The Light said to the light, “You’re it!”

A Tip to maximise your Mid-Week Truth Turn Up …

Your Mid-Week Truth Turn Up is a 'meaty' devotional that can re-centre your heart on Jesus as you go along in your week. The devotional is slightly lengthier than a daily devotional and that is because I post them only once a week and they are meant to be your repeat meditation for the next 7 days till you receive the next Truth Turn Up.

My tip is therefore that as your week goes on, you visit and re-visit your Mid-Week Truth Turn up and meditate on the Bible Meditation passage, my write up as well as the Further Study at the bottom of the devotional. Take the whole week to meditate on it and get it into your spirit. Do not try to compress the whole devotional into one reading.

Enjoy (* wink *)

Coach Toyin 

The Light said to the light, “You’re it!”

YOUR MID-WEEK TRUTH TURN UP (DEVOTIONAL) BY COACH TOYIN

Meditate on this: John 8:12 and Matthew 5:13-16 

Feature verse: “Then Jesus spoke to them again saying, ‘I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12

This past week, my husband and I were catching up, and out of the blue, he was like, “You know what, everybody wants to do great things and change the world, but many of us can’t even make a difference in our own backyard.”

I gasped, and then took a few minutes to let that sink in. Ain’t that the truth though? We are all experts when it comes to identifying the brokenness we hate to see in the world (which is a good thing, by the way). But many times, we are quick to point out ‘the other guy’ who is meant to fix that problem; we hardly ever look closer and consider what we are meant to be doing, and how we can turn things around.

For example, my heart breaks when I drive the streets and encounter women begging, with babies in their arms, or on their backs. My chest burns when I see images of children afflicted by war, some of them separated from their families, some have watched their parents killed or harmed … I can’t describe how it makes me feel even just typing this. But then, so what? Should I leave it to the president of Nigeria to address? Or to rich people? Law-makers? Policy makers? Corporate social responsibility teams? Men? ‘Developed’ countries? Do I throw my hands up and say, “well, it’s a world problem and there’s nothing ‘little me’ can do to change the world? Or do I rather prayerfully engage my spirit with God’s Spirit to determine how He has uniquely equipped me to BE THE LIGHT in a very dark world, starting with my own immediate areas of influence?

In our text for today, Jesus declared to His disciples that HE IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD! HALLELUJAH! And then He threw them a curve ball; He told them that anyone who follows Him shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Meaning that when you and I make a genuine decision to follow Jesus Christ, we enter into His light, and this not only stamps out darkness in our lives, it also equips us to be the light of the world, just like Jesus is, and to stamp out darkness in the world, just like Jesus does/did. Wow! Isn’t it mind-blowing to know that “You’re it!”?

Now, let me change gear a bit. Notice I said “be the light of the world, just like Jesus is“? In other words, Jesus did not invite us into His light so that we can shine a lesser light, or a different light to His. When you choose to follow Jesus, He sets you up to stamp out darkness in your area of influence, with the same supernatural power and passion that He did/does it. This is why in Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus instructed His disciples to “let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”. In other words, let your light be so powerful like Christ’s, that when the world sees that your works are dispelling darkness in your own areas of influence, the same way Christ’s did, they will have no choice but to attribute it to God Almighty.I’ll end with this: It’s Election time here in Nigeria this week, and as a family and church community, we have been praying and pressing into what God is saying about Nigeria at this time. One thing that we have to understand as the Church in Nigeria (or in any country) is that the state of government is a reflection of the state of the nation, and the state of the nation is a reflection of the state of the Church. If Jesus, the Light, has called His followers “the light”, and if indeed we are now equipped to dispel darkness wherever we are, why is there so much darkness in our nation? Why is there darkness in schools, communities, families, government, companies, and worst of all, churches?

Children of God, we are it! You are it. You are the solution that Nigeria is waiting for. You may not be able to become the President of Nigeria right now, but maybe you are the President of your neighbourhood security club. You may not be able to become Chief Justice of Nigeria, but maybe you run a bakery in an impoverished community. You may not be able to become Governor of Lagos, but perhaps you employ domestic staff in your home, or you are a teacher or a doctor or a street sweeper, or a father, or an orphanage carer, or a security guard … In your own area(s) of influence, BE THE LIGHT; shining with the same intensity that Jesus did/does. If we the children of God do this, the Bible says that darkness will be dispelled in our communities and ultimately in our nation. Sounds simplistic, but friends, this is the solution that God has always intended.

The Light said to the light, “You’re it.”

P.S. If you need some practical help or guidance on what it means to be the light, or how to discover your own unique God-given purpose in the world, feel free to email me on thenarrowgateway@gmail.com. I have really good and practical tools that you can use on this journey. I am also willing to take you on as a one-on-one coachee, if this suits you better. You can find all my coaching programs and offerings here.

Let us pray

Lord Jesus, thank You for the privilege of being the light of the world. What a wonderful honour it is, to be able to join You in dispelling darkness in this world. I choose today and always to take up that mantle daily. Show me how to be the light in my areas of influence. Show me the unique tools, skills, talents, platforms and resources that You have equipped me with, so that my light can so shine before men. Help me to stay faithful to Your agenda of dispelling darkness in the world and establishing Your Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Further Study (Optional)

Ephesians 2:1-10 We were saved by grace, through faith in Christ, into good works that God prepared for us to do from before time began.

Romans 8:19-23 All of creation is waiting in earnest expectation of the revelation of the children of God.

John 14:9-26 He who believes in Me, greater works than I do, he will do.