I Shall Arise

If you'll turn to Isaiah chapter 60. very first song that was sung today talked about arise. I'm going to preach today: I Shall Arise. Isaiah 60, verse 1 says, "Arise, shine; for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 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."

Arise — both of these words here in this passage of scripture, arise and shine, or indicative of a change. And I hope that your desires that God changed me. You say, well, he's brought me from this to that, but there is none here that have arrived. I want God to change me into what he desires and created for me to be. I stumble, I fall. Let me always get back up and strive to be what he's called me to be. He's telling us to arise here in this scripture. He's also telling us to shine.

When we go in and we tell someone — if you have teenagers in your house, you have experienced this. You have to go in and awake them from the dead. "Arise!" Get up from the position that you're in. But when we see this in scripture, we've got to recognize, and we must embrace, the importance of a change in our spiritual position, an adjustment to our approach to God. I shall arise. When we embrace the fact that it is up to me to make the motion, to make my way closer to him, there is a power that's released in our willingness to praise. When we're willing to push aside self and everything going on in our life and situations, and make it an emphasis that, regardless, "I'm going to praise you today." It reminds me of the song: "When I think of his goodness and all he's done for me, I've got a shout, I've got to dance." There's a response when we recognize what he has truly done in our life. We cannot sit still and be quiet, but we must rise to the occasion. "God, you've been too good to me for me to sit down now. You've been too good for me to back them now."

We've been empowered to arise and to shine, and there's such a need in a world full of darkness for a light to shine. Someone's got to grab a hold of the fact that God knows exactly where you're at. He knows exactly what you're going through. He knows the hardship you're facing, the darkness that's trying to consume you. And he's given you the power to come out with a shout, to arise with a testimony, and to prove to Satan that he will not win. He will not defeat you. We've already read the back of the book. He loses; we win. Hold true to the promise of God. I've come to tell somebody that darkness is not permanent. Your situation that you're dealing with, that seems so dire, is not eternal. Well, we must accept the challenge: to arise and to shine today.

Sometimes we face situations — maybe we don't understand what's going on. I don't see clearly what is taking place. But I've come to tell you, in those moments, in those situations, in those circumstances, we can't go to the one who is the light in our life, who can reveal what's taking place, and his plan in the midst of turmoil. He can bring clarity. He can bring revelation to a time of difficulty and trial. Don't sit down. Don't sit back. But stand with the one who wants to make a difference in your life. There is a plan and a purpose, and it's revealed when we ourselves draw near to him. When we rely and trust on the word of God, that plan that he placed in our hands to hide in our heart, that we can follow the path of righteousness for our life. You say, well, how do I get closer to him? You've got to move from where you're at. And to move, we've got to arise. Arise from the darkness. Arise from the fear that seemsly has you paralyzed. The discouragement, the disappointment, the addiction and the bondage that seems to hold you back — you can't arise. You can arise from the trouble and the heartache. But I've come to tell you, your position will affect your praise.

John 1 and 5 says, "in the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." Darkness cannot resign, for light is abundant. When you lose something, you go find a flashlight. Why? To shed light in those dark spaces that you cannot see. And sometimes God comes near, and he begins to shed light into our life, and we see those places that we're not real proud of. "Well, let me just stay here and cover that up." When God comes near, that's not a time to withdraw and to sit back. When he comes near, it's time to allow him to work in your life, reach into those dark areas and expose them, that he can heal and correct those places in our life.

The most beautiful thing is, the glory of the Lord is not just around, it's not just beside, but the scripture says the glory of the Lord is upon you. We are reflections of God's glory. When we go out and we spread this truth, God's glory is reflecting through us — or it should be. Is God's glory being revealed through you? Am I reflecting what God wants me to reflect to those I come in contact with? That is the shine principle: is allowing the glory of God to move through me to the point where not I get the glory, but somebody says, "To God be the glory." They recognize it's not me, but it's him working through me that makes it possible to those who are in darkness. The scripture is saying, it's right now, in this moment, the glory of God is available to you. It's not a future tense. He's saying, it has risen upon you. "I am there. I am with you in the midst of what you're facing, and I can give you the strength to overcome and to be victorious."

So we see here, these two words, arise and shine, they constitute God's divine plan. It's a commandment meant to transform our life for better. How to bring about this change is when we connect and we plug in to the one who can make a change, that Redeemer that came and paid the price, that we can't experience deliverance from what it is that tries to bind and hold us down. And what he wants to change in our life is a positive one.

