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Zookeepers Ministries

Let It Shine!: Don’t Let Satan Snuff It Out

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“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” 

The words of this children’s gospel song, written in 1920 by Avis Burgeson Christiansen, are simple and their message far reaching. What child hasn’t sung it? What adult doesn’t remember it?

But the more important question: do we hold true to its mission?

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” 

Matthew 5:16, KJV

 

Don’t Let Satan Snuff It Out

Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1–3, NIV

Shine,_Day_4,_Photo_1Time and again, our daughter, who has Down syndrome, came to a place in the hall, rose up on her toes, pressed her arms and back up against the wall, and sidestepped her way to the stairs. Unable to make sense of her repeated behavior, I asked her what she was doing. Aggravated with my intrusion, she huffed, ran upstairs, and kept the secret to herself.

After studying the floor for a few moments, I noticed it―a rectangle of light, cast from the landing above. A voice in my spirit whispered, “Not stepping into the light may be a game to her, but for many it’s a reality. Some choose to remain in the shadows, afraid that their evil deeds will be exposed.”

The first recorded words of God in Scripture were “Let there be light.” God spoke light into existence, separated it from the darkness, and saw that it was good. Sadly, many refuse to see God’s light as good. Shine,_Day_4,_Photo_2

Christians worldwide experience widespread persecution as oppositionists choose to walk in darkness. The persecution of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ is as old as Christianity itself, but never in my lifetime, has there been such hostility toward those who align themselves with Jesus and the truth of His Word as there is today. In over sixty countries, believers are beaten, beheaded, tortured, isolated, raped, imprisoned, enslaved, and put to death for engaging in unauthorized religious activity.

Christians in America undergo persecution on a much smaller scale, but daily we experience attacks on our freedom of worship and references to anything related to the name of Jesus.

Prior to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, a torch was lit in Athens, Greece, from the original flame of Olympia. Scheduled to reach the top of Shine,_Day_4,_photo_3Mount Everest in Tibet after an 85,000-mile global tour, the 2.5-foot propane gas torch, weighing 2.2 lbs, lit thousands of torches along its route.

The purpose of China’s Journey of Harmony, was to unite people of different cultures around the world in friendship, harmony, and peace. But the journey was anything but harmonious. In city after city, protesters tried to extinguish the flame in objection to China’s fifty-year occupation of Tibet.

The Olympic relay bears an overwhelming resemblance to our spiritual journey. As we strive to carry the light of Christ throughout the world, many along the route try to snuff out His light in us. As athletes, we must endure, hold His light high, and pass it from one light-bearer to another so that unity between God and man will be restored.

Let it shine!

Starr

Let It Shine!: Holes in the Darkness

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“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” 

The words of this children’s gospel song, written in 1920 by Avis Burgeson Christiansen, are simple and their message far reaching. What child hasn’t sung it? What adult doesn’t remember it?

But the more important question: do we hold true to its mission?

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” 

Matthew 5:16, KJV

 

Holes in the Darkness

Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 

Daniel 12:3, NIV

Shine,_Day_3,_Photo_1Due to a chronic lung disease, Scottish novelist and poet Robert Louis Stevenson spent much of his childhood bedridden. One evening, he watched as a lamplighter lit the gas lamps on the street outside his bedroom window. When his nurse came into his room and found him with his face pressed up against the glass, she asked, “What intrigues you so?”  He replied, “I’m watching a man punch holes in the darkness.”

God punched a hole in the darkness at creation when He said, “Let there be light!” (Genesis 1:3).

Jesus punched a hole in the darkness when He came to earth and said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).

Christ-followers punch holes in the darkness when we let our lights shine. “You are the light of the world … in the same way let your light shine” (Matthew 5:14, 16).

Years ago, I received a phone call from a distraught friend. Her three-year-old daughter was afraid of the dark. All of their attempts to comfort her had failed. “Please pray,” she said. “Every night, Eliana gets out of bed, and we find her asleep in the hall the next morning. I don’t know what to do.”

Since Eliana was taking a nap at the time, I suggested she place her hands on her daughter’s head and pray against the spirit of fear. I Shine,_Day_3,_Photo_2would also pray. The next morning, my friend called to tell me that her daughter had slept through the night.

Later that day, I bought Eliana a package of plastic glow-in-the-dark stars. When I took them to her, we went into the pantry and shut the door so she could see them glow. I told her that when her parents put them on the ceiling above her bed, she could look at them and know that Jesus was watching over her and would keep her safe through the night.

Shine,_Day_3,_Photo_3Again, she slept all night.

Days later, I received this note from her mother: “Every night Eliana wants to turn out the nightlight so that she can see the stars. She says, ‘I can still see them, Mommy!’ It’s been a good reminder for us that sometimes we can see God shining brightly in our circumstances and at other times we have to look for Him a little harder, but He is always there.”

In order for phosphorus stars to glow in the dark, they need daily exposure to the light. Likewise, for our lights to shine, we need to position ourselves regularly before the Light Giver and then be willing to step into the darkness of another. It is there that we will witness God punch holes in the darkness of a lost and dying world.

Let it shine!

Starr

Let It Shine!: I’m Not Blind

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“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” 

The words of this children’s gospel song, written in 1920 by Avis Burgeson Christiansen, are simple and their message far reaching. What child hasn’t sung it? What adult doesn’t remember it?

But the more important question: do we hold true to its mission?

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” 

Matthew 5:16, KJV

 

I’m Not Blind

Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 

Ephesians 5:14–16, NIV

Shine,_Day_2,_Photo_1Construction workers removed the pews from our church sanctuary and placed them in the fellowship hall, where our worship services would be held during the renovation. On the first Sunday in our new surroundings, I opened my hymnal to sing and realized I could see the words of the song without my glasses. Moving from a dimly lit sanctuary to the fluorescent lights of the fellowship hall not only made a difference in my ability to see the words on the page, it brought revelation to my spirit. After we sang, I took my seat in the pew and thought:  I’m not blind; I’ve just been sitting in the dark.

God has gifted our bodies and our spirits with the amazing ability to adapt to our environments and our circumstances. But with the ability to adapt comes the danger of being desensitized to the darkness and needs around us. The longer we remain in a dark room, the easier it is to function, but it’s not the darkness that changes―only our perception of it.

Today’s text sounds the alarm and beckons believers to wake up, to step into the light of God’s Son, and to take advantage of the opportunities we have to make an impact for Christ in a lost and hurting world.

John 8 gives the account of a blind man whose friends believed that a touch from Jesus would restore his sight. When they heard Jesus was passing through their town, they dropped what they were doing and led their friend to Him. They pleaded with Jesus on his behalf.

They begged Him to touch their friend and restore his sight. Jesus responded to their faith with compassion by reaching out, touching the blind man’s eyes, and freeing him from his prison of darkness.

Through the death and resurrection of Christ, we are set free from our prisons of sin and darkness. God’s Word now serves as “a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path” (Psalm 119:105). In response, we’re called to be guides―a support system for those still struggling to break free. Through prayer, we have the awesome privilege of being their voice and their transport. Spiritually, we can escort them into the presence of Jesus and by faith plead for their physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Christ will hear our prayers and respond to them with compassion.

Is someone you know sitting in darkness today? Don’t turn a blind eye to their need. Be a light in their darkness and bring them to Jesus―the Restorer of Light and Life.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

John 8:12, NIV

Let it shine,

Starr