YOU ARE The Light Of The World!

“You ARE the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.”   Matthew 5:14 (NLT)

If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, YOU ARE the light of the world and YOU ARE on the winning team!

Now, you just need to act like it.

Do you sometimes feel that the battle you are going through is never-ending and you wonder if you really are a victor in life?

We have been in a few electrical blackouts through the years and we have a stash of candles (beeswax ones of course because the soy based ones can explode – they really do) or small torches throughout the house. When everything goes pitch black, it can be really frightening especially for small children. But have you noticed, as soon as you either light a candle or switch on a torch, you can once again see your surroundings (the reality of what is there) and the darkness is dispelled and pushed back?

Many people have said to me over the years, “The world is getting darker and darker.” Well, no, it isn’t actually. If you do a study of history, you will find that we live in the lightest period of history, apart from the Garden of Eden. Even with recent developments.

If you listen to the doom and gloom of the media all of the time it can certainly seem that way. If you tune into places like Bethel Church, Iris Ministries with Heidi Baker, Leif Hetland, Katie Souza, Todd White and many others who are taking Jesus to the world, you will see that salvations, healings, provision and many miracles are happening on a daily basis. Christ’s light is shining very brightly! You just need to change what you are looking at.

TURN OFF THE TV, PUT THE PHONE DOWN AND BEGIN READING THE WORD, WORSHIPPING,
PLAYING, LAUGHING –
DO ANYTHING ELSE BUT FEASTING ON THE NEGATIVE!

I have been praying and thinking about these things and here is my conclusion:

If the world is getting darker and the Church
(the body of Christ) is now the light of the world,
then we, as the Body, must not be doing our job.

Jesus did His part so now it is up to us to do ours as we partner alongside Him.

This is in no way a criticism but an encouragement to show you that you ARE a victor. You ARE a champion. You ARE the light of the world. You have the authority to trample on serpents (Mark 16:18), heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons (Matthew 10:8) AND have complete victory over the devil. Fantastic!

In Matthew 16:19 Jesus was given the keys of authority to change the world and amazingly …… He gave them to you, me and every other Believer.

Do you know, that you know, that God IS light, that He IS good and He IS bigger and stronger than the devil?

Let’s look at it this way: if you have a relationship with God, i.e. you have submitted your life to Jesus and made Him Lord of your life and accepted His love for you, THEN YOU (with Christ in you) ARE WAY BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN THE DEVIL! This is indeed good news.

Think about it. If the devil knew that you couldn’t defeat him, why would he even bother with you? Would he waste his time strategising, sending his lackeys to find out everything about you so that he can find your weaknesses to attack you? He has an ego bigger than the size of the galaxy so if you were not a threat to him, he wouldn’t even know your name.

Let me assure you: Satan knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that the light of Christ within you can defeat his plans and purposes against your life.

If he knows it, the body of Christ needs to know it even more.

How do you activate this light of Christ in you so that it shines in your world? It shines all the time but sometimes it is covered.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.”    Matthew 5:14-15 (ESV)

The only time that the light doesn’t shine is when it is covered. It’s like the sun always shines but we can’t see it when the clouds are covering it. How does our light become covered? When the Bride of Christ (you and me) don’t know who she is and hides herself in shame.

The power and the personhood of God LIVES IN YOU through Holy Spirit. The biggest challenge that I have found in the body of Christ is not sin. It’s coming into agreement with 2 lies of the enemy: that God is not good and that we, even after we become a follower of Christ, believe that we are dirty, rotten sinners who are unworthy of God’s love. These lies make me so mad because these are the 2 lies that bound me for 30 years.

Today, I want you to find freedom.

God is good – ALL THE TIME!

Jesus NEVER referred to someone who had faith in Him as a sinner. Do you sin? Yes, but you are NOT a sinner. A sinner is the person who is apart from God but in Christ, you are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are no longer a sinner. This is fantastic news!

Besides, Jesus died for you even before you knew about Him (Romans 5:8). He would not do this if He didn’t love you. See what I mean?

May I encourage you today to make a choice to break your agreement with any of the lies that the enemy has told you, and then to make an agreement with who God says you are. The more you know who God is, who He is in you, the less the enemy can have a place in your life. There just won’t be enough room for him!

Today I declare freedom over you. I declare that you are free from the lies of the enemy. God is good all the time. You are no longer a sinner but a saint (Romans 8:27), a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), a child of God (Romans 8:16), the light of the world (Matthew 5:14)! Woo hoo!

As always, if you would like prayer or encouragement, or if you have a testimony of the goodness of God in your life, I would love to hear it all. Write in the comments below or send me an email via the contact form.

Bless you in this coming week and may you know the deep and passionate love that your Heavenly Father has for you.

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