There's a lot of things that change that aren't so positive. When I turned 40, my body suddenly said, "Nope, you can't do that anymore. Go ahead and try. I'll show you." Next year I'll be 50, and he'll probably win even more. But in our spiritual walk, we can't arise, we can shine. We may face difficulties. We may face some circumstances that we don't understand. But we can hold to the promise of his word, that "I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you." You can't arise. You will be victorious. You can shine, if you will hold true to the word of God and its principles and its plan for your life.

Jeremiah tells us God's plan there in verse 11 of chapter 29: plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope in a future. You can hold to those promises. Apostle Paul tells us in Third John, "Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." That should be our desire: God, let my soul prosper. Let me seek after you each and every day, to draw closer to you, to reflect you more and more, to push aside what is my own plan, my own agenda, to be more like you. Because God has your best in mind. He wants the best for you. But it requires involvement on our part. We've got to put some action to the exercising our faith and being obedient to his plan for our life.

The book of Isaiah — it's full of prophecies given as they were received from God. Many of Isaiah's prophecies given in earlier chapters were unpleasant to the Israelites, as they described some wrath and judgment, punishment of God as a result of the people's disobedience to God and his laws, and just corruption in their life. you talked about, in Isaiah 29 and verse 4, "And thou shalt be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and the speech shall be low out of the dust, be, as one has a familiar spirit, ." Not real uplifting. Not what you read right before you put your kids to bed. So why would we choose those consequences, when he said you can arise and you can shine, and you can have the blessings of the Lord abundant in your life? It requires action on our part. And daily, when we arise, we've got to make the choice: I'm going to draw closer to you. I'm going to reflect you more today. I'm going to push aside that flesh that tries to rise up, and I'm going to reflect you. I'm going to be obedient to your word. I'm going to share this gospel with those I come in contact with.

Also in Isaiah, there's many blessings that would come to those who were willing to be repentant, would humble theirself, and be obedient to the Lord, and follow his plan. Some of those promises of blessings we see here in chapter 60 of Isaiah: arise and shine. That sounds like an overcomer. That sounds like deliverance. But it sounds like victory. We have to make the choice: I'm going to arise, I'm going to shine. He's put within me the ability, and I'm going to make that choice. No matter how negative life may be coming at you, and how the past or the present status may be darkness, our willingness to submit to God and to release that ability that he's placed in us, to regardless what comes against me — Lord, I'm going to give you praise. I'm going to search out you every morning, every day, I'm going to find you. Lord God, whatever you're facing — maybe a situation in your home, maybe your finances are going the wrong direction, maybe your spiritual walk has seemingly slid in the ditch, your face in darkness when it comes to areas of your life, you're saying, "God, what do I do? I don't know how to go." I've come to tell someone, there's hope in the house today. You can't arise. You can shine. You can walk victorious, regardless what the enemy tries to save — "you're defeated." I've come to tell you, the Victor is in the house. The Deliverer is in the house. The Healer is in the house. Salvation has come to your house today. It is available to you, but you have to arise and pursue it.

Matthew 19 and 26 says, "With God all things are possible." And I believe it: all things are possible through him. Maybe you are here and you have trouble believing this. You just don't understand — "there's no way I can arise and shine." Or maybe slowing down and looking at what the word of God says can convince you that it is available to every person. Number one, it's a law. If you read this, this phrase isn't giving us a suggestion. It's not just some piece of advice, a dream, but it's from God. It says arise and shine. Arise and shine. We just read the verse of scripture, and it said, "With God all things are possible." So if he said it, it's possible. You've just got to believe it and act upon it. When a command comes from God, scripture tells us that it's perfect. Psalms 19 and 7: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." And whatever that God said is settled in heaven, according to Psalms 119 and 89: "every word, thy word is settled in heaven." So you can arise.

God desires that we all seek a godly change in our own life from our current and present position. Second Corinthians 3, verse 18: "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." God's glory manifested in us, as we draw close to him. Every day we have an opportunity to come directly to him, to experience the glory of God working in and through us, reflecting to this world. And we can shine in this world of darkness. We are that reflection that God desires. When we are obedient to his word, when we spend time meditating and praying and spending time reading and ingesting the word of God — that is the action — and the reaction is, we will shine in this world of darkness, foreign.

