Don’t Be Occupied by the Darkness! Live in the Light!
Photo by Dewang Gupta on Unsplash
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For the darkness shall cover the earth
and deep darkness the peoples;
but the LORD shall rise upon you,
and His glory shall be seen upon you. (Isaiah 60:1-2, MEV).
This morning, this Scripture came to mind, and the Word of the Lord came to me saying, “Don’t be occupied by the darkness. Live in the light. Live in the glory. For the glory is the answer. His glory shall be seen upon you.”
Too often, we are focused on all that is wrong in our lives, in our nation, and in the world. It is true that there are great problems and great darkness. This should be no surprise. The Lord said that darkness would cover the earth. But He says that the Lord shall arise upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you. However, if we are preoccupied with the darkness, we will be unable to shine.
We have something to do with God’s promises coming to pass. We must cooperate with His plan. We must train ourselves to live in the light and the glory. Focusing on the darkness defeats the purposes of God by short-circuiting the power source. As the Apostle John tells us, ”But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1John 1:7, MEV) Walking in the light means walking in love, and when we focus on the darkness, we become angry and frustrated.
Fellowship with God requires walking in the light, because that is where He is. God does not live in the darkness. If Satan can get us to dwell on the darkness, He can separate us from the power source. We need to be full of light so that we can be a light in this dark world.
In His great intercessory prayer before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed to the Father for us, “I have given them the glory which You gave Me, that they may be one even as We are one: I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfect in unity, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (John 17:22-23, MEV).
You see, the glory of God has been given to us by Jesus Christ. When we are born again, that glory comes to live inside of us, and we are made one with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We must develop the habit to live in that glory. We must become aware of His presence. We do that through worship and prayer and being filled with His Word, not only on Sunday mornings, but throughout every day of the week.
As we do this, His glory will be seen upon us, and people will recognize it. They will know that God truly sent Jesus and that He loves His people AS He loves Jesus. That’s a very powerful thought! He loves us JUST LIKE He loves Jesus.
What is the answer for this dark world. A glorious Church shining like the noon day sun. We who know the Lord ARE the answer, when we shine with the glory of God. Notice what He says in the following verses of Isaiah 60:
The nations shall come to your light
and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
They all gather themselves together; they come to you;
your sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be carried at your side. Then you shall see and be radiant,
and your heart shall thrill and rejoice
because the abundance of the sea shall be converted to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you. (Isaiah 60:3-5, MEV).
How do you overcome darkness? By turning up the light! So instead of wasting our time feeding on all the negative news and problems, let’s start dwelling in the secret place with God. Feed on His Word and linger in His presence. Let Him fill you daily with His glory and let the people around you see His glory in you.
It’s time to shine! Don’t be occupied with the darkness. Live in the light. Live in the glory. And His glory will be seen upon you.
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