Today’s Readings:
Isaiah 60-61
60 “Arise, shine; for your light has come,
Isaiah 60:1-4
And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
2 “For behold, darkness will cover the earth
And deep darkness the peoples;
But the Lord will rise upon you
And His glory will appear upon you.
3 “Nations will come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 “Lift up your eyes round about and see;
They all gather together, they come to you.
Your sons will come from afar,
And your daughters will be carried in the arms.
The Lord says,
These are days of excitement, change and forward motion. These are days where I will upset the apple cart. Carefully organized lives being lived in precise and delicate balance will get toppled. It’s time to stop stacking your apples and putting them on display. It’s time instead to eat, to enjoy and to use them for fuel. It’s time to run, to delight, to receive and and to possess. It’s time to take ownership and to stop living like one whose life is on display for all to see. Stop showing it and start living it.
5 “Then you will see and be radiant,
Isaiah 60:5-7
And your heart will thrill and rejoice;
Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you,
The wealth of the nations will come to you.
6 “A multitude of camels will cover you,
The young camels of Midian and Ephah;
All those from Sheba will come;
They will bring gold and frankincense,
And will bear good news of the praises of the Lord.
7 “All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you,
The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you;
They will go up with acceptance on My altar,
And I shall glorify My glorious house.
Choose grace. My grace is sufficient for your running into the days ahead. My grace is sufficient for equipping you with the boldness and courage you need to move forward, to make decisions, to say yes, to run. My grace is more than sufficient. As you begin to delight, to decide, to run, to grasp you will find it great joy. All that terrified you, paralyzed you and was so outside of your grid that you dismissed it will soon be the parts of your life that delight you and bring you the most joy. New entrants are coming into your life. Change is coming into your life. It’s your choice whether to continue to watch on as a bystander, as one whose life is on beautiful display but never actually tastes enjoyment, who never actually lives. Or you can taste it for yourself; and you can use My grace to embrace the change, the mess, the learning, the fun, the stretching, the growing and the new.
7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion,
Isaiah 61:7
And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion.
Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land,
Everlasting joy will be theirs.
My grace is here for you, and change is at the doorstep. Beautiful opportunities to run with change, to accept change as a gift, and to pursue and choose change are here. It’s all spreading before you like a map filled with sparkling desirable choices. Even as you are looking at the map you will see new choices appear and old ones disappear. Time is marching on, so will opportunities, chances, ideas and people. Now’s the time to pursue with intent, to run with intent, to grasp with intent and to enjoy with every fiber of your being. The wilderness has been broken off, and change is here. I’m coming to upset your apple cart. Take it as a break through, break free moment and run forward with eyes filled with vision into sparkling days ahead.
How to Respond
- Stir up excitement, anticipation, vision and hope in your heart.
- Pray, Lord, help me to see any opportunities that I am not seeing. Help me to open myself up to change, to new, to risk. Help me to run after the exciting and delightful opportunities that you cause to cross my path.
- Declare, the Lord has ushered us into a time of new, of opportunity made for living and advancing. He has broken us out of the wilderness season into a time of choices and chances filled with His grace for running.
- Decree, I will not be a bystander of my own life. I will take the opportunities that God breathes on. I will take the risks and taste and see that the Lord is good. I will not just stand by and watch everyone else run their races. I will run my own race with joy and delight.
For more encouragement from Glory & the New Wine, check out the post from this day one year ago: A Call to Live in Contagious Joy.
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