The devil cannot change or alter the plan that God has for your life. If he had that power, he would kill each and every one of us right now. He doesn't have that power or authority. Don't believe the lies that Satan tries to tell you: that you can't overcome, that you can't arise, that you can't shine, that you can't be what God is destined for you to be. You will never go too far, you'll never do too much, that God will not embrace you and draw you near to him, if you will seek his face. The authenticity of a statement or a command depends on the author of that statement or law. Some people make a statement, and you just know immediately they're just blowing a lot of hot air. But when God makes a statement, there is power and authority and intent in what is said. The Lord comes to us, and he commands us to arise and shine. He will see it come about, if you will be obedient to his plan. Titus 1 and 2 says God cannot lie. So he said it, and he will do it, if we are obedient. He is the light. He will shine through us. He will shine in the midst of darkness. The scripture said, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." We have a Messiah, a Savior, that came, that made the impossible possible. He robed himself in flesh, took on all of our sin, that we too could experience salvation in our own life.

Too many people, they treat their relationship with God like a spare tire. They only use it when they have to. We each make a choice. We determine how close we're going to walk to God. Matthew 15 and 8: "This people draweth now unto me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." Time is too short to just give lip service to God. Time is too short to put on a facade and a mask and make sure everybody thinks I'm okay. We better make sure we're drawing nigh to God with our heart. When you go buy new tires, it's wise to go ahead and get the whole car aligned, to ensure that you have proper tire wear. Otherwise, misalignment will give you bad wear, and wear out the tires prematurely. Rotating those tires extends the life of the tires. You say, why are you talking about all these tires? I'm just trying to help you. If the message doesn't, maybe you can take that and you'll get something, to. But I can tell you, when you will change your tire — you may never rotate, you may never align, but you will change your tire when you have a flat. Flats are never convenient.

James 4 and 8, it says, "Draw now to God, and he will draw now to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded." Don't wait until you have a flat and need God in the middle of your turmoil and your situation. Draw nigh today. Draw nigh tomorrow. Draw nigh every moment of your life. God wants to be there for you. I've come to tell somebody: God makes a better steering wheel than he does a spare tire. Let him guide your life. Align with his word. Align with his principles. Follow after him every part of your life. You may still have some bumps in the road, but when you're following him, it's a far better outcome.

Jesus properly described himself as the light of the world. We see in scripture, John 8 and 12, and John 9 and 5: "I am the light." Wherever God is, there is light. Why would we go any other path? Why would we seek any other way than to follow after the light? If you've ever been in a strange place and tried to move around at night — I experienced it on vacation, my toe pointed the wrong direction because I was not familiar with my surroundings, and my Holy Ghost was called into check. Utterings were made. They were understandable. But if we follow after the light, that light will shine when there's danger. It will direct when there's a turn ahead. And in our spiritual walk, his glory shines into our life, and it can call us out of darkness. And coming into his light, we can also reflect to those around us, and guide them around obstacles that Satan would desire them to wreck their life into.

You see, we live our life for more than just me. In a me society, just go out here to anywhere in town — even on the road, somebody's going to be looking at a phone. Some people got two phones. I think they'd have three if they can figure out how to hold one in their — with their foot. "I got to be connected. I got to know everything. I'm going to miss out on —" God's saying, "Plug into me. Connect to me. Follow what I am trying to speak into your life." We can become so consumed with everything in life that we miss the voice of God that's saying, "Don't go that way. Don't make that choice. Spend time with me just a little bit more."

I've come to tell you, you can't arise and shine. As long as there is life and breath in you, you are able to arise. Isaiah 38 and 18 says, "For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee." So we can flip that: I'm not dead, and I'm not buried, so I have the ability to praise. I have the ability to arise, to rejoice, regardless of my situation. He has brought me where I am, and he will take me where he desires me to be, but I've got to surrender to him. And as long as there's breath in me — Lord God, I'm going to praise you. Lord God, I'm going to rejoice with you every step of the way.

Obedience is the choice we must make. Our requirements to praise God, and he will be in our midst. Psalms 22 and 3: "with thou art holy, oh thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." Our praises are irresistible to God. He loves it, and comes right into the midst of where praise is taking place. God's drawing near to us when we give praise unto him. Praise will drive you beyond yourself, to arise beyond your fleshly desires, and is the switch that turns on the shine to reach those around you. As long as the switch in your house is turned off, there's going to be darkness in the house. But when you flip the switch to the own position — long as everything else is on, you paid your bill — there's an immediate change in the darkness. The change occurs because of action on your part. And there's things we must do to arise and shine, as he is instructing us to do. We too must be in constant connection with Christ. There's got to be a source of power to the object before light takes place. We can have light — and it works, but when you disconnect it, it's still on, but there's darkness. It's still — hey, everything seems to be right. Why is it not working? Why don't you plug back into the source? The light will shine if you plug into the source. As I shine the light around — I watched, everybody was squinting, moving — the light will make a change in your life. You will respond when the light shines on you, in recognizing that that's a good thing. "God, shine light in my life, every hidden place. Reveal in me what I need to change, what I need to improve."

