Isaiah 60:1-3 Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 2 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. 3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
For several years now, I’ve been focusing on the Kingdom of God, a central theme of Yeshua’s preaching [Luke 4:43], and will be offering a series of devotions on this topic with particular emphasis on our present season, which I believe portends the birthing of this Kingdom. A study of the gestation process from conception to birth yields insight as a natural parallel into the historical process we’re witnessing and taking part in. This theme will be developed in the coming days.
Our personal spiritual journey is an essential part of our participation in the birthing of God’s Kingdom, and it carries close parallels to the creation account. When God spoke in Genesis [Genesis 1:1-5], He began with the simple words, “Let there be light!” because “..darkness was on the face of the deep”. Our natural birth from the maternal womb involves the movement from a place of darkness into the natural light of this world. So, the birth of this universe is mirrored in our natural birth. But it also is powerfully exemplified in our spiritual birth, as we move from the darkness of sin and death into the light and life of the Son of God.
Similarly, our natural birth involves moving from what feels like experiential chaos and uncertain transition into an intimate relationship of mother to infant child. Likewise, our spiritual birth transitions us from a life without ultimate meaning or purpose, a life of “chaos” as it were, into an intimate relationship filled with God’s light as He reveals His love and His purpose through the regeneration and resurrection life He gives.
These parallels exemplify fundamental ways of God. He is the Light of the world. Having separated the light from the darkness and called us to be children of light, we have a relentless hope and a magnificent destiny, especially right now in these birth pangs of His Kingdom. His prediction that the darkness would grow much deeper just before His glorious appearing, is upon us, and sets a context into which we must shine all the more brightly. As the word says, “His glory shall be seen upon you.”
This empowerment to shine has never been more relevant and critical than it is now. The darkness of our world, the chaos of our age, will either drive us to despair or fuel us to burn with the light of His Holy Spirit. We can see the division of darkness from light is well underway. And there will be less and less gray. Therefore, more than ever, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven”; [Matthew 5:16].
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]"In the washroom of his London club, British newspaper publisher and politician William Beverbrook happened to meet Edward Heath, then a young member of Parliament, about whom Beverbrook had printed an insulting editorial a few days earlier. "My dear chap," said the publisher, embarrassed by the encounter. "I've been thinking it over, and I was wrong. Here and now, I wish to apologize." "Very well," grunted Heath. "But the next time, I wish you'd insult me in the washroom and apologize in your newspaper."
Years ago, I heard an anointed missionary and personal friend speaking on the consequences of sin. He told a story about a pair of brothers he knew quite well.
Junk mail -- those annoying letters that fill your mail box. Along with the junk comes the delightful bills, and renewal notices. Of course the junk, we can just throw away, the bills, unfortunately can't be ignored, but the renewal notices, those we're thankful to see. Without them, we'd likely forget that we need to renew our licenses, our credit cards, membership cards, whatever else.
A story is told of Napoleon Bonaparte. As he was busy conquering Europe in the 1800's during one of his military campaigns, Napoleon accidentally let the bridle of his horse slip while he was looking through some papers. The horse reared itself and the Emperor lost his balance. One corporal quickly leaped forward and caught the bridle just in the nick of time, bringing the horse under control and saving Napoleon from what might have been serious injury or even death. Napoleon saluted the corporal and said, "Thank you, Captain!" "Of what company, Sire?" asked the corporal. "Of my guards," replied Napoleon.
It ought to be obvious to all of us believers that we are in a spiritual war that is taking place all over the earth -- and that we are called to fight in this battle. In the world's armies, soldiers are not sent into battle before receiving many months of serious training. They need to get physically in shape first and then to learn how to handle different wartime situations and tactics of the enemy.
The New Testament records that when Yeshua (Jesus) died; there was a great earthquake and the veil of the Temple was torn in two. The size of this gigantic veil is not recorded in the NT...but we read from other sources that it was roughly 60 feet long and 30 feet wide with multiple woven layers the thickness of a man's hand! It was hung on a crossbeam stone – a lintel – which was over 30 feet long and weighed more than 30 tons! It was not an easy cloth to tear...
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