Shine!

  Light shines the brightest in the darkness. When I was in Cuba, power outages were not uncommon. As a matter of fact, the newspaper often published a schedule with the dates and times of the power outages for each zone. For some reason, our zone always got the worst of it. We were always scheduled for night time darkness. If that was not enough, I guess the guy in charge of turning the lights back on always fell asleep or did not like us or something because we always enjoyed darkness for longer than we were supposed to. It was not fun. 

  There is something about the darkness that paralyzes us. Every time the lights went off, everyone in the room sat still and quiet until dad turned on a candle. That single candle made all the difference. It brought life back to the room. The light on that candle would have gone unnoticed in the middle of the day when the sun shines bright. It would have gone unseen if there were power, its light eclipsed and overpowered by the ceiling lamps and light bulbs. But in the midst of the darkness the flame on the candle always shines the brightest.

“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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

  Jesus said this in His famous "Sermon on the Mount." Jesus was talking to a very wide variety of people. People from all different walks of life had met there to listen to the words of the Master. Some of them had little to nothing in common, but they all knew Jesus. To this group of people who knew Him, Jesus said: "You are the light of the world." My question to you is the following: Do you know Jesus? If you do, then He is calling you to be light. As a matter of fact, "light" is not something Jesus is calling you to do; it is what He is calling you to be. The world needs you to be the light. What are we doing with our flame?

  There are two things that make our flame invisible. The first is more light. It is hard to see a candle in the middle of the day. Hiding our light in the light is probably one of the biggest temptations that those who know Jesus face. It is easy to preach about the love of God to those who already know Him. It feels good to hide behind majestic churches where we talk about the light all the time. It is easy to get comfortable with so much light that we become afraid of darkness. We become so afraid of the darkness destroying the world God called us to save that we decide to ignore it. The crazy thing is that we have gotten so good at ignoring it that even though our lights are becoming darkness, we continue to tell ourselves that we are the light. My question is this: Can you see your light? If you look around you and all you can see are people whose lights seem to shine brighter than yours, then step out in the darkness so that others who have been consumed by darkness can see you and "give glory to your Father who is in heaven." My challenge is be a light in the darkness. The world needs to see the Jesus that you know.

  The other thing we do with our light that makes it invisible is hide it. I remember one Sabbath morning I was on my way to church. It was about a 30-minute walk from my house to the church. So, like a good Christian, I was wearing my suit and tie, and I was carrying a leather Bible under my arm. Everything was going well until one of my friends from school saw me and asked me if I was going to a wedding. I was a little surprised about the fact that my friend had failed to see my leather Bible. So I explained that I was going to church. Then with disbelief on his face my friend said, "And you are a Christian?" My heart broke.

  That day I came to realize that I had hidden my light so well that, even when I carried an oversized Bible in my hands, others could not believe that I was a follower of Christ. They could not believe that I knew Jesus. I had hidden my light for the sake of my comfort. I had placed my lamp under a basket because I was afraid of being rejected. I wanted to be what those around me liked me to be, not what they needed me to be. Being light is not easy, but we must keep in mind that is who we are, who we are called to be.

  I want my flame to burn. Jesus promises to keep that flame alive when we hold on to Him. He promises to walk by our side as we step out of our comfort zones and let the world know of His salvation. Are you ready to take your light to the darkness? Shine!

photo credit: Herr Olsen via photopin cc

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Long Distance Relationships and Jesus

     For the last three years, my fiancé and I have had the opportunity to enjoy the ups and downs of a long distance relationship. Since the moment we agreed to be exclusive with each other in this romantic, emotion-filled relationship, we knew long distance was waiting for us in the future because of our career choices. We had to make a decision at a very premature stage of our relationship. To pursue this adventure or not. We decided to commit to each other and to move on. A few months after, we found ourselves a few thousand miles away from each other with the ocean in between us. Being away from the person you are in a relationship with raises a whole new set of challenges that we just weren't ready for. Going through this experience, we learned things that helped us stay afloat during this time, but they also taught me a lot about how Jesus relates to us.

   In one way or another, every Christian is in a long distance relationship with Jesus. Sometimes we struggle to keep the fire burning and compromise our relationship with Him to follow something or someone else who promises love and comfort for us today. But deep within our hearts, we know that those affairs are only a fantasy and that only God's love can quench our thirst to be loved. How can we keep our relationship with Jesus alive? There are three important tips I learned from my long distance relationship that can make a difference in your relationship with Jesus. They sure did in mine! Here they are:

1. Start the day with her, end the day with her.

   It did not take long for us to realize that in order to keep things going we needed to start the day together and finish it together. When everything else fails, we have something to look forward to. Every morning, we talk about our plans for the day, and every night, we talked about how much we accomplished. This allows Betsy (my fiancé) to give me her input on things before they actually happen and to hold me accountable at the end of the day. We practice this both ways, and it has really made a difference in our relationship.