If you've ever gone through the house, and maybe a place that's not used regularly or visited very often — you go on there, you flip the light on, and there's a cobweb. How did that get there? It's amazing, you don't have to place those. They just appear. But you do have to work to keep them out of your life. You say, "Well, I got the Holy Ghost when I was nine." Well, that's the last time you got the Holy Ghost. You better turn the light on and get some cobwebs out. I guarantee you they're there. Sometimes we just need to go for a deep cleaning in our soul. "God, I've been walking with you, but I need you to just come in and turn all the lights on. Shine every part of my life. Make sure everything is right before you. Cleanse me today." God, we must plug in and be connected to that source. He is the keeper of all power. Don't depend on something else, or somebody else's word. Live reliant on the word of God. He has the power to bring life to things that you think are dead and gone — hopes, dreams, situations.

We can look at the life of Lazarus. After four days, they said, "He's gone, he stinks." But God said, "I am life." And he called him forth from the grave. He has the power to make a 12-year-old girl to arise from the dead. And this same God has power to resurrect what you think is dead and gone in your life. "I've messed it up. I've done too much. I've killed it." I've come to tell you, there's life there, if you will arise and shine today. Allow him to touch and to speak into your situation. That same power will work today. You're not dead yet. You are alive. And he will work just as he did. He can call forth, as he did to Lazarus, and he can speak life where there seems to be no life.

We must consume God's word. We've got to ingest this. There's so much trying to consume our life today, we better be careful what we ingest. The word of God has all the power we need to be overcomers. The centurion knew the power in the word of Jesus, and he tapped into it when he said, "Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." There is power in the word of God. Prophet Jeremiah valued the word of God so much that he searched for , and made it part of his very diet. Jeremiah 15 and 16: "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoice into my heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts." What are you consuming on a daily basis? Is it feeding your soul, or is it poisoning your soul? Psalms 119 and 130: "The entrance of thy words giveth light."

I'm sorry, if you're having trouble reflecting, maybe you need to get some cleaning going on. Every now and then, I actually clean my truck, and it never fails — I'll just wipe a little place on the windshield, and suddenly I realize, man, that whole thing is dirty. I don't even smoke, but man, that thing is covered with something. And it's easy to fall prey that will, it's just life, it's just the way it is. I can't see like it used to." No. Sometimes we got to come and ingest this word of God. "creating me a clean heart, oh God, renew a right spirit within me." That can't take place unless we allow some scrubbing to take place, cleaning to the very core. That's how we effectively arise and shine. We must commit to God's work in us and through us.

Matthew 5 and 16: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." That's our instruction. Let your light so shine that they don't even see you. Counter-cultural to the environment of this world: get up in front of everybody and make sure everybody sees you, get on YouTube and get on Tick Tock and put your videos and all your — but when's the last time you were so aligned with the word of God and his plan for your life, that you begin to share this gospel, and they said, "Oh, for the glory of God"? They didn't tell you how wise you are, but they recognize that God was working through you. God's — shame on me if I'm not reflecting you, that you get all the glory.

Well, there's work to be done. The most important thing that we can do is win souls to the kingdom of God, leading souls. Daniel 12 and 3: "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." Are we shining as the stars that are constantly out there shining? The moon — many of us say, "Well, I can see the moon." All right, so we see the reflection of the sun. Are people seeing the reflection of the Sun in us? S-O-N. What are we reflecting to those around us? If we aren't actively pursuing God, if we're not daily, intentionally making a point to a rise and shine, death is the result of those that are unwilling to arise.

