The Light of the World

There is nothing you can do to earn a right relationship with God. Man, that is such awesome news!! We are not saved by being a "good person", we are saved by having faith in what Christ did for us. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world: He sent his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life." Belief...that is it...it is only by God's grace that we have been saved, through faith. (Ephesians 2:8)

Now here is where the discrepancies of the world start to come in...although good works do not save us, our faith should produce good works. If we truly have faith in Jesus Christ, and have been filled with the Holy Spirit, then we should be changing into the likeness of Christ on a daily basis, having an urgency to shine his light everywhere we go. Check out these verses.

Eph. 2:10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

James 2:26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

James 2:14-17 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can the faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead.

You see, our faith should produce fruit.  Good works are not apart from faith, but part of having true faith in our Savior Jesus Christ.  When we have faith we are filled with his Holy Spirit and therefore our hearts have been made anew.  We begin to break inside for the things that break the heart of our Heavenly Father, we begin to make different choices because the Holy Spirit is stirring inside of us.  This is all part of our constant redemption story, God changing us daily to be more like His son, The Light of the World. God stirs in us good works so that Jesus's light may shine through us for the glory of God! 

I know when I look back at my life, I can see a true distinction between when I believed in God and His Son Jesus verses when I had faith that God sent His son to the cross for ME (and you) and brought me from death to life.  I can look back and see the distinction of my life that was self-led verses Holy Spirit led.  I can see the distinction of where my heart was filled with wanting to meet the expectations of the world verses wanting to do nothing more than meet the expectations of my merciful God!

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

When we have true faith in Christ, every part of our life should be Holy Spirit led and we should want nothing more than to be obedient children of God. Our faith should produce tiny lights of Jesus in this dark world. When we fall short of this (which we will because we are all sinners), we should feel a conviction inside of us that will produce even more change in us as children of God. As my 4 year old son Tucker put it the other day, I asked him "What does Jesus mean to you?" he said, "I love Jesus and he helps me make good choices." Amen!