Isaiah 60, Ephesians 5

Isaiah 60

My prayer this morning is that I stay out of the way of what God is doing around me. His presence has been so thick in going before us, and we are in such a sweet season of dependency, that I fear the end of it. I fear in a good way. Not in an anxious and scared way. I just want to remain in this place. To find joy and peace in the journey.

Verse two says that “darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.”

The word “Rises” comes from a Hebrew word that means to “irradiate: to shoot forth beams”, similar to the rising of the sun on the earth. But more specifically, and oddly enough, this word is used many times to describe the appearance of the symptoms of leprosy.

So that’s strange, right? Not really.

I would imagine that having leprosy would be something that would be difficult to hide. I would imagine that it would completely change who you are and what your life looked like. I imagine it would change who wanted to be around you as well. I would imagine it would change our perspective on life, family, relationships, and our opinion of what things are truly significant. I cannot fathom the mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical impacts it would have on a person.

God’s Word says that when He “rises” upon you, when He saturates our lives so significantly that it shines through every area of our lives, HIS glory will appear over us. It will completely over-shadow “our” glory. If my prayer is truly to get out of the way, this is how it’s done.

God, completely saturate my life with you, your ways, your love, and your leading. Break my heart for what breaks yours.

Ephesians 5

Paul reminds us to “be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

The greatest challenge for us came in the following verses to live as children of light. That means to avoid so many fleshly things that come natural to each of us. The key to this avoidance of our flesh is once again given in the words prior to the challenge of purity: If we will imitate God and live every moment in LOVE, the rest will fall into place. Although it is complex in living it out daily, it is a simple measure of motive for every decision and action of our day.