Tuesday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye (Open Heavens 3 January 2017) – Arise and Shine

Topic: Arise and Shine [Tuesday 3, January 2017]

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

Read: Isaiah 60:1-5 (KJV)

1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

Bible in One Year: Matthew 6-8 and Isaiah 2:6-22

MESSAGE:

Sometimes, we as children of God become so familiar with a passage of Scripture that we lose the essence of the truths embedded in it by the Holy Spirit. One such passage is Isaiah 60:1:

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.”

The first truth of Holy Spirit is the relaying to our spirit through this passage today is that this statement is an express command. Here, the Almighty God is commanding us to arise! It is someone who is either sitting or laying down that would be commanded to arise. So, when God says “Arise”, it presupposes that you are either sitting down idle, or that you are on a bed enjoying the sleep of death. I command this day that whosoever is wasting away his or her time in idleness or in the sleep of sin and death will arise in the Name of Jesus Christ! In addition, we are not commanded to arise into obscurity; rather, we are commanded to arise and shine. I also decree that all who are reading this devotional today will arise from their state of obscurity and mediocrity and come to the limelight of success in Jesus’ Name. Arise and shine:

Another truth worthy of note in this same verse of Scripture is this: God is announcing that your light has come. Before now, the Lord did not command you to arise and shine because there was nothing to aid your shinning; but now, He is declaring that your light has come. I therefore say prophetically to you today that your light has come in Jesus’ Name. Here is the big revelation we must not allow to slip away from us: the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 60:1 declares “Thy light is come.” You may be wondering, “What is the light?” the question however should not be what, but Who is the light? John 8:12 reveals the answer:

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Isaiah’s prophetic writing in Isaiah 60:1 came to pass the day Jesus Christ came into this world.

Indeed there is darkness in this world; majority of us are witnesses of this fact. The darkness we are talking about is not the absence of physical light. We are talking about spirit darkness, principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12). Here are some pertinent questions for you to answer: Are you still in darkness? Why has your light not come? It may be because you have not embraced the Light. If that is the case, today is your day. Accept Jesus, the Light, into your life today and darkness will no longer comprehend you, and therefore will be unable to stop you (John 1:5).

Prayer Point: Father, let the light of your Son, Jesus, shine upon me today, and let His glory help me.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.

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