Let Light Shine

 

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!  Remember that song from Sunday School days?  As we continue our theme of light this Advent season, I had to bring this special verse to ‘light.’  Jesus gave us our marching orders with this verse, and it is our job to ensure we carry out His request to those around us.

Sit back with me for a moment.  What does it mean to you to be a child of God?  How does it make you feel to know you are loved by God Himself, that you are one of His children?  For me, that feeling is one of warmth and joy.  Thinking about it brings a smile to my face and a skip to my step!  When we reflect on all the goodness Jesus brought to earth, to each one of us and the multitude of blessings we receive on a daily basis, it is difficult not to shine with happiness.

What Jesus is asking of us in this verse is to shine that happiness with those around us.  The goodness that He has given to us needs to be shared with those around us.  Having Jesus in our hearts is too good to keep to ourselves and certainly cannot be hidden from others.  I remember when I was going through struggles in my life, people would say to me, “You are so strong.  How can you even smile while going through this?”  The strength that I had was not my own, it was the Holy Spirit in me.  That smile?  It was coming from God.

Friends, our lives are not perfect, and I am certain we all experience difficult days.  Yet, when we have Jesus in our lives, the light will always be in us.  Let us share that light with others.  It can be as simple as a smile to a stranger, a kind word to the grocery clerk, or a hug to a family or friend that was not expected.  Want to share light on a grander scale?  Find a family that needs help and offers to buy groceries.  Babysit for the single mom down the street who could use a break.  Bring some cookies to the new neighbor who just moved in.  There are many ways for us to shine Jesus’ light to others.

During this Advent season, may we be the light of hope and truth that others are seeking.  When they ask us where our light comes from, may we proudly share that our light comes from Jesus – and would they like to attend church services or a Bible study with us.  Now that is shining Jesus’ light!

Video that compliments this blog is: Let Light Shine

Dearest Jesus, help us to remember to shine the light that YOU gave to us.  May we be the light to others as you are to us.  In your shining name we pray, Amen!

Light of the Word

 

Advent 2025 is here!  I aim to select a theme for each Advent season that will bring home the meaning of Christmas.  This year I have selected ‘light.’  Talking with so many of you, 2025 has brought wonderful and happy circumstances, yet, it has also yielded dark and disappointing moments.  I felt ‘light’ would help us to remember the light that was gifted to us during Christmas.

Today’s verse focuses on the words of light.  The Bible is chock full of books, chapters, verses, and words that help give us light.  Reading the entire Bible like a book can seem daunting.  Yet there is something in there for each of us, in every dark situation we may have.  The beauty of God’s Word shines in each page. 

The complexity of life today can seem overwhelming.  Technology, with all the positive aspects it has brought to life, has also made life more difficult.  The speed by which we live our lives can prove too much to bear.  God’s Word provides us what we need when we need it.  Reading His words gives us understanding of the complexity of life.  We do not need to be scholars in theology to have God’s Word touch us and bring us hope in the darkness.

I have had moments when I did not know where to turn or how comfort would surround me; moments when the light of life has dimmed.  This is when I turn to the only One who can provide me light – light in His Words.  When I open my Bible, I find what I need to bring comfort and light in my darkest moments.  God’s Words provide us the hope to move on, in a way that directly connects with my heart and soul.

Dear friends, as we explore the light of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit this Advent season, I pray you will see the glory of the light that shines around us and in us.  Remember, always, that God’s love and light shines bright from the pages of His Word.  Open the Bible that is sitting on your bedstand.  Read about God’s light – and how He fills us with hope.  Here is to a light-filled Advent 2025!

Video that compliments this post:  Light of the Word

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us Your Words to light up our lives.  Please guide me to the words that will light my heart to new heights and bring brightness to darkness.  Amen!

Small Thanksgivings

 

Here we are, a few days before Thanksgiving!  Families have a variety of traditions to help bring forward the importance of taking time to be thankful on this special day.  When our children were little, we used to pass out construction paper strips at dinner.  Each would write what they were thankful for, and we would make a paper chain.  I always enjoyed hearing about thanks from our children’s perspective. 

Last week, the blog discussed ways for us to be watchful in thanksgiving, seeking out times throughout our days where we were blessed and ensuring we provided praise to God, immediately.  This week we are focusing on the little blessings in our lives.  Today, we highlight the small things in each of our lives that provide us with a sense of peace.  This may be a small experience or a small item that provides you with a pause at that moment and a heart of gratitude.  I am certain that we all have these, throughout the day, small thanksgivings.

What do small thanksgivings look like?  It could be the five minutes a busy mom finds before the family wakes up – her ability to breath in deep the day ahead.  Perhaps it is the executive about to enter a meeting and grabs a coffee for comfort.  Envision an elderly member of our community who receives a smile from a passerby.  I have experienced being in the grocery store in the flower section and seeing a flower that reminds me of my father who passed.  Small thanksgivings – moments where our hearts were full and we found peace in the simplicity of our days.

