Bread of Life Voice

Text: Isaiah 60:1

Introduction:

The bible said, “Arise and shine for the light has come…” (Isaiah 60:1). The light in this context is the good news.

The call today is a two-fold mandate; first to arise, and secondly, to shine. It is possible to arise and not shine. To shine implies spreading the gospel. The devil is comfortable when we are just unfruitful church goers. Our fruitfulness lies in our shining out.

This wake up call is coming because there are so many sleeping giants among us, and God is wondering, what is happening. So many of us, like Jonah have abdicated our responsibility to preach the gospel. We must wake up to the realization that for every assignment there is a season. The greatest trick of the devil is to convince us that there is time. The reality of the matter is that there is no time and we must fulfil our mandate in its season.

God had to wake Jonah from his slumber by sending trouble. Similarly, for some of us, the trouble we are going through is God’s wake up call upon our life that we may arise and shine.

To understand the seriouslness of our mandate, Jesus told Peter, “The devil has come to sift you, but I have prayed you, so that when you are strengthened, you may strengthen others. Like Peter, we have a mandate to strengthen others”. To do this we must let our light shine.

Talking about our light, the bible described us as a city on a rooftop that must not be hidden (Mtt. 5:14-16). During these 9 days, we are waiting for the descent of the Holy Spirit and when He comes, we will be filled with power for demonstration. It then follows that this experience must not end in receiving the power and the gifts that comes with it but must arise and shine out as a light unto all men. Our light should reflect in our character. The first sign that we are matured christian is in how we talk, how we act and how we respond to people. People expect that our words will be seasoned with grace (2 Cor. 4:4-6).

The only way for us to shine is to live a life of holiness. Holiness entails setting ourselves apart for God. The emphasis is not on the absence of sin but on the understanding that we have been set apart; “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives me”.

Conclusion:

Unless we preach to unbelievers, they cannot hear the gospel, and unless they hear the gospel, they cannot change (Rom 10:14). We must go out and shine. It’s not enough to keep praying for anointing. We must put this anointing to use by winning souls for God.

The bible admonished, “Let people see you and glorify our Father in heaven”. The only way people will see us is when we shine. When we do so, the gentiles (unbelievers) will come to experience our light.

SHAL