Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
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.—Isaiah 60:1-2
I can remember my mom getting me up as a child by saying, it’s time to rise and shine and greet the new day. Now, I am a morning person so her words did not make me want to cry and put my pillow over my head. I am still a morning person but now a much older one. As much as I would like to rise and shine and greet the new day by bounding out of my bed, I can’t. It takes a few minutes of slow, very controlled movements for me to even walk properly no less bound.
Here is the thing though…stiffness and pain may reign in the morning over my physical body but they don’t have to rule over my spirit. As I read Isaiah 1 last night my heart smiled and took note…what a perfect go to morning verse.
I CAN rise and shine. My Light has come. The glory of my God is risen upon me. Whether I feel it or not, that is the reality I step into when I step out of bed in the morning.
Beloved…God is the Father and the Fountain of light…in His light we see light. The knowledge and the very presence of God lives in us. The comfort and blessing of His favor surrounds us. Let His light and glory shine!
Therefore He says:
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light."—Ephesians 5:14
And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.—Romans 13:11-14
Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion;
Put on your beautiful garments,—Isaiah 52:1a
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.—2 Cor 4:6
But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out
And grow fat like stall-fed calves.—Malachi 4:2
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.—Ephesians 5:8-11
Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,—Philippians 2:14-15
"The sun shall no longer be your light by day,
Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you;
But the LORD will be to you an everlasting light,
And your God your glory.
Your sun shall no longer go down,
Nor shall your moon withdraw itself;
For the LORD will be your everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning shall be ended.—Isaiah 60:19-20
Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;—Luke 1:78