Friends, small thanksgivings are a vital part of the numerous ways God blesses us.  God drops these moments into our day to remind us of His goodness.  I have often found myself moving so fast that I did not stop and enjoy the small thanksgiving He gave to me.  It takes nothing out of our day to move our thought to appreciate the moment, breathe in peace, and provide thanks to God. 

I pray, as we walk through the days ahead of us, especially during the busy holiday season, we take the time to experience small thanksgivings.  What has been placed within your day that brings a smile to your face?  What has been shared by God that brought you peace?  Those are the treasured moments where providing thanks is so important.  May you take the moment to say, “Thank you God, I needed that!” 

I pray that Thanksgiving provides you with an opportunity to be thankful for the small blessings in your life along with those that were seen through a ‘watchful eye.’  May the grace of God fill your heart and homes with thanksgiving and joy.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Video that Compliments Blog Post:  Small Thanksgivings

Dearest God, thank you for the small thanksgivings in my life.  May I take the time to ensure I pause long enough to realize the blessings you have bestowed upon me.  Amen!

Watchful Thanksgiving

 

Hard to believe we are less than two weeks from celebrating Thanksgiving!  I do not know about you, but this one seemed to creep up on us quickly.  During this time of year, we spend time reflecting on the blessings that the Dear Lord has given to us.  It is important to take time and contemplate the events of our life this year and give thanks for all the great things that have happened.  As difficult as a year that this may have been for a person, there is always at least one thing to be grateful for.

The verse for today, though, provides more intent to thanksgiving.  To be very honest, this verse is a new one for me, and I enjoy the goodness it brings to us.  Depending on how you may look at prayer, devoting yourself to prayer can be a challenge.  I know for many years I believed prayer needed to be formal and I needed to come to our Lord in a traditional manner.  What I have learned is that Jesus wants to hear from us, to talk to him, regardless of the formality.  Once my view changed, my ability to devote myself to prayer has become more immediate in nature.  Similar what you hear at airports, “See something, say something.”

This brings us back to our verse for today.  If we keep a watchful eye on times throughout our day when we should be saying, “Thank you Jesus,” take the time to devote a moment in prayer – thanking God without delay for His goodness.  Devote yourself through an immediate prayer of gratitude.  This means we need to be active with the following:

1)       Focus on Good: Throughout our days, there are a number of moments when good things occur.  We need to be on the ‘lookout’ for those moments and not let them pass by as ‘karma’ or ‘coincidence.’   I am certain if we change our focus towards good, we will more plainly see the good that is around us.

2)      Stop to Pray:  Take a few moments to thank the One that provided us the good – Jesus.  Intentionally praying about the goodness that God provided to us, thanking Him for that goodness, is all God is asking.

Devoting ourselves to prayer by being watchful and giving thanks will soon become a part that is easily identified throughout your day.  Our focus on watchful thanksgiving, and giving thanks to the One who provides, will bring you closer to our Lord.  Have simple faith!

Video that Compliments Blog: Watchful Thanksgiving 

Dearest Jesus, thank you for providing us the opportunity to come to you in prayer.  May we focus on all the blessings you provide for us and may we take the time to thank you.  Amen!

Comfort

 

On days when life may not be going along the way I thought it should, filled with happiness and joy, I look to find comfort.  If I am sad or distraught, I may not have all the answers to fix the situation.  I may just want to ‘feel’ better.  Unfortunately, I tend to drown my sorrows in food – not the best solution to a dreadful day.  When I know better, I may seek out my husband or a friend to chat with.  What I have learned later on in my years, is that the One I should seek first for my comfort, is Jesus.

This verse says it all.  When that certain day may feel bleak, I find myself opening the Bible so I can hear Jesus talk to me.  I may turn to a particular verse that has great comfort for me.  Often, I will just open the Bible and be amazed at wherever my eyes my be drawn to, that verse has incredible comfort.  In the toughest of situations, Jesus is my great comforter.  He pulls me into His arms and lets me know that it is safe to feel the way I am feeling and to go to him for a sense of hope and peace.

In our focus verse for today, we find that it is our responsibility as Christians to be that comfort for others when they are going through tough times – having affliction.  Jesus wants us to be ‘that’ person for another who may be sad or distressed.  You may be thinking, “I’m not sure how to comfort another person.”  Comfort can come in many ways.

·       Lend an ear - people may just need to talk and are looking for someone to just listen.

·       Guidance – someone may be seeking a guiding word.  You may share a verse that means a great deal to you with them – it could be the hope they need as well.

·       Silence – silence is golden.  There are times when all someone needs to know is that they are not alone.  Holding their hand could be the greatest comfort of all.

