LIGHT A CANDLE

Sitting in a room filled with people, the conversation drifted into idle talk about the awful government we have, how things are going from bad to worse, how young people today just don’t have a chance in a world like that, prices for gas and groceries are just out of sight, rioting on college campuses, surely Christ is returning in the next few days and months. The year was 1962. Sounds almost identical to some conversations I heard recently in a group of people that Jesus said are supposed to be the light of the world. I have been amazed at how one person can enter a room and fill it with doom and gloom in a moment’s time. Perhaps I have been more impressed when a room filled with doomsday talking people was suddenly transformed into light and hope by one man’s joyful walk and talk. It was as though we were all in a dark and dingy room when the Light of the world walked in, and suddenly we were immersed in sunshine…or should I have said Son Shine?



Luke 11:36 If your whole body is full of light and not darkness, it will be as bright as a lamp shining on you."

Does a room light up when we walk into it, or does it get darker?
Jesus said, “I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” I don’t think about abundant living when listening to complaining and fearful thoughts about life. I think about lack and poverty and death. If it’s the goodness of God that leads people to repentance and if we are to be the light of the world…should not we who have the Light of the world living inside us be lighting candles rather than cursing the darkness? Is it possible that we don’t spend enough time letting God’s Word shine in our hearts? Jesus taught that “out of the abundance of the heart…our mouth speaks.” It’s not so important to watch what we say, as to what we take into our hearts by what we read and listen to and watch.

The Psalms teach us that the Bible is like a lamp shines on our path to let us see where we are going. It’s also helpful to others who are following closely behind us. I thank God for teachers who saw what was, rather than what wasn’t…who saw the glass half full instead of half empty…who proclaimed the “Good News” instead of proclaiming the bad news. May God help us to become candle lighters instead of being candle snuffers.

May we fulfill Jesus command for us to “let our lights shine” by the way we walk and talk. May the computers and rooms and communities and businesses we walk into be transformed as we stop cursing the darkness and begin lighting candles. Maybe we should light a candle and set it in the room today as a reminder to LIGHT A CANDLE where ever we go.

Selah…
Al Yoder
2/6/2011

Feeding Sheep

I listened to a fellow pastor who raises sheep on his farm. It intrigued me how he gets up in the middle of the night to help the sheep have little lambs to keep them from freezing. He makes sure they are protected from coyotes and wolves. He also sees to it that they have adequate food and water. I see this same pastor up late at night looking after God?s lambs and sheep in the Church family. We are blessed to have a pastor who cares this much for our spiritual well being, that he lays aside his own needs to relate to our needs. There is a Bible story where Jesus had teaches Peter about the connection between loving Him and feeding His sheep. Some of Jesus disciples had been fishing all night, but in the morning, their nets were still empty. Discouraged, they came toward shore when someone called out to them, ?Have you caught anything?? They replied, ?No,? and the man told them to cast their net on the other side of the ship. They tried it and within moments, their net was full of fish and starting to break! (John 21:3?6.) When the disciples realized that it was Jesus standing there on the shore, they came and had breakfast with Him. After they ate together, Jesus turned to Peter and asked him three questions:

?Peter?.do you love me more than these? Feed my lambs.?
?Peter?.do you love me? Feed my sheep.?
?Peter?do you love me? Feed my sheep.? (John 21:15-17)

Jesus used several different Greek words for love in these questions. The word love in His first two questions to Peter was the Greek word agapao. In the third question He used the word phileo. Each time Peter?s response was: ?I love (phileo) you.? The word agapao means ?to esteem, love.? It is an act of the will and implies love for the sake of meeting another person?s needs. It is the kind of love that God shows us, and that we are to show to Him and other people. The meaning of phileo includes ?having affection for someone, to befriend.? It is usually based on mutual interests. Peter was upset when Jesus asked him, ?Do you (phileo) me??
When Jesus instructed Peter, He used two different words that are translated as feed. ?Feed (bosko) my lambs. ? Feed (poimaino) my sheep. ? Feed (bosko) my sheep.? The Greek word bosko means ?to provide food,? while the Greek word poimaino has a broader meaning. It includes all of a shepherd?s responsibilities, such as training, protecting, and leading, in addition to feeding. Jesus was telling Peter and us as pastors to care for both lambs and sheep. A young lamb has unique needs and requires different levels of care than an older sheep.

The word ?my? in Jesus instruction is also significant. These were not Peter?s sheep, they were God?s sheep. Peter brought this out in I Peter 5:2 to fellow pastors when he wrote: ?Feed (poimaino) the flock of God which is among you.? Jesus had charged Peter, to be a spiritual leader in His Church who would feed and tend His lambs and sheep. He wanted Peter to help new Chris tians to grow into maturity and then keep tending and feeding them even after they are mature. This applies to Chris tian leaders as well as parents, who are to be the spiritual leaders in their homes. As parents we should first think of our own children and then all those who are in our sphere of influence. As leaders, our love for Jesus is directly linked to how well we tend and feed those in within our care.
Selah....
Al Yoder