DAILY VITAMIN

- Arise!

"Arise, shine; for thy light is 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" (Isaiah 60:1-2)

Everyone loves that verse, but ironically not everyone lives it. We have to understand that it isn't an expectation, it is our reality; our responsibility; it is what God expects of us today. Let's see it from the Amplified Version. It says "Arise [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you... rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!" 

Two things we learn from there are that

(1)  God is not planning on lighting you up, He already illuminated you. You're not like some Christmas tree that gets lit during a certain period of time, you are constantly lighted up. Many of us get confused because of the second verse's usage of "shall" as though it is intended to happen; but No, it's already happened. The Living Bible puts it as God's result through you... "Darkness as black as night shall cover all the peoples of the earth, but the glory of the Lord will shine from you". This scripture has been fulfilled in Christ. So it is your position, not tomorrow, but today. Notice the tense used; in the KJV it uses the present, and in the Amplified, it uses the past, but never the future- because it is not waiting in your future, it is already active in your 'now' of life. 

(2) It is intentional. God is not going to help you arise; He has already placed you in high places above all things in Christ. You, on the other hand, have to appropriate it in your lifestyle. The glory, He says, is already there, but you've got to live it through. You have to beat the feelings of depression set into motion by the conditions surrounding you. You have to view life from what God has said, not by what you presently see. You have to encourage yourself through the Word. It might not be easy, but it is needful and the right way to live in Christ. 

Consider David, he had outlined every reason to stay depressed, yet he said to himself "Why art thou cast down, o my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." (see Psalm 42:1-12). It might seem discombobulating, but then you'd realize that he focused more on God than on his conditions to eventually live the higher life. Notice what he said in Psalm 27:13, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living".

Hence, arise, live like the light that you are, and shine. 

Confession:

I am the light of the world. And I know this isn't an expectation to come; it is my reality, and my responsibility in Christ. God has placed me in this particular place at this particular time to give light to those around me; to free them from the shackles of darkness, and to release them into the glorious liberty of Christ. This is my identity. This is my life. This is me. Amen.