You Are The Light Of The World

Meditations for Ragamuffins

February 20, 2024

You Are The Light Of The World

God is working in you, giving you the desire

and the power to do what pleases him

Philippians 2:13 

Philippians 2:12-18

Paul has set the bar of expectations for the Christian very high. We are aiming to have all our interrelationships flow out of the life of Christ within us. Is this even possible! YES, because “God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13 NLT). However, we are not idle or passive while God is at work within us. We have a part to play, and Paul is as passionate for our participation as he is for God’s work within us: “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12b).

Paul is not suggesting that we work for our salvation; verse 13 clearly establishes that it is God who is at work within us. Our role is to passionately take responsibility for how we live our lives, to work hard to show the results of our salvation. This is what we know: God is transforming us by renewing the way we think. God is planting His holy desires within us. God has given us the power of the Holy Spirit to make Godly choices in our lives. Therefore, we can live with the real confidence that our lives are making a difference for good in the world.

Paul’s vision that our confident living will be like bright lights in the world (2:15) invokes two images for me. First, when we take responsibility for cultivating the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, when we take seriously our need to yield our life to God so that He may transform our lives to be like Jesus, we fulfill the prophecy of Daniel 12:3, “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” Secondly, Paul’s vision rings true with the words of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount, ““You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14).

My Takeaway: Because we have God’s light shining in our hearts, we are like bright lights in our world, and the life of Jesus is made visible in our life. (See 2 Corinthians 4:7-10)

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.