Second Kings chapter 7, verse 3 says, "And there were four leprous men at the entering end of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?" That's good reasoning. Verse 5: "And they arose up into twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there." Oh, was nobody in sight. I'm all about self-preservation. It's just, I guess, the red-blooded male in me. Or if you hem me up in a corner without good reason, I'm coming out. We may both be crippled, but you will hobble away. There was a situation when I was a kid, where it was fight or flight, and flight was not an option because there was too many, and so fight took over. And not a proud moment in my life, but I found a stick of firewood, and a head around the corner, and it didn't matter who would come around. The first one around the corner was getting it, because I done made up my mind I wasn't going down by myself. ah in the first individual rounded the corner, and I swung with all my mind that stick of firewood, and it cracked somebody's head open. And the rest fled. They were smart enough not to be first, and smart enough not to hang around and see if that firewood still worked. But the truth was, why was I going to sit there and die? This was the situation these lepers were in. "We're hungry. We need sustenance, and there's food in the camp. If we go in there and they kill us — hey, we're going to die out here. We're gonna die in there."

But verse 6 says, "For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us." When you resolute that, regardless what's going on in your life, I'm going to arise and I'm going to pursue, I'm going to shine — you may be hobbling along, but the enemy, all they hear is the roar of many, many chariots, horses that are coming their way. Defeat is in order for them, because when you, along with God, pursue, you will be victorious. He will overcome. He will deliver.

Verse 8 says, "And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried then silver and gold and Raymond, and went and hid it, and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hit it." I've come to tell you, when you pursue with God on your side, you'll bring back more than you ever thought possible. You will have blessings overtake you. The scripture says there's no reason to sit back and be afraid. There's no reason to set in darkness. I'm come to tell someone today, now is the time to arise. Now is the time to shine, because we serve the one that will make us victorious. We serve to deliver. We serve the one who said you will overcome. You can arise. When you arise, your praise will scare the enemy. When you make up your mind, "I'm coming out of this darkness," Satan's plan will be fold. You may think that you're too weak, but your praise attracts the attention of God. The report from the doctor may be one of gloom and despair, but the report of the Lord is victory and healing in your body. Action on our part, to resolute to arise and shine, is an outright assault on the enemy, and they have no choice but to flee. When we approach God with that attitude that the lepers had — "I'm going to pursue. I'm going to get what I must have for my life. I must get where my soul can be strengthened and fed." — the reward will be more than just food for your soul. It says that they left for silver and gold and clothing. What everybody else desired, God just placed in their life. When you make God a priority in your life, he will place blessings abundant upon you. I'm not preaching our prosperity doctrine of grab-it-blab-it, all of that, but I am an example: if God will meet and supply all of your needs, if you will remain faithful to him.

As we stand here today, the command to arise and to shine is meant to transform our lives, but it requires action on our part. If you're here and you don't know Jesus Christ that died for your sins, I've come to tell you, you don't have to leave here today without knowing him in his fullness. Maybe you're here and you're in a dark place in your life. I've come to tell you, the God of light is here to touch and to shine in your situation today. Your faith — your concerned to success — weeping can be changed to joy, and the blessings can become even blessed and abundant blessings. If you're facing sickness, you can be healed, if you will arise and shine. Arise is pretty simple, but to shine, you've got to make your way to him. Arise is a statement to say, "I'm not staying where I'm at. I'm moving to a better place."

In your home, when someone breaks into your home in the middle of the night, they say leave your lights out, because it gives you the advantage, because you know your way around your home. You know where certain furniture is, and you know that the wall is so many feet away. You know where the ball bat is, and he can't see it coming when you swing it. But we're not made to live in darkness. We're not designed to walk in darkness. And the devil would have you believe that this is just the destiny for your life — you are sentenced to walk in darkness from now on. Because this world is not our home, he thinks, "If I can keep him in darkness, I have the advantage." But I've come to tell you today, there is light that's available through Jesus Christ, to shine into this darkness, to reveal the enemy and his tactics in your life. And all we have to do is to arise and find a place in his presence, to walk in liberty today like never before. The truth that we must embrace is, God is the light, and we must remain close to him, that we can shine in this world of darkness.

Micah 7 and 8 says, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sin in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me." Darkness is not our destiny. Failure is not our course. But I've come to tell you, these altars are open, and it's time to find a place to allow his light and his glory to shine upon us, to walk forth in liberty and victory, only found in his presence. If you're here today and you have a need, I invite you to come to this front. If you're here and everything's going well, I invite you to come, allow God to examine you, because he wants to do a work in every heart here today. None of us have reached the final destination. None of us are perfect and have arrived. We can all have room for improvement. But it's up to us to move, to make the move, to arise, and to find our place in him. Can we find a place to pray today? Jesus.