Today's SOUL JOURNEY

Life: Live It!
from Soul Journey's site

I walked up to the counter, paid for my ticket, turned to walk into the building—and there was Princess Diana! Even though she was made of wax (and the real Diana died years ago), the figure was so lifelike that I had to catch my breath. I entered the wax museum and did lots of double-takes. Mel Gibson waved to fans from the red carpet. Buffy the Vampire Slayer dared any cold-blooded creatures of the night to come close. Tiger Woods lined up a putt. Bono took the stage, ready to “walk on” “in the name of love” on this “beautiful day.”

But unlike the real versions, those wax stars are still there—frozen in those same positions. That Tiger Woods will never sink the putt; that Buffy will never kick some vampire’s tail. None of them will ever be the real-life originals they're based on. They're lifeless. Dead.

And so were you and I . . . before we became followers of Jesus. We were dead in our selfishness and wrongdoing (Ephesians 2:1). We were empty. We were lifeless shadows of what God intended us to be. But through Jesus’ victory over death and our faith in Him as our Savior, we've come to life! The power that raised Jesus from physical death is the same power we have inside our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11).

You're no longer frozen in your helplessness, your hopelessness. You're no longer controlled by the cold darkness of sin. Will you continue to wrestle with sin? Yes. But God's presence in your heart and life gives you power to defeat it. Your soul carries His light with you wherever you go. And that light gives you life—even when you're surrounded by those who are still in darkness, those whose souls are dead.

Let His light shine through your words and your actions. Don't live as only a frozen replica of what your Savior intends you to be. He gave you His very own light—His own life—so that you could “have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). You are alive in Jesus!
—Tracy Carbaugh

bottom line: Let your life shine!