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]“Don’t be anxious”…even though it's a perfectly natural response to mounting threats; sickness, finances, employment, uncertainty, emotional stress, family crises...Nevertheless, it says, "Don't be anxious about anything". Instead, pray!
A major earthquake struck Taiwan over the weekend, which triggered a tsunami warning as far away as Japan.
This reminded me of when we first moved to Israel, in 2003.
The word "verily", in this verse, is the Hebrew word “emunah” (em-oo-nah). It also means "faith" or "faithfully". When we trust in the Lord, and our trust is demonstrated by doing good, He declares that He will faithfully feed us. How will we be fed?
In the early 1800's a preacher gave a message to call men to join him on the mission field in Africa. In the audience were only a few women along with a boy. The pastor knew that few women were expected to volunteer to face harsh African jungle conditions. However, he gave the message; and no one responded. What he didn't realize was that he had touched the heart of a little boy whose name was David Livingstone. This boy would grow up to spend the rest of his life ministering to Africa's unreached tribes.
A.W. Tozer had an interesting commentary on this verse. He said: "Faith is seeing the invisible, but not the nonexistent."
When does God answer our prayers? And when do we receive what we ask of Him? And when are we confident He has heard our requests? Many of us wonder why our prayers seem to go unanswered.
A farmer was showing his visiting citydwelling friend around his farm. "Watch this!" he said. He gave a whistle and his little dog came running from the house, herded the cattle into the corral, then latched the gate with her paw. "Wow, that's some dog -- what's her name?" The forgetful farmer thought for a minute and then asked, "What do you call that red flower that smells good and has thorns on the stem?" "A rose?" "That's it!" The farmer turned to his wife. "Hey Rose, what do we call this dog?"