Let your light shine! By: Dr E O Alawale!

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.! For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.! And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.! Isaiah 60: 1-3!

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Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.! Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.! Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.! Mat 5:14-16! These two passages imply that we already have a light in us. We are the light of the world. Our light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon us. However, in order for the light to truly shine, the onus is on us to permit it to shine. God will not take us to a height or on a journey if we are unwilling to walk with him. The rst step on this journey is to believe Gods word that says we carry the light. We need to learn to see ourselves the way God sees us.!

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Using light as an analogy, Pastor Alawale explained that we as the light of the world ought to always make a positive impact in a world of darkness. If God permits us to live in the midst of darkness, then rather than being swallowed up by darkness and loosing ourselves, we ought to bring light and illumination to that dark place. ! How does light exert its inuence?! -! Light brings divine understanding and helps us make the right choices in our careers, ! ! relationships and other aspects of our lives. ! -! Light takes away fear and allows us to live our life in condence (Psalm 27:1)! -! Light takes away ignorance! -! Light shows the way and gives us direction by shining outwards. Similarly, the positive ! ! inuence of the church should not be limited to within the church but should reach far and ! wide! -! Light produces a change of attitude!

How is light hidden?! -! By keeping quiet when we should speak out and be heard. ! -! Going along with the crowd and being afraid to stand out.! -! Denying the potential within us and therefore not allowing ourselves be the best that we can ! be in whatever aspect of our lives.! -! Not explaining our light to others.! -! Ignoring the needs of others. There is no point shining light in an area that is already ! ! illuminated. We need to nd areas where light is missing.! -! Sin!! Living in sin dims our lights.!

If we do decide to shine for God, then God will uncover and showcase us. He will bring us out into the limelight and increase our circle of inuence. Believe in whom God says you are. Have a sense of divine mission. Dont size yourself down and do not conform to the standards of the world. Shine, stand out and be the standard!!