Dear ones in Christ,
God wants us to rise up and shine. We should receive the power of God and do great things for God. In Isaiah 51:9 we read, “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Awake as in the ancient days, In the generations of old. Are you not the arm that cut Rahab apart, and wounded the serpent”? The Church of God and its people should awake from the fear, dust, from the dead and from waywardness and shine for the Lord with zeal.
The gates of hell shall not prevail over the Church of God. The Israelites, the Church who were in Egypt were not able to worship God or sacrifice. God sent Moses and brought them out of Egypt. We should come out of the worldly affections and our old life so that the glory of God might rest upon us and the Church of God always. The works of the old serpent should be removed from our lives and the church. Let us see about the things which we rise up and do:
1. Arise, and go up to Bethel and make an altar:
In Genesis 35:1, we read, “And God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.” Jacob faced big problems in his life due to his children.
They made Jacob to fear the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And they troubled Jacob by making him obnoxious. In Genesis 34:25, we read, “Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, the two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males.” And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword. So Jacob was frightened. Moreover in Genesis 28:16, 17, 22 we read, “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” Then Jacob made a vow saying, “And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
When Jacob examined what he should do when he faced lot of problems because of his children, God told Jacob to go to Bethel and build an altar there. The altar is the place where God meets the man. In Romans 12:1, we read that “We should present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.” God saves the man who comes to his presence with true heart.
Bileam knew that the Lord will come to the place where the altar is built. Even though he was a gentile, he had this knowledge. Leah separated herself from the idols and kept herself. So she was buried in her father’s grave. In Genesis 35:4, “Jacob told that he will make an altar for the Lord in Bethel. So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.” Jacob cleansed his family first and then went to the presence of God.
2. Arise, that the curse might be removed:
In Joshua 7:10, 13 we read, “So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Get up, sanctify the people, and say, “Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed things in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.” As Joshua fell before God on his face, God told Joshua to rise up and sanctify the congregation. The leaders and the head of the families should rise up to remove the accursed thing. We should sanctify our families and remove the accursed thing from the family.
3. Rise up from the distress:
In 2 Samuel 19:7, 8 we read, “Now therefore, arise, go out and speak comfort to your servants. For I swear by the Lord, if you do not go out, not one will stay with you this night.” David was very sad and was moaning over Absalom. Then the king arose and sat in the gate. And they told all the people, saying, “There is the king, sitting in the gate.” So all the people came before the king. David’s distress over Absalom’s death was not reasonable. Absalom led the Israelites away from the Lord and destroyed them. We also should not give hand to such Absalom’s works. We should not let people like Absalom to rise up against the Pastors and destroy the church. We should not let Absalom grow. We should not follow Absalom and join hands in his ugly deeds. Indeed Absalom was David’s son. But David alone was anointed by God to be the leader over the congregation of Israel. We should not let Absalom to take that leadership position by any means of shortcuts. Absalom should be destroyed. We should not be sad for Absalom. Just as in 2 Samuel 19:7, 8 we should rise up from our distress and sit in the gate and we should pray for the people before God. we should not ignore God’s work, just thinking about the worldly burdens and the dead people.
4. Rise up from fatigue / depression:
In 1 Kings 19:5, we read, “Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat”.
Elijah ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” Then the Lord gave him the responsibilities he had to accomplish. Then the Lord said to him, go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria, and also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. As Elijah rose up from his depression or fatigue he could do great things for God. Let us also rise up from our fatigue. Let us be vigilant.
My dear friends! Arise, Arise and be strengthened, Arm of God rise up as in old days and destroy the works of the old serpent and the works of Satan. Let us overcome the spirit which disturbs our children. Let us rise up to overcome the curses of our family. Let us rise up from the spirit of distress and depression and accomplish the responsibility which God has given us. God will revive us again. And God will be glorified! Amen!
