February 21, 2018

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO SHINE THE LIGHT ON MY HEART

II Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Don’t you love the Word of God!  (I am aware that grammatically you should not start a paragraph or sentence with a contraction, but I just wanted to.)  Before God explains what He is able to do, God explains what He has already done. Just in case there is a part of you that is going to doubt what God is getting ready to say, God unloads this little statement. “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness.” BOOM! So there was an infinity of darkness with no light whatsoever, and with just a word God created light. He made something out of nothing. But is that not what God always does? He makes something out nothing.

Erase six tell us that not only did God create and shine light where there was none, God also shined a light in our hearts. At just a few inches in diameter, our heart is minuscule as compared to the universe. I mean if God could shed light on billions upon billions of square miles, I guess He could shed a little light in our hearts.

Before we move on, let me point out something. You cannot control light unless you can create light. To be able to shine light, you must be able to provide light. If there is nothing to shine, then there is no shining. So God creates light, and God controls that light.

What is the light that God has shined on our hearts? It is the knowledge of God’s glory. You see, you and I cannot comprehend the Glory of God. For us to comprehend that, we will need God to shine that light on our heart. Whenever you or I sit in a church service, and we feel the precious Sprit of God moving among the people, that is not explainable in a book. That is not something that you can describe to an individual that doesn’t know the Lord. It’s just something that you sense because God has enlightened our heart with the knowledge of His glory. I cannot shine that on someone else. That must come from God. Just like God created something out of nothing in space, God creates something out of nothing in our heart. God put something there that does not exist until he creates it.

When God shines on our heart, that changes everything. It begins to bring humility. It begins to provide peace. It begins to change your attitude and our spirit. It begins to bring kindness when others treat us unkindly. It begins to create forgiveness in our heart where we used to hold a grudge. It creates meekness where pride used to be. It creates love where bitterness once had domain. You may be reading this and have a number of things you would like to say. Maybe something like the fact that you’ve had too much turmoil happen in you life to  d able to change your mind. Maybe there has been too many wrongs done to change the ill feelings that you have. Well I am here to tell you that God was able to create the sun, moon, and stars to light up the world. I think He can probably change your heart.

If you will notice two words in the last phrase of the verse that makes a huge difference. It is the words “to give”. God says that He will be happy “to give” you the light and the knowledge that you need. No cost to you.

So here it is. Today, may I encourage you to simply pray and ask God to shine on your heart today. Ask God to give you more knowledge of His glory. Ask God to allow you to see more of the face of Jesus, so that the people you meet will see more of Jesus in your face.