Arise And Shine
| “Arise (from spiritual depression to 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” (Isaiah 60:1, AMP).
The scripture above admonishes us to arise and shine. God has ordained His children on earth to be light and shine forth His glory and beauty. Before we can shine forth, we have to arise! Below are some of the things we have to do in order to shine forth in 2018: Arise from besetting sins: Besetting sins are petty sins that we are susceptible to, enjoy and find difficult to jettison and give up. The Christian journey is like a marathon race, and no marathon runner goes into the race all dressed up. They all appear in light clothing of singlets and shorts in order not to be bogged down, weighed down and slowed down. Besetting sins are weights that slow down the Christian and has the potential to terminate the race for the Christian before getting to the finished line. The Bible admonishes us to set aside besetting sins and run the race before us with endurance (Hebrews 12:1). Arise from mediocrity: One of the synonyms of mediocrity is average. Average may be defined as the best of the worst and the worst of the best. An average person doesn’t have extraordinary results, and this may be due to failure to exert himself or herself. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:10, “’Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” We are to give 2018 our best shot ever, and with God’s blessings our results shall be extraordinary. Arise from procrastination: Procrastination is truly the thief of time. It is true many people will miss heaven because they keep on postponing the time of salvation to a future time. Procrastination can have very disastrous consequences. This is why the songwriter Andrae Crouch sang, “count the years as months, count the months as weeks, count the weeks as days.” By so doing, we maximize time and opportunities. Successful people are acutely aware of the brevity of life and they maximize every moment. The Bible says we should overcome the evil in the day by redeeming the time and stop acting thoughtlessly (Ephesians 5:16-17). Arise from shame: Mephibosheth, the grandson of King Saul, lost his father Jonathan and grandfather on the same day. He fell as a five-year-old and became lame in his feet the same day his forebears died. He later was abandoned in a desolate place called Lo Debar. Kind David showed magnanimity and kindness to Mephibosheth by bringing him to live with him in the palace at Jerusalem. He lifted him from a disgraceful condition to a graceful one. And this depicts the grace and mercy of God. The grace of God is a lifter from deplorable conditions (Psalm 40:2-3). It is the kindness and benevolence of God that removes reproaches from our lives. In 2018, exercise faith for more grace. Arise unto godliness: What will make a remarkable difference in 2018 is our consistent and daily walk with God. Christians who do well walk consistently with God. They daily meditate on scriptures, pray, and make investments in the spirit by obeying God. Enoch the patriarch was said to walk in close fellowship with God and then one day he disappeared because God took him (Genesis 5:23-24, NLT). People who walk closely with God are a blessing to their world. A godly person is one who has a dynamic relationship with God that is unaffected by worldly pleasures and fleshly appetites (Galatians 5:24). CONCLUSION: 2018 is a year loaded with divine opportunities. Arise and make it a glorious year by the grace of God. Have a blessed year!
Ade(Gboyega) ESAN |