of New Years.
Thanks for another great and inspiring devotion. Happy New Year!
A very lovely devotional Lynne. Thanks for sharing. I will pass this message on to others.
What a good analogy Lynne.
Have a safe and Happy New Year.
So thought provoking. Thank you for sharing such a thought.
Blessings to you in the New Year.
Wonderful analogy Lynne! I love how you turn ordinary situations into profound biblical truth.
Happy New Year!
Lynne, praying that the gaps in our witness will be filled with the light of Christ Jesus, shine brightly, and draw others to the Lord. Thanks for writing. Blessings.
Good Morning Lynne:
Thank you for yet another thought-provoking message!
All best wishes for a happy and Blessed New Year!
What a great devotional this morning. So powerful, positive and uplifting!
Just what I needed! Thank you for inspiring me this morning. All the best to you in the new year ahead. Shine for Him!
Lynne, thanks for the good message on today’s PCC devotional. I need to take time to consider where the changes need to occur but, on the other hand, it is the Lord who can clearly see and change these things!
May you, too, be blessed.
Dear Lynne,
Superb! Thanks.
I pray that God will fill gaps in my life too right now.
May we Christians trust and pray an ever more keep filling ourselves with the Words of our Lord.
I’m glad you keep writing.
What an inspiration you are Lynne! Thank God for you, and others like you who take the language of fears and disappointment and turn it into calm truth. Thank God for the Church – His people who have the courage to share their insights in such loving and revealing ways. Thank you for your ‘string of lights’ metaphor! It sure ministers to my thoughts just now.
God bless you, and your whole 2016! Starting now!
Hi Lynne:
I thought that your devotional was as brilliant as the northern lights! I have forwarded it to some of my family.
You have a different perspective of those northern lights than we do. I now have a better “capital” view of how to be a “brighter light” to those around.
Blessings.
Hello Lynne.
Thank you this message of hope in the great provider, Jesus. Phil 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. KJV.
Lynne, we know how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit work together. Three, and yet One in purpose. Yes, we can rejoice in this life, because we are provided with strenght from above, where our Father, and His Son abide. The time will come when we will see Him in all His glory.
(USA)
Thank you for another inspiring devotional. As I read your message I thought of the people God has placed in my life that have inspired me on my faith journey. Some of them I regularly visit in the nursing home. One special lady will always be a light bulb of inspiration. She never complained about her pain, but her body was filled with cancer. God finally said come home to her – it was a relief that was prayed for by many of us. Tonight when our Christmas lights come on I will think of her and your message. Thank You and Have a good New Year.
Thank you, Lynne, for a very good devotional as always. I have a beautiful ceramic lighted Christmas on the stand next to my living room chair, and noticed when I set it up and turned on the lights, OOPS, several of the tiny lights were out and not a thing can be done to change them. Giving this a spiritual light on the subject as you did, at least I know that I can change lights that go out in my life. What a great illustration you found and I thank you for it personally. Have a BLESSED HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016!
God loves you so do I,
(Ca.)
Lynne, I knew you had written this even before I had read it through. You have a real gift. I get a lot out of your devotionals. They really speak to my spirit.