JOHN SHIRK – In the Year to Shine, today’s Vital Step to a Radiant Faith is loving our enemies.

This is a call to extraordinary love. Jesus said that even sinners will do good to those who are good to them. But to do good for those who hate us? That takes love from above. Jesus did that for us when He died on the cross.

Jesus said in Luke 6:35, “Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting anything back. Then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”

Another way we can love our enemies is to bless them and pray for them. That is what Jesus told us to do in Luke 6:28.

The way of the world is to fight against our enemies or avoid them altogether. But the way of Jesus is to love our enemies in the hope that they might be won over as friends of God.

Loving our Enemies is a vital step to a radiant faith that makes a difference in our world.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Light Reflection is from Daniel 12:2 and 3.

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

The stars in the universe have been created by God and declare His glory.

Those stars can be a source of motivation for us to be witnesses for Jesus to a world that is experiencing spiritual darkness. We were made to shine and reflect His goodness and glory. As we do, we become a voice of hope to point people to the light of God’s love through faith in Jesus Christ.

This Light Reflection inspires us to be an influence for righteousness in the Year to Shine.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Light Reflection is from Philippians 2, verses 14 and 15.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.

The word of life is a remedy for grumbling and arguing, filling us with reminders of God’s love for us and moving our faith to shine for His glory.

Dwight Moody once said, “Remember, a small light will do a great deal when it is in a very dark place.” Our faith has opportunity to shine in dark places as we hold firmly to the word of life and hold out the word of life in our personal connections.

This Light Reflection inspires us to do everything without grumbling or arguing in the Year to Shine.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year to Shine, today’s Vital Step to a Radiant Faith is Hospitality.

The motive behind hospitality is love for strangers. There was a time when your friends today were strangers. Someone needed to break the ice and reach out with some gesture of kindness. Hospitality is one effective practice of turning strangers into friends. The practice of hospitality not only builds relationships, but also meets needs.

In the days of the early church, God’s servants would travel from place to place and need a place to stay for the night. They would find it in the hospitality of believers in the Lord who opened their home to them.

Third John verse 7 says, “It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.”

Romans 12:13 instructs us to “share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

Hospitality is a vital step to a radiant faith that makes a difference in our world.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

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JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Light Reflection is from Psalm 148, verses 1, 3, and 5.

“Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights above….Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars…Let them praise the name of the LORD, for at his command they were created.”

God’s creation is designed to reflect His glory. As we do what God created us to do, we find delight in fulfilling our purpose of magnifying Him.

Psalm 95 calls us to bow down in worship and kneel before the LORD our Maker, for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

This Light Reflection inspires us to join with God’s creation to praise the LORD in the Year to Shine.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year to Shine, today’s Vital Step to a Radiant Faith is loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Jesus calls this the second greatest commandment in the law. We are introduced to this command in Leviticus 19:18.

“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.”

The LORD was making this command to the Israelites in the days of Moses, and Jesus affirms the relevance of this command to our lives as well.

Our neighbor might be the person who lives next to us, works next to us, or worships next to us. Wherever we are, there are usually people nearby that we can engage with the love of God. Where that love is real and pure, we have the opportunity to build relationships based on trust, good will and respect. This kind of love is willing to look beyond our own interests to also look out for the interests of others.

Loving our Neighbor as ourselves is a vital step to a radiant faith that makes a difference in our world.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Light Reflection is from Psalm 19:1 and 2.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

Astronomers estimate that there are 100 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy alone. Each one was created by God and has been named by God. The stars speak of God’s attention to His creation.  The sun that shines brightly in the daytime was also created by God, and speaks of God’s faithfulness. Just as the sun rises every day, so His compassion for us is new every morning.

This Light Reflection inspires us to look up into the sky and marvel at God’s creation in the Year to Shine.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year to Shine, today’s Vital Step to a Radiant Faith is Loving our Spouse and Family.

The family unit is God’s idea. It’s a support structure where faith, love, respect, commitment and cooperation have opportunity to thrive.

Jesus gave the blueprint for God’s design of marriage with these words in Matthew 19:5, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Many years ago, Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a song for his wife to reassure her of his commitment to their marriage. That song was “I Will Be Here.”

“I will be here when the laughter turns to crying, through the winning, losing, and trying. We’ll be together, ‘cause I will be here.”

Marriage is designed to reflect the sacred and solid relationship between Jesus and His bride, which is the church.

Loving Our Spouse and Family is a vital step to a radiant faith that makes a difference in our world.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com