Flashbulbs

A few years ago my wife and I had the opportunity to visit the city of Love, Paris. It was an overwhelming experience to see all the landmarks of times past. Although we were not able to go to all the sites, there was one site that we could not miss.  You've probably already guessed that it was the Eiffel Tower.  The first night that we were in Paris, we were sitting at a Cafe' that had a great view of the tower. While we were sitting there having expressos, the tower lights began to sparkle as it did the night that the New Year 2000 arrived.  The sight of it is unbelievable! The next evening, we made our ascent to the top of the tower. Once at the top, we looked over the city of Paris and were amazed by the size and beauty of the city.  It was not long after arriving at top that the tower began to sparkle once again.  At that moment, something interesting occurred. As we looked out over the city, we began to see the city sparkle. The sparkling had not come from lights that had been planted throughout the city, but rather from flash bulbs of cameras.  People were taking pictures of the tower sparkling.  From miles away, we were able to see the lights from small little flashbulbs.

In comparison, there are times in the church that we become discouraged as we let our light shine. We may feel insignificant and really unimportant to the Kingdom of God. I want to tell you that, "This is a lie of the enemy."

Hebrews 10:35 "Cast not away your confidence." Each one of us has an important role in the Kingdom of God.

As we display Christ in our dark world, there will be many people around us who will see our light, but they nay not respond immediately or they may not respond the way we would like them to.  However, think about those people who are able to see your light for whom you do not even know.  Those people who are miles away from having a relationship with you, and it is that flash of light that gives them hope in their dark world for something different than the darkness they are facing.  Do not presume that because you have not always received a desired response from another person that your light has not ministered to that person or perhaps someone else.  Abraham faced discouragement year after year, and he died knowing that God promised him to be the father of a large nation of people.  Yet, he died having one son with Sarah. He was faced with the choice of either becoming discouraged with the circumstances, or the faith that God would fulfill His promise-no matter what the circumstances looked like.

Those flashbulbs didn't light the city by themselves, but collectively they made the darkness of Paris sparkle.  Remember, it takes all of us shining our light that will make this country sparkle.  How is it that we produce a flash? By gazing upon who Christ is, and making that picture real and active in our life.  It is interesting to see how a beautiful, sparkling tower caused a city to respond in a likewise way.  For when we gaze and meditate on Christ, who is a sparkling tower, there is an impartation that will occur into our lives which will cause us to sparkle as well.  You see, even in God's creation, how the moon shines in the dark night. Although, the light that comes from the moon is not its own, but it is comes from the sun.  As the moon beholds the sun, it becomes a reflection of that light.  For if we desire to be a sparkling light in our world we must first behold and take in the source, Jesus Christ.  When we do that, it will become natural for us to become a sparkling light. For we can and will never sparkle as Christ if we fail to meditate and fellowship with Him.

Remember that song you learned as a child, "Hide it under a bushel, NO! I'm going to let it shine."  Isn't it time that we let it shine?

Life is Like a Roller Coaster

It is true that most Americans cringe at the sound of the word 'restraint'.  It is one of those words that make us feel like we are being robbed of our basic right to freedom.  This last summer I had an experience that truly brought new meaning to this word 'restraint'.  My wife and I took a camping trip with our three daughters to the infamous amusement park of Indiana Beach.  There we would discover a roller coaster that my daughters would ride over 40 times, called the 'Steel Hawg'.  It is a coaster that is thirty seconds full of corkscrews, upside down loops, inverted falls, and other various turns that caused your organs to shift to one side of your body before instantly being jolted to the other side.  After only two times my girls fell in love with this ride, so we rode it until the park closed.  While waiting in line we noticed that they stopped a cart on the coaster because one of the women in the cart wanted to get out. As she passed us she kept saying, "I can't do it, I just can't do it."  What could she not do that would cause her to miss this exciting experience?  She could not get herself to trust the safety restraints that would keep her in the cart.  Even though these restraints were keeping people in their seats and keeping them safe all day, she could not take the risk that she to would be protected. So she missed a great experience.

Psalms 119:93 "I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life."

More than any other people on earth, Christians should know what it means to have abundant life. Life is full of all kinds of experiences that at times seem like we are hanging upside down or being put through a corkscrew turn.  Yet we can live without fear when we allow God's restraints, precepts, to protect us from falling out of the cart.  We have been given and live by principles that have been established since the beginning of time.  They are true and will never fail. There are some that believe that God protects other people but think God would not show them the same favor. Yet it is our submission to do what God says, not so much who we are, that gives us His protection. When we allow ourselves to submit to the principles, precepts, and commands of God we are allowing these restraints to give us an unimaginable freedom to experience true life.

Imagine for a moment an amusement park with roller coasters that did not believe in using safety restraints. It would be no surprise to see and hear about people being thrown from the cart falling to their demise. Yet we try to live life without the eternal safety restraints put in place by God. Trust the commands(restraints) of God to protect you especially in the times we live in. All that this world is putting their trust in is falling apart. They don't know who or what to trust, and that is breeding an atmosphere of hopelessness. Can I tell you that as we go through these times we can always have hope and peace because God does not change and He is still in control. Though you walk through all kinds of troubles do not fear because God will be with you and His precepts will guard and protect you.

Pastor James Biffert
Bethel