Bright Shining Lamps

11-15. I had a vivid vision of a light shining in the darkness. This light was small, but it pushed back the darkness nevertheless. Then a second light appeared and the darkness was pushed back further. Then more and more lights appeared till there was hundreds of them, and it was then that the darkness could not hold on any longer. I knew that the lights were many believers standing together and displaying the gospel openly in their city. When enough of them rose up to shine their lights the darkness lost all power in their city. These lights were not the greatest brightest lights, but when they came together they became very bright.

I was reminded of the story of the mighty warrior Gideon. Gideon was not mighty in the worlds eyes, but he delivered his city from the enemy. As he led 300 warriors to lift their torches high on the mountain top the enemy was struck with fear and ran away. He was not as anointed as Samson or others of the mighty men God used, but he understood the power of unity. Samson defeated thousands of the enemy, but he never delivered his nation, or even his own city like Gideon did.

These are the days of Gideon. It is time for the church to shine their lights brightly in their cities, and as the many display their lamps the darkness will flee. God showed me two parts to this prophecy. 1) We must have oil in our lamps for them to shine. 2) We must be willing to lift them high for all to see.

Oil comes from intimacy with God, which we find by spending time in His presence. God is awakening a people who walk in the secret place and have the oil of anointing in their lamps. He is awakening a worshiping generation.

Next, we must hold our lamps high, which is our testimony and the message of the gospel. This happened as we begin to display Jesus to the people around us and fulfill the great commission to make disciples. I saw these shining lights teaching people about God in such simple ways, yet it was pushing back the darkness. Each one was reaching the people near them. There were no great heroes among them, for they were all great, all doing their small part. As people came to Christ the darkness left them and the enemy lost his hold. When enough people came to the knowledge of Christ the enemy lost his hold completely. This is how the darkness was broken.