As I read through the Scriptures, it is always amazing to me, just how personal the words are!  A lot of people read the Bible and never hear the personal message that God is delivering to them.  I know so many people who know what the Bible has to say, but all they have is knowledge.  Knowledge without application is useless!  I think that is why Jesus was always making His message extra personal!  In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world!”  Jesus is talking to us as Believers and telling us that we are to light up this depressing, discouraging and dark world with His inspiration, encouragement and light.  My job as a Christian is to illuminate the darkness with the presence and power of Christ in and through my life!

Light is what we are, not just what we do!  When Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world!”  We need to understand that this is about so much more than just representation!  This is about supplying the opposite of what the world is used to.  We do this by daily walking with Jesus and continually lighting the way!

You Influence Does Matter!  We like to pretend that things aren’t so bad, but the truth is:  This is a dark world and many of our Churches have become dark churches!  Don’t trade ways, hand over or give up the gift of light!  We have a mission:  We are to shine bright Jesus this world in which we live.  Let Jesus shine through your life and you will ILLUMINATE and chase away the darkness.  When Jesus is shining though your life you will ACCENTUATE the bad that needs to be avoided and the good that needs to be grabbed!  If you are really lighting this world with the presence of Jesus you will VALIDATE and help people to see, so they can believe!

Are you illuminating and chasing away darkness?  Do you accentuate the positives and get rid of the negatives?  Have you validated Christ and His power, so that others see Jesus in you?  Get your light out from under that basket and put it up on a lamp stand so that everyone might enjoy te blessing of God’s presence and power!

In Matthew 5:13 Jesus said:  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything; except to be thrown out an trampled under foot by men!”  Jesus makes His message personal by saying YOU are the SALT of the earth!  Jesus is talking to you and me – Believers, Christ Followers, People that have relationship with Him!  We live in a rotten, decaying and dying world and our job as Christians is to ARREST THE ROT!

Notice that Jesus says:  “You ARE the SALT of the earth!”  He does not ask us to be a representative of salt.  He does not ask us to supply the salt.  He does not challenge us to act as a salt substitute!  Jesus is telling us that if we are in relationship with Him – we are the salt of the earth!  The earth that we live on, while it is a rotten and dying earth, it is not what it could be.  Because Christians are here, the rot is not near as bad as it could be or should be.  This earth could be a place of great blessing, but because of the rot of sin and disobedience, much of the blessing has been replaced with rot, but still the rot does not have complete control – not as long as we as Believers are busy doing and being what God created us and Jesus saved us to do.

Realize it or not – YOUR INFLUENCE MATTERS!  You may feel like you are the only one trying to live the right life and you may feel like you are not making muchof a difference, but stop and think for a moment:  What if your influence and contribution was not around?  Would rot gain a little more ground?  Please don’t think that you and your life lived for Christ does not matter, because it matters and it matters a lot!  YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH!

Jesus said:  “I am come that you might have life and have life more abundantly!”  We can’t have this life that Jesus is talking about just by pretending that we have it.  We try so hard now a days to look spiritual, I think in an attempt to try and convince others of something that we can’t even convince our-self of!  My relationship with Jesus is the most important thing in my life.  Without this relationship, I am nothing and my life means nothing!  Jesus is more than my salvation – Jesus is my life!  I cannot and I will not try and do life without Him!  Some people will respond to my giving Jesus as the answer to life with:  “But, if you just knew my problem!”  To which I would like to respond:  “If you just knew my Jesus!”  It is time for the people that really know Jesus through a real, personal and meaningful relationship to share Jesus in a real and relevant way.

I am a Christian.  I have a relationship with Jesus!  I love life and I have a good time and that’s more than okay – that’s the way that God has always intended for it to be.  Having a relationship with Jesus is not about restriction, but freedom.  Jesus does not restrict me, Jesus sets me free and I have the power to say no to the things that would rob me of the abundant life that He has for me and yes to the things that would build and grow me into the special person that He has created me to be!

God wants each one of us to have an amazing, abundant and incredible life.  A life that is full of His love, overflowing with grace, mercy, forgiveness and restoration.  I am saved from my sins and from a horrible place called hell.  I am saved for my Savior and for a magnificent place called Heaven.  I am looking forward to Heaven, but until the Lord carries me there, I am going to enjoy the Heaven that is living inside of me!