April 14, 2020 Shades of Darkness Dispelled by God’s Glory

Isaiah 60:2  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.
 
The word darkness means to withhold light, to be in misery, ignorance, death, sorrow and wickedness.  
The word cover means to conceal and hide or to overwhelm.  With the Corona virus consuming our minds and changing all our lives, we are easily overwhelmed by all the deaths that are happening, and all that deaths that might happen- if we do or don’t do certain things.
The word deep darkness means being covered with thick darkness and gloom, like very low-hanging dark clouds that you can feel.  This is not here yet, but it is coming. 

We are living in a time when the people of the world are experiencing shades of darkness. As our freedoms are being severely curtailed, and life is not what it once was, a darkness has crept into the MINDS of mankind, believers and non-believers.  Yes, I said believers. 

Let’s be honest with ourselves, we are sorely distracted by all the reports we can’t seem to pull away from.  We want to know what is going on, are things getting better, or are they getting worse? Everywhere we look, and we are looking, the news draws us to look and keep looking.  Then all the conflicting reports and suppositions feed the fear and anxiety and unsettledness growing inside of us.  This brings deeper darkness into our souls (Mind, Will and Emotions).  Think about this, are we accomplishing all the things we thought we would each day?

But we must not lose hope, we can rise above the darkness.  Our scripture says that the Lord will rise upon us.  The word rise means to shoot forth radiant beams of light to brighten our souls.  This can happen when we allow God to illumine our minds as we feed on His word and His hope, and not the darkness of the world.  Then God’s glory will become very visible in our lives to those around us. 

As a ministry we have chosen to take the next 40 days for more consecration and separation. We know our minds are not right and darkness is influencing us. We need to remind ourselves that we have been rescued from the domain of darkness, and transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son. (Colossians 1:13)
 
John 3:21  But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.
 
1 Peter 2:9  But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;