Christian friends, I want to encourage you to be a lightning bug in the darkness and GLOW for all to see! Just as lightning bugs have a short time on earth to shine, so do you, so make sure not to sit in one place or cover up your God-given glow. Don’t believe the lie of fear that tells you that you might offend someone by letting your glowing light. Holy Spirit goes ahead of you and works in people’s hearts, and maybe if others see your light shining brighter, they will be drawn to the source of the light that you emanate.
My dear lightning bugs, I see you, and Jesus does too. I know that it feels dark, but the solution to overcome this world is within each of us. The Creator of the Universe has not abandoned us, and his plan of redemption and completion will be fulfilled as prophecies continue to come to fruition. KNOW YOUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST. Feel it, know it, and adorn yourself with it every day.
Who you THINK you are is important, because who you actually ARE never changes. If you identify more with going to a certain church, attending only a particular denomination for worship, living in one community or city, or are hesitant to fly to something new, then your flame may continue to glow, but who will see it? How much more can God work through you if you let him guide you?
If you identify as a ______________ (fill in the blank regarding your denominational choice), and you are part of a local church that is not giving the Holy Spirit space to exist in worship, Godly fellowship, encouraging with a Biblical mindset rather than a worldly one, and is focused on tradition and formalities above an individual relationship with Jesus, then you have a decision to make. Which is more important – your identity as a _____________, or your identity as a CHRISTIAN? In Exodus 20:3, God commanded us that “You shall have no other gods before me.”
I had a vision as I sat in the church I was visiting this past Sunday of a thumb pressing down from the heavens, crushing the entire church building and all that was in it. Some fireflies flew away and survived, but most people did not survive. Tears welled up in my eyes and my heart was heavy, because so many beautiful souls were crushed, all because they didn’t see what God shared with me… a heaviness like death in the air, a singular moment of Holy Spirit-filled worship and warmth of God which was sadly interrupted by the scheduling choice of inserting a promotional announcement in the middle of worshiping our God, and a scattered sermon that focused on what I have been taught my whole life… of what I needed to DO, that one day we would be rewarded and to be able to worship in heaven, and a few personal stories by the pastor to make people chuckle before they went on their way.
The sermon message was about Seeking Him, but it didn’t seem to direct me to Jesus at all or make me feel like anyone would be able to find him if this was their only roadmap. I felt sad, because I heard the Lord tell me that people were being led astray with contradicting and complicated messages. People need a pure and uncomplicated message, and this is what I believe should be driven home by the person with the microphone in any church – Seek Jesus in the living words of the Bible. Spend time with him. Get to know him, and worship him with our entire being. It’s that simple.
WORSHIP NOW, my Christian lightning bug friends! DON’T WAIT, my Holy Spirit fire-filled brothers and sisters! Do not be crushed in these last days by idolizing a denomination, the status of a “name brand” church, or a pastor or priest. Things are shifting quickly, and I don’t want anyone to be caught sitting on their light in a pew of a church that is stuck in old ways, old formalities and an old structure that is crumbling before our very eyes. Jesus is patiently waiting for us to look at him, and to focus our attention only on him. Have no other idols.
If God is calling you to stay where you are, then shine, shine, shine, and make that church glow again! Make everyone around you see your light that comes from Christ! But if God is stirring something else inside of you, listen to that voice, even (and especially) if it doesn’t make any sense based on what you have been taught up until now.
Things are not as they seem on this earth, so discernment is extremely important. God’s plan for his children is glorious, though, and as we see God’s glory revealed, it will be very important that we are firm in our identity.