Rise Up part 2
Isaiah chapter 60 verse 1 in the Amplified Bible turns the familiar phrase, "Arise, shine for your light has come," into, "Arise [from spiritual depression into a new life], shine [be radiant with the glory and brilliance of the LORD]; for your light has come, And the glory and brilliance of the LORD has risen upon you." I think that addition is important. Because sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can begin to climb. It's my understanding that some momma birds make their nest intentionally uncomfortable so the babies will leave. So the babies will learn to fly. What I'm trying to say is, if you've settled for where you're at, you won't move. You won't rise up. Why would you? If you think the grass isn't greener, or if you think it IS greener but you can't have it, then you'll just stay where you are. It's not "If you rise, the light will shine." That's how we THINK it is when we're in the midst of the fog of that spiritual depression. We think we have to "toughen up." Pull ourselves up from out bootstraps. We think the fact that we're in this situation to begin with proves there's something wrong with us. We think asking for help is a sign of weakness. But it's not. Asking for help is a sign of wisdom. When you know you can't do it alone, that's when you don't have to do it alone. You don't force the light--the glory and brilliance of the Lord--to shine by rising up. The light HAS come. It IS shining. Jesus is the light of the world, and we are that same light. Because He shines in us. First He shined ON us to show us who we are--by showing us who He is--and now that we know who we are He shines THROUGH us. And that's HOW we rise. Not fake it 'til you make it. Not try really hard to make something change. Not be someone you're not in order to get something you haven't got. Remember in the beginning it--the heaven and the earth, the mind and the body, YOU--was dark and void and without form. Then GOD spoke. HE said, "Let there be light." And now the light has come. The light is shining. Nothing you did, or could do. Everything HE did. Everything He IS. And now, through the Holy Spirit, we know and believe that everything He is, is everything we are. As He is, so are we in this world. Now that we know that we are shining with God's brilliant glory we don't NEED to try to be someone we're not. Now that we know that He loves us we don't have to try to get something. Because we know what we've got. Now we can shine. Because of HIS light. Now we can rise, because HE was lifted up from the earth and He drew us all into Himself. We don't have to make anything happen. But we can experience and enjoy what happened on the cross. We don't have to fight anymore. We can rise above. We can lay aside the sin (unbelief) that so easily besets us. We don't have to keep stumbling along in the dark. We don't have to keep struggling. We can rest. We can flow. The grass WAS greener on the other side. There WAS a more excellent way. Called the Kingdom. Called love. And your heavenly Father gave it to you. Because He loves you and He wanted you to have it. To experience it. To share it. He wanted the best for you, so He gave the best to you. His heart. His Spirit. His Son. His life. His love...