Be Radiant
March/01/2010 02:38 PM
Isaiah 60:1 (Amplified) “ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you-rise to new life]! SHINE (be radiant with the glory of the LORD), for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you!
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and the dense darkness (all) peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you (O Jerusalem), and His glory shall be seen on you!
And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about you and see. They all gather themselves together, they come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried and nursed in the arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart shall thrill and tremble with joy [at the glorious deliverance] and be enlarged because the abundant wealth of the [Dead] Sea shall be turned to you, unto you shall the nations come with their treasures.”
We may have been knocked down by the things of life or something heavy is now pressing down upon us, but it's time to arise, shine and BE RADIANT!
We should be radiating God's presence and His light. He is our light. When He shines on us, nothing can hold us down. Those in darkness around us will be drawn to us. Even those of position and influence will be drawn to us because of this radiating light. The things we believe God for, such as our children, our finances, and our total well being will be taken care of. The blessings of the Lord will overtake us! If we look to Him we will be radiant!
Psalm 34:5 (Amp): "They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces shall never blush for shame or be confused."
Here are some dictionary definitions of radiant:
1. Filled with light; bright, shining
2.Glowing, luminous
3. Emitting heat or light; sending out rays of light
4 Characterized by: health, intense joy, happiness, marked by expressions of love or confidence.
We are to be radiant and full of light for others to see!
Luke 11:33-35 (TLB) "No one lights a lamp and hides it! Instead, he puts it on a lamp stand to give light to all who enter the room. Your eyes light up your inward being. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. A lustful eye shuts out light and plunges you into darkness. So watch out that the sunshine isn't blotted out. If you are filled with light within, with no dark corners, then your face will be radiant too, as though a floodlight is beamed upon you."
God has shined upon us so we must not let anything snuff or blot out that magnificent, holy and pure light! We get sidetracked by sin and the distractions of worldly things. Our eyes are the window of our heart, the real you and me. When sin or distractions come, it's like we pull the shades down. No light can come in and none can shine out. We are plunged into darkness.
The precious and mighty Holy Spirit knows how to get into our heart and clean out those dark corners by shining His light in them. This can only happen when we get into His word and let His word get into us! This can only happen when we get into His presence and let His powerful Holy Spirit touch and change us.
Psalm 119:105 (NIV) "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
Psalm 16:11 (NIV) "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy. At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
I want to share with you a couple of examples in the word of those who were radiant. The first is a follower of Christ called Stephen.
Acts 6:8 (TLB) "Stephen, the man full of faith and the Holy Spirit's power, did spectacular miracles among the people."
A Jewish cult called, "The Freedmen", rallied up other Jews in the surrounding regions to come against Stephen. The Bible says that despite the trouble they were stirring up against him, none of them were able to stand against Stephen's wisdom and spirit.
In short, they couldn't defeat him, so they started spreading lies about him in order to have him arrested. And had him arrested they did. Sounds like the same thing they did to Jesus. We must realize that when we stand up for God not everyone is going to love you! Actually, there will be those who will hate us and seek to shut us up or destroy us because they are under the influence of Satan.
Stephen was brought before a council as the accusations were spit out against the man of God. Verse 15 says:
"At this point everyone in the council chamber saw Stephen's face become as radiant as an angel's."
Another awesome example is from the Old Testament about Moses:
Exodus 34:29 “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with two tablets of testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.”
The key words here are "because he had spoken with the Lord." Moses had an awe and reverence for God's commands and was dedicated to staying on the mountain in God's presence to hear what He would say to him. Moses wanted to please God and he desired to lead the children of Israel to follow God with the same hunger and purity. He had such communion with the Lord of Hosts that God's presence actually radiated and glowed from the face of Moses. Moses loved the presence of God and he told God in the scriptures that he didn't want to go up from the place where he was unless the presence of the Lord went with them.
Exodus 33:15-16 (NIV) Then Moses said to Him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and pleased with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
How will the world see Jesus? What will make us stand out as different from people who don't know the Lord? HIS PRESENCE. People will know we serve a real and a powerful God. They will see that we have pleased Him and that He is with us. This will create such a hunger and a desire in them to want to know this God we serve! We've got to BE RADIANT!
kimconnor@whwc.org
|