{"id":279,"date":"2012-11-22T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-11-22T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/11\/the-parable-of-the-lamp-on-a-stand\/"},"modified":"2012-11-22T06:00:01","modified_gmt":"2012-11-22T06:00:01","slug":"the-parable-of-the-lamp-on-a-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/11\/the-parable-of-the-lamp-on-a-stand\/","title":{"rendered":"The Parable of the Lamp on a Stand"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Weekly Overview:<\/h2>\n<p>Jesus loved to use stories to illustrate profound, life-transforming concepts. He loved to use real and genuine settings, characters, and ideas that apply to all of us to reveal God\u2019s heart of pursuit and love. This week we\u2019re going to spend time allowing the parables of Jesus to speak directly to our situations, mindsets, and core beliefs about who God is. Open your heart and mind to be transformed by the powerful and captivating stories of Jesus.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Scripture:<\/h2>\n<p><em>\u201cYou are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.&#8221;<\/em> Matthew 5:14-15<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"worship\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Worship:<\/h2>\n<h3>Closer by Bethel Music featuring Steffany Frizzell Gretzinger<\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: block; margin: auto auto 30px auto; width: 100%; float:left;\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: block; margin: auto; float: left; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #484846; padding: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jas8siNG3Bo?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Devotional:<\/h2>\n<p>Reading Matthew 5:14-15 used to stress me out. Jesus says, <em>\u201cYou are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.&#8221;<\/em> How can we with all our mistakes, misgivings, and failures be <em>\u201cthe light of the world?&#8221;<\/em> How could God in all his wisdom choose to use us to reveal Jesus, the only hope of eternal salvation, to a lost and dying world?<\/p>\n<p>As I grow in my knowledge of God\u2019s heart, I grow in the revelation of his desire to use me. Passages like Matthew 5:14-15 used to focus my attention on my own sin and darkness rather than God\u2019s grace and love. But faithfully in his love, he guides my thoughts to what matters: the overwhelming reality of the Holy Spirit transforming me into the image of the God who created me. Today, let\u2019s allow the Spirit and the word to transform the way we view ourselves and how God in his infinite wisdom would use us to change the world.<\/p>\n<p>Ephesians 2:10 says, <em>\u201cFor we are [God\u2019s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.&#8221;<\/em> At salvation your identity changed. You are now <em>\u201ccreated in Christ Jesus.&#8221;<\/em> 2 Corinthians 5:17 says it this way: <em>\u201cTherefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.&#8221;<\/em> You are a new creation not by your own doing, but by the powerful finished work of Christ Jesus on the cross. At salvation your sins were wiped away, cast off as far as the east is from the west. Such was the transformation that took place in your heart at salvation that you could be filled with God himself. Jesus says in John 14:16-17, <em>\u201cAnd I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.&#8221;<\/em> God himself <em>\u201cdwells with you&#8221;<\/em> and through salvation now lives inside you.<\/p>\n<p>Passages like the parable of the lamp on a stand used to stress me out because I didn\u2019t understand what God wanted to reveal through me to the world. I used to think God wanted to reveal perfection in me, that I had to act perfectly to demonstrate Christ. What I didn\u2019t realize is that the greatest revelation I could give a broken and needy world is that God, through the immeasurable depth of his love, meets me in my brokenness and continually makes me whole. I realized that God, only by his grace, is taking what was lost, weak, selfish, and lonely and is filling me with unimaginable love and security through restored relationship with him. God doesn\u2019t want you to reveal perfection. He wants to reveal the fact that in your imperfection he has loved you from the beginning with an everlasting love.<\/p>\n<p>Because you are weak and in need of God, you are the absolute best person to lead others to Jesus. If you act like you have everything together, as if nothing is wrong, then those distant from God will have no reason to believe God desires relationship with them. But in revealing your imperfection, in being honest and real with those around you, you will offer hope to a world that has none. You will reveal the core of the gospel: that God has incredible works prepared for those who simply come to him in need and cry out for his help. In your imperfection you are a perfect example of Jesus\u2019 love that comes only by grace.<\/p>\n<p>God desires to shine the light of his love through you today in powerful ways. He longs to reveal to others how deeply he has loved you in his grace. He has incredible plans in store for you if you will simply be real with a world that desperately needs relationship with their Creator. Have the courage to be yourself and to be honest and vulnerable. Honesty is all your heavenly Father asks of you. In your honesty, God will reveal a greater love than this world has ever known. In the reality of who you are, God will shine forth hope, guiding those who are lost to the safe shores of restored relationship with him. May you find peace in the fact that God longs to use you exactly as you are. May you find purpose in the works he has set before you to do. And may you find joy in the revelation of God\u2019s immeasurable love poured out on you through his grace.<\/p>\n<h2>Guided Prayer:<\/h2>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\n<p><strong>1. Meditate on the depth of God\u2019s love for you.<\/strong> In your sin and need of him he continually shows you grace, gives you his presence, and offers you joy for your mourning.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIn this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.&#8221;<\/em> 1 John 4:10<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cYou make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.&#8221;<\/em> Psalm 16:11<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cYou have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.&#8221;<\/em> Psalm 30:11<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Now ask the Spirit to reveal God\u2019s desire to use you today.<\/strong> Allow God to shift the way you see yourself. Allow him to ignite in you a passion to see those who are distant from God come to the revelation of his grace and love for them.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cYou are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.&#8221;<\/em> Matthew 5:14-15<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cFor we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.&#8221;<\/em> Ephesians 2:10<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Ask God to fill you with the grace to be courageous and honest.<\/strong> Ask for the strength to be real and vulnerable with others.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cBut he gives more grace. Therefore it says, \u2018God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.&#8221;<\/em> James 4:6<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>One of the most transformative parts of living in relationship with our heavenly Father is the freedom from having to act around others. You are fully loved, liked, and enjoyed just as you are. So great was God\u2019s desire for relationship with you that he sent his only Son to die for you. There is a new peace available to you as you live in the freedom to be fully yourself. Rest in the fact that the Creator of the universe loves and likes you. You have no reason to act. May you find security today as the love of your heavenly Father lays a sure foundation for you to live honestly and courageously.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Extended Reading:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Psalm+30&#038;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Psalm 30<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Weekly Overview: Jesus loved to use stories to illustrate profound, life-transforming concepts. He loved to use real and genuine settings, characters, and ideas that apply to all of us to reveal God&#8217;s heart of pursuit and love. This week we&#8217;re going to spend time allowing the parables of Jesus to speak directly to our situations,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":636,"featured_media":282,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first15"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Parable of the Lamp on a Stand<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Weekly Overview: Jesus loved to use stories to illustrate profound, life-transforming concepts. He loved to use real and genuine settings, characters, and ideas that apply to all of us to reveal God&#8217;s heart of pursuit and love. 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