At the beginning of this New Year, God gave us a new theme
to build our lives and activities upon as a church. The theme is that, 2015 is going to be:
The Year of Shining
This is found in the book of Isaiah 60:1 -5
It says:
“Arise, shine,
for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 “Lift
up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the hip.
5 Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
to you the riches of the nations will come.”
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the hip.
5 Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
to you the riches of the nations will come.”
If you go back and look at Isaiah 59, God describes the sins
of the people and how they separated him from them. He says “Surely the
arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too
dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God”
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God”
When people walk far way from God, they cannot see His glory
(Romans 3:23) and this also stops them from discovering their purpose.
The word “arise” is for those who are sitting, not for those
who are standing up. This is not the year for you to sit down and complain but
the year for you to arise- to stand. I don’t know the things telling you that
it is not possible, it may be news on radio, circumstances in your life, but
know that if you disobey and remain in that position, these things will harm
you.
However, if you obey and arise, your family, your neighbors,
the people around you will be amazed as they see shining not with your own
glory. The Glory of God shall come upon you and you shall be a mirror
reflecting it.
Your shining will cause nations (those who are from far or
don’t know the Lord) to desire to know you because they have seen the glory of
the Most High God upon your life.
There are things that are kept on the inside of you.
Treasures that people around you do not know of. In you there is life as Jesus
said in John 7:38: “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of
living water will flow from within them."
This is the life that must be manifested this year. How can
that happen?
Matthew 5: 13-16
explains:
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the
salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good
for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light
of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither
do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its
stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let
your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and
glorify your Father in heaven.”
In order to let your light shine, you have to hear the word
of God, meditate on it and do what it says.
Another secret that will cause you to shine this year is to
tarry (dwell) in the presence of God. This is where revelations will come from.
Looking at 2 cor3:7-18, we see that as we contemplate the glory
of God, we are transformed as well.
Glory is not beauty. The Glory of God means the presence of
God. We are saying that this year, people will know that God exists by
referring to you and seeing your God.
However, if we look back at Isaiah 60, you will notice that it
says “See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the people”. You may think that because of this word, everything is going to be easy, but no, this is not what we are saying. Times are going to get harder. Fear will surround the world, and people will find it hard to cope with life. This is why it is during these dark times that indeed your light shall be needed.
and thick darkness is over the people”. You may think that because of this word, everything is going to be easy, but no, this is not what we are saying. Times are going to get harder. Fear will surround the world, and people will find it hard to cope with life. This is why it is during these dark times that indeed your light shall be needed.
Let your light shine!
This is your year of Shining!
Sermon preached on Sunday, 4 january 2015
By Pastor Nahimana Dieudonne
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