This holiday season…I’ve so much enjoyed seeing candles
lit in various places. The reverent glow
from the soft lights can always seem to move me to a place of quiet reflection.
On Christmas Eve, I joined hundreds at a
Christmas Eve service (@Ginghamsburg Church) where together we lit candles and
sang worship songs in honor of our Savior, Jesus.
The flames from the candles made me think of our lives. How
small and short they are in the span of history overall, but how significant a
life can be if lit for God. And I as I thought
about the new year, 2014 incoming, the prayer I want for my way ahead is that
my life be a candle in the dark.
Our world is covered in much darkness. I’m not talking
about places where maybe there is no electricity or infrastructure,
which are problems of course. But there
is a deeper darkness of sin, of hopelessness, despair, injustice, poverty that
is present down every alley and street and path of our planet.
"Being
unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much
greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to
eat." Mother Teresa
LIGHT IS NEEDED!
Do we know and hold up the light of Jesus? Are we sharing
His love in the dark places?
A few mornings ago, I was deeply moved in my quiet time
when I read this …
Zechariah 3:1-6
Then
he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you,
Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning
stick snatched from the fire?” Now Joshua was dressed in filthy
clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were
standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua,
“See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.” Then I
said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head
and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.
The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: “This
is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my
requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I
will give you a place among these standing here.
This burning stick was me, this burning stick was each of
us. Sin had set us on fire for destruction, our clothes and lives were soiled
and dirty and destined for destruction.
But thanks to Jesus, we’ve been offered grace and new
clean priestly clothes to wear and a redeemed storyline to be part of with a
mission and cause to live for!!! These burning sticks of destruction can be changed into
candles, flames of hope, lights of life in dark places that point to a Savior!
What GOOD NEWS!!!!
Isaiah 9:2
The people walking
in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
John
1:1-14
In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was
with God in the beginning. Through him
all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all
mankind. The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a
man sent from God whose name was John. He
came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all
might believe. He himself was not the
light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light
that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made
through him, the world did not recognize him. He
came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did
receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or
a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made
his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only
Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
As this year, 2013, winds down, I plan to pause to sit
quietly somewhere, light a candle, and remember the One who’s light and life
gave me, us, freedom and right relationship with God! I can’t say enough how grateful I am!
And may I boldly move forward to give this light and good
news to others as it has been freely given to me. May I go tell it on the mountains,
or on furthest corners of the sea, in every valley and desert, that a Savior can be known! For there’s no greater One to live for and die for!
Matthew
5:13-15
“You
are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put
it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to
everyone in the house.
A missionary doctor friend of mine recently posted this
in her update about this Christmas season as she was reflecting on life from
where she is now serving in the Horn of Africa. It blessed me….
Reminders
of this season have been quite different this year. Usually I delight in
the sights of Advent and Christmas--twinkling lights strung from trees, wreaths
adorning doors, small stables filled with donkeys, lambs, ogling shepherds and
a new family; the sounds--songs of the newborn King; the tastes--peppermint and
cinnamon and chocolate goodies; the smells--pine and firewood and cloves.
This week, however, the reminders are less of the Western interpretation
of the birth of our King and of our created traditions (important as they are).
Maybe they are closer to that beautiful scandalous night when God came
among us. Camels walking in tandem, following a herdsman. Donkeys
laden with cargo, sheep and goats roaming where they wish. Women, veiled,
walking to neighbors' homes. The cry of a newborn infant. Food
spiced with cardamom and other Middle Eastern spices. Sweat and dirt and
charcoal fires.
Not the
Christmas cues to which I am accustomed. But maybe more similar His first
coming. And in this place, a reminder that people who are suffering in
darkness need the light of the One who came to show us the Way, the Truth, and
the LIFE!!
May you
be remember this Christmas the great gift of our Savior, "In him was life, and the
life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:4-5 ESV)
Amen! May we share this Savior’s light with the
world!
Onward into 2014…praying my life will be a candle in the
dark!
All the darkness in
the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.
St. Francis of
Assisi
Prayer Requests
-My sister returns to the Czech Republic in early
January. Please keep her in prayer as she is beginning to pack. What an amazing
sister I have been blessed with! We’ve enjoyed this time together so much.
-Please pray good health and great peace for my family in
the New Year. 2013 was one of our hardest years yet to pass through.
-Please pray for me to know God’s best plan and place for
me in 2014.
-Please pray for many nationally and internationally
looking for work-places to serve. That
God will open up His perfect way, plan.
Thank you so much for reading my blog, praying for me and
my family, being with me on the journey!
Happy New Year 2014, may we all be candles in the dark
places!