   Imagine what practicing this can do for you relationship with Jesus—making Him the first one with whom you share your plans every day. If you are someone who does it on a regular basis, then you know the value of practicing this. If you don't, then think for a second how different your day could have been if you would have made Jesus part of it this morning. One of my favorite Bible verses says: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV). God has great plans for your life. I don't know the plans you have for you, but I know this: God's plans are better. Tap into His plan and purpose for your life every morning and every night! Let Jesus be who wakes you up and lays you down.

2. Make her part of your world

   Living in two completely different worlds is very difficult. Different people, different setting, different culture! You name it! Before we realized it, our "worlds" had pulled us apart from each other. We became so consumed by everything around us that we got absorbed by it and separated from one another. It wasn't long before the only conversations we had were those in the morning and those before going to bed. Even then, those conversations were short and dry. We were falling apart. Until one day we decided to make "us" part of our world. That meant small calls here and there, in between classes, and during lunch breaks. Even though I looked silly to some of my friends because of how many little phone calls I made a day, it saved our relationship.

   Jesus doesn't want to give you a blueprint of how your life needs to be every morning; He wants to be a part of it every day. He wants to come into your world and be close and intimate with you. Regardless of where we are or how far we feel, He pursues us desperately. The question is: Are we getting so absorbed by this world that we forget about our Savior? The Bible says: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20, ESV). Think about the fact that the Almighty God, the One who created everything we know and see with the breath of His mouth, clears His schedule for you every day, regardless of whether you meet with Him or not. Let Him in! Remember that Jesus Christ gave His life so that you and I can live. Make Him your world.

3. Never lose sight of her love

   Like every other couple in the world, Betsy and I sometimes fight. This is especially difficult over the phone. If your significant other is getting mad over something insignificant, the problem can sometimes be fixed with a hug or a little kiss on the forehead. Well, guess what? You can't hug people over the phone. So every argument had the potential of becoming a big issue. Sometimes, out of frustration mostly, I run the risk of fostering thoughts in my mind that undermine her love towards me. So I often need to remind myself how much she loves me and how she shows me in many other different ways her love for me every day. This is the solution for every bump we have along the road.

   Regardless of what your situation is today, remember one thing: Jesus loves you. Yes, life can get rough sometimes! Yes, things can often be more complicated than we wish they were! But that does not change how much He loves you one bit! I often hear people saying stuff like: "I am mad at God because of _______!" Really? Can you imagine if God actually got mad at you every time you walk away from the cross, where He laid His life for you? Instead, He chooses to love you despite of your shortcomings! When things get rough, don't lose sight of His love for you! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, ESV).

photo credit: SPIngram via photopin cc

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Vomit-Green

I am eating a Peanut-Butter and Jelly Sandwich right now and it is glorious, made even more so by the Black Raspberry and Blackberry Jelly that is inside. When I was a 1^st Grader I always wanted, or rather, I needed my mom to pack a PB&J sandwich in my lunch. Every. Day.  One time she didn’t, opting instead for the much inferior Tuna Salad sandwich. She happened to be volunteering at the school and was nearby. I went in and asked her why she didn’t make me a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich! I wasn’t throwing a fit or anything, it simply crushed my young spirit that I didn’t get to eat a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich that day. I remember tears filling my eyes at the realization. I liked Tuna, but PB&J was PB&J, and Tuna was not PB&J. PB&J is what I had been wishing for all morning. I was weird.

            This odd sentimentality didn’t limit itself to PB&J Sandwiches. You see I grew in a 70s
era double-wide mobile home. On its own it would’ve been a trash heap, but due to the work and expert care of my mother it always had grace and charm. However, my mother’s expert care could do nothing about its vomit-green carpet. It was disgusting. No one knew what the previous occupants had done in the house but all of their wonderful residue resided safely in its confines. For years my parents lived with it awaiting the day that they could afford a change.  Finally the day arrived, the carpet guys came, the vomit-green carpet was torn out, and new carpet and linoleum was installed. The process took a few days. One night I remember walking outside to where the old, vomit-green carpet was and crying. I was really gonna miss that old carpet with who-knows-what living inside it. My parents came out and saw that I was crying and when I told them why, they took me into my bedroom and showed me where a patch of the old green stuff was, right inside my closet. Evidently that satisfied me.  I was a strange little boy. I think Jesus is just as strange.

This has been a crazy week with ups and downs, victories and defeats. Yet here we are, minutes from closing the Sabbath, from starting a brand new week.  As the second hand draws us closer to its end, think about this. You and I are the vomit-green carpet. So often we made the stupid choice and each time we got a stain and turned a little further from God. Pretty soon we were worn and toxic. But the good news is that Jesus didn’t just stand there looking on, not even with tears in his eyes. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8) When I realize that the maker of stars and galaxies and all things bright and beautiful, came to this world to save us I am overcome. All the time I have wasted, all the mistakes I have knowingly made, when the king of all gave up everything for me. How could he care for this vomit-green mess of a person? But he does and even though it doesn't make sense that he would rescue us he did because God is very definite in his opinions, and when saw that you were lost he saved you, even though he has a Universe. He likes the Universe, but you are you, and the Universe is not you. You are what God is wishing for.

 You see God is weird. A little sentimental. He’s just crazy enough to love a strange little kid like me, and strong enough to save a vomit-green world.

Photo Credit:

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