Let Your Light Shine Part 1

 Part 1:

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I was thinking about things in this world that are relatable and something I could talk about. I was reading the book of Matthew in the Bible and it was talking about being the salt and the light of this Earth. Matthew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in Heaven.” - But how often do we let people blow out our light? How do we keep people from dulling our light? How do I show Jesus’s light through me? These were all things that I was thinking about while reading those verses, so I wanted to share with you some of the things that Jesus has put on my heart about it! There are so many layers to this topic, so I am making it a series! Whether your light has been blown out, you don’t know how to shine your light, or you want to know how to protect your light and not let the world dull it, this is for you!

It would not be right not to put on my blog anything about my favorite place on Earth! Believe it or not, my absolute favorite place is camp! I love the community of camp and just how the Lord works through it. It's amazing to see how he places people there that you didn’t even know you needed, and He speaks words into you that you didn’t even know you needed.

 Two years ago, I met some of my best friends at camp, we had the best counselor and the best time! We bonded through Christ and through His mighty plan for our lives. I am so glad to say that we all went to camp together this year and we all were in the same boxcar again! I think we won the title of the loudest boxcar! Camp did look a little different this year, with all the covid restrictions, but that did not mean that Jesus wasn’t in the mix and He wasn’t working. It was a very short time at camp this year and it’s kind of hard to dig into the reason that God placed me there. We only had three nights to meet everyone and have the “camp experience” before we had to leave the next day. That being said it’s so easy to look past the work that God had been planning the whole year leading up to it. 

We are told all the time about having a “camp high”. If you don’t know what this means, it basically is when you come back from camp, you come back from being met with the Lord each day,  and you kind of crash because you're back to reality. I was expecting that to be on a whole other level this year, but honestly that is not the case. The work that God has done in my heart the past week after camp has been amazing, not only did I not crash from the “camp high” but I’ve dug into what Jesus had in store for me!

One of my favorite skits that camp does is when they sing “This little light of Mine” they show people lighting their candles and then Satan coming and making them blow them out because of the lies that he has placed in their heads. But there is always one person who doesn’t believe the lies that Satan tries to plant, and they relight the whole community. The first thing that I am going to point out is that no matter how hard Satan tries to plant the seed of lies, and doubt in your head, he may even succeed, but not for long. You see, his negativity cannot reach your heart because, news flash, he is not the one who dwells there. He does not have the say to tell you to blow your light that Jesus shines from the inside of your heart. No one does. I want you to read that again. So many times we let the lies and the silly things of this world define who we are, and I want you to make a stand against that. 

I had one acquaintance from camp who we were fairly good friends, but you know we weren’t tight. But God did some work in not only my heart in the past year, but in his. One night I was just compelled to start a conversation and it got deep quick. But we told each other stuff that I didn’t even know I needed to talk about and get off my chest. We cried for each other and the pain that this world gives us, but the pain doesn’t last forever. He upheld my spirit by giving me Bible verses. That may seem really nonchalant and not a big deal, but I cried. I cried for the simpleness that the gospel can use to change your vision, I cried for all of the work that I saw Jesus do in his heart in only a year's time. So if you're reading this, you know who you are, don’t stop shining your light If you feel like you're going through a season in your life where you can’t light your own candle, ask God to give you someone to help you. That is exactly what the people needed in the skit,  it only takes one person to stand firm in the light of Jesus, to make an enormous fire that breathes and lives in our souls as brothers and sisters in Christ!