People in darkness.

Yet on you the Lord rises.

Shine with His glory.

-Isaiah 60:2

God is lighting up His people. One translation of Isaiah 60:2 says "gross darkness covers the people." You don't have to look far to see gross darkness. God is not absent from the situation as long as YOU, Spirit-filled Christian, are there.

I was talking with some fellow students. One rolled her eyes at a classmate in her group who was "pretty sure" thier neighbor was a Satan worshipper. This older student sat at home clutching her Bible and listening to her upstairs neighbor pace across the floor.

My first thought was: I don't think my neighbor is a Satanist - I know it. He draws pentagrams and occult symbols on the sidewalks and driveways. At first I was a bit freaked out.  But realizing he's a person who needs Jesus helped me view him differently. My neighbor is just a kid looking for answers in all the wrong places. Why would I fear a person who is in bondage to a being that hates them and wants to destroy them?

"Only be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might."

All by myself, human strength only, I'm no match for a malevolent being that's been around for thousands of years. BUT GOD! My husband and a friend of ours took an opportunity to speak to this young man and a couple of his friends about Jesus. The two friends received Jesus that night. This young man didn't, but he saw a Jesus that loves him that night. I haven't seen many pentagrams around lately.

The light of the world lives in me and shines from me. We bring hope to a hopeless and dying world. Our heavenly Father intends for us to shine brightly with His glory. People are changed when we increase our awareness of the greater One who dwells in us and let Him move through us, His body.

Be a bright light: Matthew 5:14, John 8:12, Ephesians 1:17-23