ARISE

ARISE, SHINE; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you – Isaiah 60:1

To arise means to “get up and rise up”, stand firm, and be steadfast. Only those who awake can arise; and it is awful if one who has awoken fails to arise. When a new day dawns, it is expected that one should not only awake, but also arise. It is the foolish and the slothful that decide to remain on the bed of ease, when others have arisen to the day’s tasks. Amos 6:1 pronounces “WOE to you who are at ease in Zion.”  May such woes never be our portion in Jesus name!

God often gives the command ‘Arise’ whenever He has important life-changing moves to make. There is always an additional action step attached to the command to arise. Consider these cases:

• God said to Saul of Tarsus, “Arise, and go…” (Acts 9:6). By this mandate, Saul the persecutor was transformed into Paul, the apostle, who ended up writing more than two-thirds of the New Testament, and blazing the trail of the Gospel across the civilizations in his generation.

• God said to Abram, “Arise, walk…” (Gen. 13: 17). Abram was transformed to Abraham, the father of faith, and empowered by that Word of Faith to walk in the Covenant and possess Jehovah’s promises for his destiny and those of the generations of his seeds.

• God said to Jacob “Now arise” (Gen. 31: 13). By this instruction, Jacob the cheat was transformed to Israel, prince with God. The Word kept him through many challenging decades, upheld him in his sojourn, and ensured that he returned to Bethel blessed and better than when he left.

• God said to Joshua “Arise, go over…” (Jos. 1: 2). The Word empowered him to lead Israel by faith across the river Jordan and to conquer, possess, and divide the Promised Land as an inheritance for God’s people.

• God said to sleeping Elijah, after waking him up, “Arise and eat…” (1Kgs.19:7-8). He arose, ate and drank, and was sustained in the strength of that meal for the journey of forty days and forty nights, right up to Horeb the Mountain of God. God wants us to arise and eat the Bread of Life – the Word of God – for the Journey of Faith and the assignments of destiny.

• God motivated Nehemiah to “Arise and build” (Neh. 2: 20). He in turn was able to motivate and galvanize the people to build and battle, until the mission of restoration of Jerusalem’s walls was accomplished.

God is now saying to His children: “ARISE and shine” (Isa.60:1a). What is your response? Terah, the father of Abraham, had been on a journey to Canaan (the land of promise), but he stopped short at Haran (the land of ease), dwelt there, “settled down”, and finally died (Gen. 11: 31-12:1). Like Terah, many of God’s children – born again, baptized, Spirit-filled, tongue-talking – are settling down in the land of ease while the land of promise still lies ahead waiting to be possessed. Woe – problems, confusion, frustration – is the lot of those who are at ease in Zion. May such not be your lot in Jesus name!

Therefore you must arise!

• ARISE from Sin unto righteousness: lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth easily beset – sinful habits and unholy vices (Heb.12: 1).

• ARISE from discouragement, depression and the fears of these perilous times. While “men’s hearts are failing them for fear”, we believers can “look up” and “lift up” our heads, knowing that our redemption has come (Lk. 21: 26-28). “When men are cast down, thou shall say, there is lifting up” (Job 22:29).

• ARISE from worries and anxieties of life to possess the promises of God.

• ARISE from the mere lifeless forms of religion into the Reality of Redemption.

• ARISE from “playing church” to paying the price to making your life count in God’s kingdom!

What is keeping you down? Is it fear, intimidation, unbelief or satanic opposition? Break loose from every barrier – Arise!