Week 9 – Thursday – Shine Like Stars

Go read Philippians 2:15.

“. . . shine like stars in the universe. . .”

This is an absolutely beautiful picture. I want to talk about two aspects of stars that directly effect what it means for us when Paul uses this metaphor.

The Power of Light
If you think about Paul sitting in a jail cell as he writes to the Philippians, you have to imagine he had a good bit of time to sit and look out the bars of his cell at the stars in the sky. Sunday night Dustin referenced nights when you feel like the stars are only a few feet away and if you just reached up you could grab them. In passing he mentioned that the truth is stars are light years away. Let’s unpack that a little bit. One light year is almost SIX TRILLION MILES!!! I sound like a politician lying about deficits and tax cuts. SIX TRILLION miles of darkness can’t stop the light of a star from cutting through. This is the power of the light that lives inside of you if you.**

Go read 1 John 4:4.
Go read John 8:12.
Go read Matthew 5:14.
Go read Matthew 5:16.

<> How do you allow Jesus to shine through you?
<> Do walk in the understanding that light is more powerful than darkness?
<> If the Holy Spirit lives in you – the same Spirit that raised Christ from death – what are you afraid of?

A balanced understanding of the power of God in you is to humbly and equally accept that Jesus is incredibly powerful and you are incredibly not powerful. Out of that humility, if Jesus says He wants His Spirit to shine so brightly through you that His light cuts through and reveals darkness, then so be it. We don’t think we’re powerful on our own. We don’t think the light is ours. We don’t think the power is something we can wield or control. But we DO humbly accept that Christ might want to do things through our lives that will blow our minds because He is powerfully capable and He has this thing about hating darkness.

The Directional Use of Stars
When Paul wrote Philippians, GPS wasn’t invented yet. Google Maps was still a few thousand years off and boats were the fastest way to get around. Road maps on the open seas aren’t so useful. But stars are. Stars are a sailor’s best friend and with simple calculations and seasonal star charts, you can literally sail almost anywhere you want to. To the Philippians (who lived in Philippi just a few miles from the Aegean Sea) when Paul told them they shine like stars in the universe, they knew that stars helped people get where they needed to go.

<> Does the light of your life direct people towards where they need to go?

Tomorrow we’re going to talk more about how we are directional, but remember Matthew 5:16 that you read just a few minutes ago. The actions that flow out of a transformed heart with the power of the Holy Spirit alive and breathing inside of you SHOULD point people towards glorifying your Father in Heaven. That’s the goal.



**The light only lives inside of you if you honestly confess that Jesus is Lord and that you aren’t with your mouth, repent (change your mind and your actions) from thinking that sin is a good way to go through life, and believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead so He has the power to birth life in you where there was spiritual death before.