·       Love – sharing that you love them, and that you are there for them, could be the comfort that is sought.

My friends, let us take the opportunity to comfort another as providing Jesus’ love.  It is our chance to show others what Jesus’ love means to us, and how our hope, peace, and comfort come from the great I AM!  Have simple faith that you can be the comfort for another.

Video that Compliments Blog:  Comfort

Dearest Jesus, thank you for being the One I can always go to when I need to feel comfort.  Please help me to be that person to others.  Amen!

Intentional Kindness

 

The world is in a tough spot these days.  There seems to be a strong wave of discontent.  Whether it shows itself through war, violence, rage or insults, kindness seems to have been replaced by cruelty.  Making a difference seems to be a far-reaching dream versus a goal to be achieved.  Why bother trying to make an impact?  I am only one person on this earth with billions of people.  How can I change the world?

Let us step back for a minute and look at the word “sow.”  It is defined as planting by scattering on the earth!  Typically, we think of sowing seeds in the spring so that we can reap a harvest in the fall.  Today, I ask you to think about sowing in a bit of different aspect.  Is it time to ‘sow’ intentional kindness?

It is not hard to see how trying to have an influence, trying to do ‘good’ in this world, could not lead to exasperation.  This is especially true as we see all the negativity this world is showing us recently.  My friends, as Paul shared with us in Galatians, if we continue to do good things, we will reap a harvest.  The caveat?  We cannot give up!!  We need to continue to do good; we need to continue to sow good things, scatter kindness to the world – one seed at a time.  If we sow to others, I guarantee we will be ‘sowed’ upon as well – our hearts will reap the harvest.

How do we do this?  Often, people point to doing random acts of kindness – the opportunity to sow kindness to others without revealing who you are!  I subscribe to that effort but ask us to look at this a bit differently.   What about INTENTIONAL acts of kindness?  Possibly continue with the anonymity of the act but truly build intention to the kindness you want to share.  Is your passion for the elderly?  Focus on sowing kindness into elderly establishments.  Food insecurity?  There are a number of ways to sow kindness there.  Do you have efforts you would like to support?

Let us be intentional about kindness.  My husband and I recently decided to select a different effort each week, being intentional about doing a kind act to help at least one person – maybe more!  If enough of us are determined not to grow weary in doing good, imagine the impact we could have!  God wants us to sow good and kind acts.  Imagine the harvest you will reap, we all can reap, one intentional kind act at a time.

Companion Video:  Intentional Kindness

Dear Jesus, help us to be intentional about sowing kindness in this world.  May our minds be drawn to people who need to have kindness shared with them.  Please open our hearts to receive the harvest that only You can bring.  Amen!

Vulnerable

 

Vulnerable!  The word alone can stir a variety of emotions.  One can feel fear, anxiety, and insecurity.  The greatest can be a sense of exposure – letting the world see weaknesses that you may have.  I happen to love the word.  I associate vulnerable to humility – understanding that I have weaknesses and difficulties and I am not perfect.  Being vulnerable takes humility to the next level; it is where the risk of opening up about your gaps, the insults you may have endured, or the difficulties you have experienced is met with the anticipation of working to close the gaps to bring connection or healing. 

This is beautifully illustrated in our verse for today.  Paul speaks to the community of Corinth and shares his experiences with them.  When I sit quietly and reflect on this verse, I believe Paul is speaking to me as well.  It is hard to imagine a person delighted with the areas Paul addresses in this verse.  Yet, the glory and strength come from God in those moments Paul shares.  How so?

Weaknesses & Difficulties – We are not perfect creatures, only Jesus can claim that!  When I explore myself, there are numerous areas where I am weak.  We may want to try and build on those weaknesses with people here on earth, but when we rely on God to close those gaps, we create a relationship with Him that builds trust in Him.

Insults – Have you ever endured insults being hurled at you?  I have, and it is a horrible feeling that someone would actively work hard to make you feel miserable.  God reminds us that in His eyes, the only eyes that matter, we can gain inner strength to withstand insults that are projected to us.

Hardships & Persecutions -   Throughout this world, people are graced with hardships and are persecuted every day for their belief in our Lord.  Graced hardships in our lives?  Yes, my friends.  These situations that we endure help us to go to God, knowing we will be safe in His arms and grow in our faith.

When we expose our own vulnerability to the weaknesses that we have, it is then that we can go to our Lord for the strength that only He can provide. It is when I am weak that my faith becomes strong, my reliance on Jesus becomes strong, and my growth in God can be strengthened.  Let us explore those areas of weakness and go to God, in Simple Faith, and ask for His help!

Click here for the video companion: Vulnerability

Dearest Father, thank you for being my strength when I am weak, when I ensure hardship or difficulties.  May I grow closer to you during these experiences.  Amen.