It’s Time to Rise and Shine!

(Ephesians 5:14) “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

It is time to rise above the situations at hand that has kept you stuck and going nowhere. Stand with a confidence in who you are; a child of the Most High God! (Deuteronomy 1:6-8) “The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore He would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”

Rise up from the fear that has kept you paralyzed and immovable! Rise up! You are a child of God! Courage is not the absence of fear, but moving forward in spite of your fears! God did not give us fear but sonship and a sound mind!

(Romans 8:15) “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, "Abba, Father."

(II Timothy 1:7) “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Ask God to give you more of His boldness and courage through the Holy Spirit to help you to face your fears and move on to the purpose He has for you! It is time to move!

(Ephesians 2:10) “For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

It’s time to shine! It is time for the Church, the children of God to start being the children of God! It is one thing to know the ways of the Lord and to recognize when you are not living by them and say, “I need to start acting like a child of God,” but that is only self-awareness and making a conscious effort to change. This in itself is good, acting right is one thing but God wants His ways to take root in your heart so that you are not just acting right. It truly becomes who you are and His ways become so natural to you that being the child of God He wants you to be shines from within your heart without a conscious effort. The trials we go through will help us to grow and mature as a child of God and reach this point. (James 1:2-4) “ Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Growing up as teenagers doing the right thing did not always come easy, you had to make yourself obey your parents even though inside you wanted to do your own thing and more often than not it got you into trouble. But as you grew up you learned that your parents were right, experience and discipline taught you and now it has become natural, part of who you are, and you are teaching those same values to your children. The trials that God allows teach us in the same way so that when we mature, God’s ways become part of who we are, and we obey, serve and worship God now out of our devotion to Him and not just because we know we should. Our love for God has grown so much within our hearts that now being the child of God He wants us to be is who we are, and we do not have to be constantly aware of our actions.

In this, His light truly shines from within us and others cannot help but notice. This in itself is an awesome way to be a testimony of Jesus Christ to others; to live out God’s love. When His presence shines from within you, whoever comes into the path of His light shining from you will be affected. When a light is turned on in a room all who are in the room see the light. It is time to shine!

(Matthew 5:14-16) “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Rise up and be the child of God you were meant to be and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and teach you and take you from glory to glory and truly shine Jesus Christ. (II Corinthians 3:18) “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

It is time to move, and to rise above the situations that have held you back, walled you in and tried to defeat you! You are a child of the Most High God! Rise UP! Believe again, the promise God gave you is not dead, He has not forgotten you! He has been training you for the next step!

Your Suddenly is here and it is time to Rise and Shine! Shine the Glory of God!

“Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. “Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.” Isaiah 60:1-5