A Calling To Shine: Lighting the Way For Others to See Jesus

What does it mean to be called to shine?

Just as Paul challenged the Philippians to shine like stars in the universe — we love the powerful visual to shine and the heritage it comes from. Light is talked about in 200+ passages in the Bible. It begins early in Genesis and continues through Revelation. In the book of John, we see light all through hitting a peak and crescendo when Jesus said: “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

And John also says “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5 This aspect is important because darkness is heavy. Light is truth revealed. Darkness is truth concealed. Light and Darkness in the Bible describe physical truths and physical dynamics but are metaphors for Spiritual Truths and spiritual dynamics as well.

AND Not only is Jesus the light but in Matt 5:14-16 Jesus says “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.” We are blown away that not only is He the light but He passes the baton to us, saying I am making you a light to the world — to take the light, to show others the way.

What are the motives here? To give light and life——who would not want to share a precious resource?!

Sometimes it’s tempting to try and make ourselves shiny for people: to look good on the outside, so others will notice us— thinking we are taking the light to the world. But that is not what we are talking about here. God has called us to “shine from the inside out. How do we do that? Follow along and explore with us the ways to shine.
So This Season we will talk about walking with God and being a light that shines out his love. We will look at two things Jesus called us to: Loving God & Loving our Neighbor. It might sound easy, but reality is that it’s anything but easy. We look forward to sharing our failures and our successes in Loving God and Loving others as well as hearing yours. We hope to hear from you on the called_toshine instagram account.

We will be talking much about neighbors, and you may wonder “who is my neighbor?” Is this my literal next door neighbor or down the street neighbor?” And our answer is yes, plus. So when we talk about neighbors— we mean anyone in our path that we can show mercy and love: could be where we live, or work, or play, or the coffee barista even. God has blessed each of us with unique personalities, gifting, resources as well as capacity and divinely put people in our path so we can reflect His Love toward them.

So, buckle up for an exciting journey this season as we uncover what it truly means to be 'Called to Shine'.

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And always you can find resources to help you connect to the people around you at NBS2GO! (nbs2go.com)
— A ministry of NBS2GO: Neighbor Bible Studies to Go and Cru