MIRROR BALL

The following is a report on the practical applications of Matt Redman's book Mirror Ball: Living Boldly and Shining Brightly for the Glory of God (David C. Cook, 2011).



People living in the darkness of this fallen world urgently need to see God’s radiant light. But they can’t look directly on God in heaven. Instead, they discover God when they see His light reflected in the lives of those who are already connected to Him: Christians, just like you.

When you pursue God with a passion, His light grows brighter in your life, reflecting His brilliance to others and drawing them toward Him, out of the darkness. Your one life may seem as small as a disco mirror ball dwarfed inside a large room filled with needy people. But when God illuminates you, you can reflect His radiance powerfully in all directions.

Here’s how you can reflect God’s radiance in your life:

Give your all to the One who gave His all for you. Consider how much love God gives to you – so much that He was willing to come to Earth as Jesus to die for your sins to save you. Then let your gratitude for God’s supremely generous love motivate you to devote yourself to Him wholeheartedly. When you make your relationship with God the center of your life, revolving everything else around it, all will be properly balanced for God’s blessings to flow unhindered into your life. Be willing to faithfully follow where God leads you – even when doing so will be inconvenient or painful – trusting God’s promise that He wants what’s best for you.

Gain a big view of God so you can live a big life. If your life is boring, that’s a sign that your spiritual journey is, too. But if you seek God regularly, you’ll discover more and more about how big He truly is – how loving, how powerful and how mysterious – which will spark a desire to keep on learning about God. The more you learn about God, the more your senses of awe and wonder will grow, enlarging your perspective of your life and opening up your eyes to possibilities that you hadn’t been able to see before. So don’t dishonor God and limit your life experiences by underestimating Him. Instead, draw closer to God each day and expect Him to do something great in your life. The closer you become to God, the more He will empower you to take leaps of faith that will change your life for the better in big ways.

Join forces with other Christians to make the world a better place. Recognize that your efforts to love and serve people in need can have a greater impact when you work together with other believers than when you work alone. Ask God to show you how He wants you to join other Christians from your church and local community to work toward common goals, combining each of your talents, skills and resources to help people in need. Trust God to multiply your efforts tremendously.

Derive your confidence from God’s promises. Read the Bible regularly and notice what God says about His nature, character and ways of relating to people. Decide to take God at His word by believing that He is who He says He is. Then let that conviction give you the confidence you need to be hopeful about your future and follow wherever God leads you.

Praise God regularly and communicate His glory in creative ways. Make a habit of expressing your love for God to Him through prayer, thanking Him for who He is and what He is doing in your life. Let your gratitude motivate you to use the creative gifts God has given you to let other people know how great God is, from telling stories about Him to singing songs about Him.