Once I had a dream where I was shown a blue ribbon like you would receive as a prize in a contest. On it was written in italics, “The Church’s Finest Hour!” We are on the cusp of the greatest hour that that Church of Jesus Christ has ever known.
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. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee.
Isaiah 60:1-4
There will be a greater level of darkness released in the earth, but this is only an indication that our light will shine even brighter. Things will get very “black and white”. God will make a distinction for His people who walk in the light of His Presence in obedience to Him. When we look at Isaiah 60 we hear the words, “Arise and Shine”. In the original Hebrew the word for arise is the same word that is used for “decree”. The spirit of this verse means “to rise up and decree”. It is the very same word used in Job 22:28 that says?
“Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.”
The word for “shine” means to “be lit on fire” or to be “ignited”. When we combine these two words together it is a very potent combination meaning, “Rise up to decree the heart of God and be lit on fire! I’ve taken liberty to create my own rendition from the Original Hebrew Dictionary of this verse below:
Arise and decree the heart of God and be set on fire for your Illuminating Light has come and the “kabod” of the Eternal God’s weighty glory is breaking out and shining forth beams of light upon you.
Isaiah 60:1
This is the time for our illumination, the time for our rising and shining for we are living in the greatest hour for the Church that has ever been. What may seem like a sleeping giant is about to awake and illuminate the earth with God’s glory. The word for glory in this passage is “kabod”, the weight glory of God’s Presence.
As the Church rises to the occasion with unhindered and unbridled passion, all the things that weigh her down will be left in the dust! Because of this passionate pursuit of God, a complete surrender to His heart, the things that have hindered will be left behind just as the wind will blow off debris as someone is running at full throttle. The Church will then be re-mantled with the weighty glory of His Presence that will beam His glorious light in us and through us.
When Jesus is at the center of our lives all things revolve around Him in perfect harmony. All of the things that seemed like a big deal are no longer of any importance. Then all the things that are of God’s Heart will be set before our eyes as we lay hold of the prized possession of His Presence.
We are living in the Church’s Finest Hour. Arise and Shine today for greater is the glory of God inside of you than any obstacle that would come before you!