A Year with Jesus: 'The Light Now Shines!'

Note from Jesus

Dear Believer,

Somewhere along the way, My light shown into your heart and changed you. More than just the light from the bright star that guided the magi from the East to find Me, My light brings life for all humankind who choose to find it. I promised this in My earthly ministry:

I am the light that shines through the cosmos; if you walk with Me, you will thrive in the nourishing light that gives life and will not know darkness.
(John 8:12)

The apostle Paul put it this way:

God Who spoke light into existence, saying, "Let light shine from the darkness," is the very One Who sets our hearts ablaze to shed light on the knowledge of God's glory revealed in the face of Jesus, the Anointed One.
(2 Corinthians 4:6)

So I want your heart to be "ablaze" because you have found Me, the "light of life," and have chosen to walk with Me in that light. My light shines in the darkness, and nothing can extinguish it (John 1:4-9). So as you wonder and marvel at the light of My Father's glory with the angels filling the sky for the shepherds watching their flocks (Luke 2:8-9) and as you imagine the long journey of the magi to Bethlehem following the star (Matthew 2:1-2), never forget that My light still shines for you to find your way to come home to Me.

Verses to Live

Matthew wrote about My bringing light from the very beginnings of My ministry.

Then the devil left Jesus [following His temptations]. And heavenly messengers came and ministered to Him.

It was not long until powerful people put John [the Baptist] in prison. When Jesus learned this, He went back to Galilee. He moved from Nazareth to Capernaum, a town by the sea in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali. He did this to fulfill one of the prophecies of Isaiah:
In the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the road to the sea along the Jordan in Galilee, the land of the outsiders - In these places, the people who had been living in darkness saw a great light. The light of life will overtake those who dwelt in the shadowy darkness of death.
From that time on, preaching was part of Jesus' work.
(Matthew 4:11-17)

I was not shy in declaring that I AM the true light that brings life to the world! I told my disciples:

While it is daytime, we must do the works of the One Who sent Me. But when the sun sets and night falls, this work is impossible. Whenever I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.
(John 9:4-5)

One of the most beautiful ways this has been expressed was in a little letter the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy.

God has already saved us and called us to this holy calling - not because of any good works we may have done, but because of His own intention and because eons and eons ago (before time itself existed), He gave us this grace in Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King. And now, the time has come! That grace was revealed when our Savior, Jesus the Anointed, appeared; and through His resurrection He has wiped out death and brought to light life and immortality by way of this good news.
(2 Timothy 1:9-10)

Your job is to let this light shine through you into the world so that others can find their way to the Father.

And you, beloved, are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden. Similarly it would be silly to light a lamp and then hide it under a bowl. When someone lights a lamp, she puts it on a table or a desk or a chair, and the light illumines the entire house. You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it.
(Matthew 5:14-16)

Response in Prayer

Father, may the light of Your grace in Jesus shine through my heart and into the lives of those around me. May my life be like the star the magi saw and followed to Jesus, in Whose name I pray. Amen.