ARISE, SHINE
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you! Isaiah 60:1
It is the will of God that all His children rise to a greater height in all areas of life in this year 2018 and show forth His purpose and glory in order to attract others to the kingdom.
ARISE
Natural sleep refreshes and reenergizes us. But the spiritual sleep is dangerous. The blessings of God have slipped right past the children of God since they were spiritually asleep. Apostle Paul warms us when he says, “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (I Thess. 5:6). The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber (Rom. 13:11). Let us wake up from the following conditions and shine for the Lord!
• Wake up from INDULGENCE
Samson was called by God. He was expected to live a separated life. But he led an indulgent and immoral life. The Bible says he was sleeping in the lap of Delilah. Satan knew Samson’s weakness and drew him away from the Lord. Somebody said that Samson was a he-man with she-weakness. As a result of his sleeping, he lost his strength, his sight, his standing and the sweet presence of God (Judges 16:16-20). What is your weakness? May be it’s the love of money, the lust of the flesh, the love of pleasure etc. Satan would have lulled you to sleep with his nice attractions of this world and stolen your joy and usefulness. The Lord says, “Arise… shake off all the sinful habits and evil associations from your life” (Isaiah 52:2). Every revival in the Scripture contains an intense and intentional turning back to God. It involves brokenness, contrition, confession, repentance, etc. (Ps. 51:17; 34:18; Pro. 28:13; 1 John 1:9). Eternity of happiness and blessing awaits you if you wake up!
• Wake up from INDIFFERENCE
Jonah was commissioned by God to give a warning to the people of Nineveh. But he boarded a ship to go to Tarshish. And he slept in the ship in total indifference to the will of God and the call of God (Jonah 1:4-5). Jonah didn’t care about the lost, like God did. How many of us do the same thing? We’re satisfied with our own salvation. We’ve become like Jonah. We do not have the heart to pray for the lost and win the lost. It’s time we woke out of our sleep and see the world as the Lord sees! Millions are waiting to be saved if only you go and preach the gospel. The Bible says, ‘He who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son (Pro. 10:5). Shake off your apathy and arise for God! Be sensitive to the hurting world. Let the things that break the heart of God break you also! Have concern for perishing souls. If we don’t arise, we lose precious souls. But if arise from our spiritual indifference, Lord will surely help us to make a difference in the lives of the people around us this year.
• Wake up from INDOLENCE
The disciples were invited by Jesus to pray with Him. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter and his companions were very sleepy (Luke 9:32). They almost missed out on seeing the glory of the Lord! In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus found his disciples sleeping when he rose up from prayer (Luke 22:45). He asked them, ‘why are you sleeping? (22:46). Many a time we allow the spiritual lethargy and laziness to get into our lives. Prayer is no longer a vital part of your life. It’s just something you do occasionally. Hunger and thirst for God is not there. We don’t enjoy spiritual gatherings and fellowships. We never sense God’s presence in our life. All these reveal that we are spiritually lazy and our soul is starving and dying. Arise from the spiritual lethargy. The Bible says, ‘Wake up, Sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you’ (Eph. 5:14).
SHINE
Isaiah 60:2 says that darkness covers the entire earth. There is a lot of darkness in the world today- morally, spiritually, financially, emotionally. In this context, the Lord is asking us to shine the light. We must do the following in order to shine the light.
• CONNECT with Christ
Before any object can shine there must be a source of reflection of light to that object. In other words, it is reflected light that makes things sparkle and shine. Isaiah 60:1 says, ‘Your light has come’. Jesus Christ is the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5) and He declares “Without me you can do nothing” (John 15: 5). In order to shine, you must be connected with Jesus Christ from which you can obtain the light that will make you shine.
• CONSUME God’s word
The word of God has all the divine rays of light that can make you shine. His word is the light (Pro. 6:23; Ps. 119:105). By declaring that the “the entrance of your words gives light” (Ps. 119:130a), the psalmist knew that if he could get the word of God into his system, he would shine. Prophet Jeremiah valued the word of God so much that he searched for it and made it part of his diet (Jer. 15:16): “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight.” When we create an affinity for the word of God to the point that it becomes indispensable to us as food is to continuous living, we will shine (Job 23:12; Matt. 4:4).
• COMMIT to God’s work
As a believer, your good work can make you shine if you follow the counsel of Jesus in Matthew 5:16: “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven”. While all the good works that can advance God’s kingdom agenda are important and necessary, there is one that stands out in that it can make you shine. That is the work of winning souls to God. Prophet Daniel points out that, “those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (Dan.12: 3).
BLESSINGS
• Nations will come to your light: Isaiah 60:3 says, “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” What a wonderful promise! There is no doubt about it; there is no “if” or “but”; it is a divine guarantee. Both those who are ruled and those who rule will come. This word “come” appears several times in this chapter. If we shine, people will come; if they are not coming, perhaps we are not shining.
• All that belong to you will come to you (60:4, 9).
• I will glorify the temple of my glory (60: 7)
• All who despise you will bow at your feet (60:14)
• I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations (60:15)
• Violence will no longer be heard in our land and there will be no destruction within our borders (60:18)
• The Lord will be your everlasting light and your God will be your glory (60:19)
• The days of sorrow will come to an end (60:20)
• There will be enlargement on every side. The least of you will become a thousand and the smallest a mighty nation (60:22)
