ARISE AND SHINE

Isaiah 60:1 – Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

God is not a civilian but  military. Exodus 15:3 calls Him a man of war or a warrior. Psalm 24:8 describes Him as the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. When a military personnel speaks, it is either a command or an order. A command to mean a decree and an order to mean a request.

Arise, shine could be a command. The Lord issued a command in Genesis 1:3, He said “let there be light” and there was light. In Mark 2:1-12, Jesus told the man sick of palsy to Arise, take his bed and immediately the man took his bed and began to walk. In John 5:1-16, Jesus told the man at the pool of Bethesda to Arise, take his bed and walk. Immediately the man who had been sick for 38 years arose and began to walk. Arise; shine could also be an order or a request. In Acts 10:10 – 13, Peter received an order to rise, kill and eat. In Matthew 14:22-33, Jesus gave an order to His disciples to come, join Him to walk on water. The One who is going to issue the order or the command to arise, shine must be higher than you. Psalm 91:1 calls Him the Most High. According to Ecclesiastes 5:8, He is higher than the highest. In military terms, He holds the rank of the Lord of Host – the One in charge over all the angels, demons and military personnel in the world. The One who said arise, shine is the Lord of Host. By Lord of Host, we mean the One in charge of all the angels, demons and military personnel in the world. The One issuing the order or command has power in case you want to rise, shine and you cannot do it by your strength. Psalms 62:11 says all power belong to Him. He must also have the power to deal with forces tying you down. Psalm 66:7 says He rules by His might. Luke 1:37 says for with God nothing shall be impossible. To arise and shine, we must be willing and obedient – Isaiah 1:19. We must also have faith in God. Hebrew 11:9 says by faith Abraham arose and dwelt in the land of promise. Mark 11:23 says whoever says to this mountain and will not doubt in his heart but believe those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. The one who will arise and shine must also make necessary efforts. Today, God is issuing you a command to us to arise and shine. He is also issuing orders to us  saying  arise from not having faith to having faith. To arise from not evangelising to evangelising. To arise from not producing fruits of the spirits to producing fruits of the spirits.

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me to arise and shine.

Arise

Sunday 19 August                              Bible in one year: 2 Kings 18-21

Memorise: Arise, Shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Isaiah 60:1

Isaiah 60:1 says Arise. Arise is a command. God is not begging,pleading or advising you to arise. This is an order coming form the Commander-in-chief of the heavenly hosts.The command to arise can mean different things to different people depending on their present spiritual location or situation. If you are already dead, arise could mean come back to life.That was the kind of order Jesus gave to Jairus’s dead child (Mark5:35-42).In any way you are spiritually dead, today hear your Master’s command, Arise! On the other hand, to the sleeping arise could mean wake up. When the Lord took Peter,James and John with Him to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane in Mark 14:40-42, they were sleeping because their eyes were heavy. So the Lord told them to wake up. Are you sleeping spiritually? In the name of Jesus , arise today!

If you were not dead or asleep but sitting , arise could mean stand up and begin to move. In John 14:30-31, the disciples were sitting as Jesus talked with them. If you are sitting, it means there is work to be done but you are yet to do them. Are you procrastinating over the souls you should win to the kingdom? Arise. Are there pending jobs for you to do? Arise! But if you already on your feet,what does arise mean? it could mean to jump into action. For instance, when Samuel came to the house of Jesse in 1 Samuel 16:11-13 , and could not find God’s choice there , he said nobody should sit down until David was brought from the backside of the desert. By his orders to arise; he was saying move into action now. Are you already on your feet in certain areas? God is saying put in more effort ,more life, and more time to get a better results. What if you are not just standing but already walking? To you , arise means start running like David did towards Goliath(1 Samuel17:48). But if you are already running, to arise means grab some wings and do some flying.A woman delivered a baby in Revelation 12:13-16 and was being chased by the dragon so she arose by getting wings and soaring high above its reach. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says you should move from glory to glory. Wherever you are , God is saying to you ,arise!

PRAYER POINT:  Father,wherever i am presently located, help me to arise and make a difference in your kingdom.

Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye