Please leave the LIGHT on?

Because there is more than this life.
Because I was made for eternity.
Because heaven is my home.
Because I can teach my two year old “This little light of mine.” And truly live out what it means as an example to her.
I will never cease to fight the good fight. I will rely more and more on the power of the Holy Spirit that can so mightily work within me to live day to day.
Over the past 7 days, my husband and I have been challenged by the command from Jesus in Matthew 5:14, “You, Elizabeth and Pete, are the light of the world.” This challenge actually stirred from a church service and we were challenged to take home a lil’ candle as a reminder to be lights in this world. I love to have the lights on in the house, if there is ever any daylight at all the blinds and curtains are always open for the sun to shine into our home. I love the light. Thankfully, as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, He has filled me with undying light. So even when the sun goes down and darkness fills the night sky, when the blinds and curtains are closed there is a light that never turns off within me…
I have texted Pete most of the past 7 days with a small reminder and encouragement “we are the light of the world”.
It’s been a challenge to be bright, life-giving, and a piercer of darkness…
In just these past 7 days I have:
*been daily watching, waiting, and reading on caring bridge about a dear lil’ 10month old baby boy that is fighting the RSV virus, overcoming surgery after getting a pacemaker, and so much more…currently he has maxed the ventilator out…the baby’s mom and I have been sending personal emails back and forth as well…do you think she needs a lil’ light right now?
*talked to a dear girl friend of mine who is struggling to keep her confidence and esteem after her boyfriend asks for some space after hanging out almost every weekend for the past 5months…suddenly to her the future is dark and confusing…
*a coworker and I were talking about one of her friends who converted to Mormonism…yet Jesus said it himself that He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (the cross, Jesus death & resurrection)…
*a dear friend told me that she was about to give up on her marriage…
*an extended family member just found out she needs to do further testing after an abnormal Pap…
*held a baby shower for a sweet friend of mine who is 38weeks pregnant and anticipating the excitement, anxiety, and unknowns of the birth of her baby boy…
*personally, I fell short, my pride got the best of me, my passionate, dramatic, and selfish tendencies once again blindsided me and I humiliated myself in front of some dear friends…

I know the list could be longer but those are the ones fresh on my heart and mind today. Aren’t we all just so desperate for light to pierce the darkness within our deepest struggles right now? Whether these struggles are inward or outward, we all need something greater to pierce it. It is Christ that can work within me and you, if we would just deny ourselves.
Furthermore, there was much hope within this week…
*I found a great website to share with my co-worker that compared Mormonism to Christianity, praying and claiming that the true Light of Christ will consume them (my co-worker and her friend).
*I was able to pray with the fragile, yet strong mom of the lil’ baby through email communicating the living words of God.
*My friend who is trying to figure out what went wrong in the 5 months of dating realized that maybe the situation was bigger than her and that God was acting and answering many of her prayers that her .
And I heard a song on the radio by Selah called Glory and the words continue to play over and over in my head “One day voices that lie will all be silenced, One day all that’s divided will be whole again. One day death will retreat…One day love will defeat the strongest enemy…We wanna see Your glory. Every knee falls down before thee.” I am challenged to surrender to Christ my savior that He may be the light within me to shine brightly on my dear friends, family, co-workers, and change me inside out. Because there is more and someday ever person will believe whether it is too late to enter the gates of heaven or not. My heart pounds as I think about this and my mind cannot completely comprehend it. Yet I am burdened to be sure that every person I encountered within these past 7 days experience the Light of Jesus Christ, the only Savior of the world and that we entail.
Yes, Jesus please, I cry it so often, be the air I breathe, and breathe the breath of life onto others and myself. We need a light that is more than a light bulb we turn on with a switch or the sun that shines through the curtains, we need THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. (John 8:12 “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””)
So please and thank you Jesus, for turning and leaving the LIGHT on within my life. I know that it is you and not me. Shine, Jesus, Shine...fill this land with the Father's Glory.
Amen.