Happy Thursday

Dispelling The Darkness!

"Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." - Matthew 5:15

In today's passage about the tabernacle, we read that the lamps were to burn continually.  They were to be tended and supplied with oil so their light would never go out. Throughout the Bible, lamps are used to picture our lives as believers.

Jesus said, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Where does a lamp do the most good? Outside at high noon or in a dark place where there is no other source of illumination?  Yet how many times we complain when God puts us in a situation where we are about the only source of light.

I have to smile when I think of a young Marine named Tony, who is having a profoundly positive effect on the men around him.  His life is a light in a dark place.  When Tony first made his faith in Christ known, a lot of his fellow Marines laughed at him.  But Tony didn't react.  He continued to live for Christ, doing his job with everything he had.  He was promoted to the rank of sergeant at the age of twenty, an almost unheard of thing in the Marines.

We may work in an office with people who have no regard for God.  Life in a college dorm or a military barracks can seem like a black hole.  But that's where a lamp is needed most.  A lamp doesn't have to make noise, have a fancy exterior, or call attention to itself.  It just has to provide illumination in the deep shadows of life.

Prayer
"Lord, let the contrast of my light against the darkness around me cause people to ask about its source.  Amen. "

The darker the area around me, the brighter my light will shine.


Just A Closer Walk With Thee
I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Refrain

     Just a closer walk with Thee,
     Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
     Daily walking close to Thee,
     Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

Refrain

When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Refrain

Daily Smile:
A man's car stalled on a country road one morning. When the man got out to fix it, a cow came along and stopped beside him. "Your trouble is probably in the carburetor," said the cow.

Startled, the man jumped back and ran down the road until he met a farmer. The amazed man told the farmer his story.

"Was it a large red cow with a brown spot over the right eye?" asked the farmer. "Yes, yes," the man replied.

"Oh! I wouldn't listen to Bessie," said the farmer. "She doesn't know a thing about cars."

In The News:

Kansas House Overwhelmingly Passes Bill Declaring Life Begins at Fertilization
Members of the Kansas House of Representatives have overwhelmingly passed a sweeping abortion bill that, among other regulations, declares life begins at fertilization, the Christian News Network reports. The bill declares: "The legislature hereby finds and declares the following: (1) The life of each unborn human being begins at fertilization; (2) unborn children have interests in life, health and well-being that should be protected; and (3) the parents of unborn children have protectable interests in the life, health and well-being of the unborn children of such parents." HR 2253, which passed the House 92 to 31, also restrains the abortion industry in a number of ways, including prohibiting abortionists from receiving tax breaks, barring doctors in training at the state medical school from performing abortions on state time, requiring that all abortionists notify women of the risks associated with abortion, and prohibiting organizations that perform abortions from teaching in state sexual education classes. The bill will make its way through the state Senate in the near future, and is expected to pass. If it passes the Senate, it will move to the desk of Gov. Sam Brownback for signing. Brownback, a Roman Catholic, has remarked in the past that he would sign any pro-life bill into law that made it to his desk.

Belgium Legislature Considers Euthanasia for Minors
Belgian lawmakers are considering whether to expand legalized euthanasia to include children 18 years of age or younger, Baptist Press reports. Euthanasia is already being practiced on minors, an expert told legislators. "We all know it," and physicians "need a legal framework," said Dominique Biarent, who oversees the intensive care unit at Queen Fabiola Children's University Hospital in Brussels. Pro-life blogger Wesley Smith criticized Biarent's call for legal guidelines. "Euthanasia guidelines are worse than meaningless, they are pretense," Smith wrote. "They exist to give the illusion of control. But once people come [to] fully accept the premise of euthanasia -- killing as a remedy for suffering -- it's Katy bar the door." Belgium became the second country to legalize euthanasia in 2002; The Netherlands preceded it.