How To Be A Bright Star :)

I read this yesterday by a Brian Johnson. (I hope he doesn't mind me posting it here :) Thank you Brian, wherever you are!--------------------------One night I was seeking God. I drive trucks, and was halfway between Melbourne and Sydney. I really love those long trips in the truck. I get a chance to be on my own with the Lord for many hours while driving. I listen to tapes, pray and sing to Him, or just fellowship and enjoy being a Christian. This particular trip I so much wanted to hear his voice. I knew that He wanted to speak to me far more than I want to hear, so I made a decision. I would not try and generate any voice within; I would not listen to my head. I would just wait on Him. I had stopped at a Roadhouse (all night truck stop) and it was about 10 pm. After eating, I was walking back to the truck looking forward to listening to another tape. It was a beautiful night. I looked up at the clear sky. In the middle of the Australian bush the stars are so amazingly bright. I just stood there for a minute and stared. Wow! Amongst all those stars one stood out above the rest, and it caught my attention. Immediately I sensed a voice say, "Why does that star stand out to you"? I thought, "Here we go, Brian's talking to himself again".Then I remembered what I decided to do, just wait on God. So I thought, "No, I'm going to go with this thought and see what happens, the question still fresh in my mind, "Why does that star stand out to you? "Because it's the brightest, I guess". The answer is so obvious, I thought, that it doesn't need answering. I jumped in my truck and took off down the highway towards Melbourne. I looked out the window and up at the stars again, catching a glimpse of the brightest star almost immediately. Then a voice in my heart said, "Do you know, it isn't even a star"Then I remembered, the brightest star in the southern sky is not a star at all, but the planet Venus!! I was awe struck! Jesus spoke so clearly: - "Do you know why it is the brightest? Because it is the closet to the sun". All of a sudden it was so clear. Amongst the billions of stars in the night sky, the one that stood out to me the most was the star that had no light source of it's own. It only reflected the light of another. All the stars in the sky had their own light source. But not the brightest one. Its light source was only a reflection of the sun it was close to. The one with no light was the brightest!! Then God spoke to me again, so personally "That's what I want you to be, Brian. I don't want you to try and shine for me. I just want you to draw close to me, and in so doing you will reflect my light. You will stand out amongst the billions of people. Not because you shine. But because you are always close to me and you reflect my life". I started to cry. I realized, as did John the Baptist, that I must decrease, so He can increase. I sometimes think that I have to do all the work. I think of so many great ideas that will benefit the kingdom so much. But none of it will benefit Him, or the world He loves. The greatest thing I can do is just believe Him, and rest, waiting for His fruit to come, for His light to shine. I said, "Lord, I couldn't do it. But if you will do it, that's what I want too". "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not".Jn 1:4-5 ------------------------AMEN!!! :-)

Wow! That's a beautiful illustration! Sorry I didn't read this earlier. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Chanin,This is wonderful, it also sent me digging back to an email I remember sending out to a pastor around Christmas time, here's a bit of it:"This morning while I was praying, the newspaper boy chucked the paper and hit the door (Just about...had an accident!) anyway, I looked out the window (natural reaction, I guess) and looked up, and man there was the brightest star shining, south, over Mervyns, just awesome, it was Huge ! Makes me wonder what the Shepherds saw that night......sigh, I love this time of year. So, being the ever inquisitive man, I went digging around on the internet for info on the stars, originally I thought it was Mars or Pluto, I was wrong, it's Venus. This is from the "Weekly sky at a glance" website for the week of Dec.8 through the 14th: This Week's Planet RoundupVenus (magnitude -4.6) is the brilliant "Morning Star" shining in the southeast before and during dawn. And who is the Bright and Morning Star? Rev 22:16 Wow!12/12/02

I don't want you to try and shine for me. I just want you to draw close to me, and in so doing you will reflect my light.This is what really stood out to me! He is our light, we can not try to shine or do anything on our own- in our own strength. Sometimes I just feel like I should just go and "do" something for Christ. But really I should just "be" something for Christ. If I concentrate on drawing near to Him (and keep my focus there) then I WILL "be" "doing" something for Him. :-) I won't necessarily see it- but others will. And me not being able to see it- is the best part- then I can take no credit or glory in it. It is all His doing. And I will be oblivious to it. :-) :-) In Him, Chanin

Yeah, totally! I remember you bringing up this "doing" vs. "being" subject for God topic before in another post. Thanks for bringing up that good point again.

I couldn't remember where we had talked before about "being' vs. "doing"- but a friend sent me this Watchman Nee devotional from 6/23 with her comments that follow. I thought it was so true!!!I will give thee thanks forever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name, for it is good. Psalm 52:9.--The test of time is the hardest test of all. Yet only by learning to wait for God do we find ourselves involved in something really done by him. Ten years after he had believed God for a son, Abram felt he could wait no longer. He knew God intended him to have an heir so he sought to provide one, and Ishmael was the result. It was not Abram's motive that was wrong, but his starting point. He felt he could still do something to produce a child, as indeed he coud, and did. At eighty-six he yet had that capacity. --There followed a further long wait, until at the age of a hundred Abraham could no longer do even this; his body was "as good as dead" (Romans 4:19). It was to such a man, powerless now in himself to please God, that the marvelous gift of grace came in the person of Isaac. This was wholly God's doing and well worth waiting for. To have God do his own work through us, even once, is better than a lifetime of human striving.Her comments: "This is so true and the ultimate test of surrender! Are we willing to "do" nothing except one thing in our whole lives, if that be the Lord's will? Is a hidden life of prayer to be our whole ministry? Are we to be invisible and unnoticed our whole lives? Oh, pride would hate this, would it not? Is this the test of true humility in our lives? I wonder. I believe the willingness to "go there" in our thinking is what the Lord would ask. Am I enough? He would say. Just Me and no I involved. The ultimate test of sacrifice and consecration. The sanctification of our motives, indeed. To expose the "hidden things" in our hearts that smack of pride. How can we ever boast if no one knows of that which only the Father sees in secret? Ahh, the test of all tests. The refining of our deepest desires."Are we to be invisible and unnoticed our whole lives? Oh, pride would hate this, would it not? Is this the test of true humility in our lives?Something to think about. :-) In His love, Chanin