Friday, January 28, 2011

Arise and Shine

Arise, shine; for your light has come,
         And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. ~ Isaiah 60:1


As I awoke this morning, I read the Bible verse above, given to me as a gift from one of my Angels in the outfield.  I promised my Angel that I would use the bookmark daily for my Bible.  It helped me to get my day started properly as the last couple of days have been restless and sleepless due to my heavy workload coupled with the burden of knowing the sacrifices that are to be made in my life in the near future.  A hurricane is on the horizon and it will arrive soon. God has already promised me that He will be with me during the storm and that a rainbow will follow the hurricane. 

Isaiah is one of my favorite Bible writers. His choice of words and the way he makes them flow, especially when he describes the vineyard that God has cultivated (by the way...YOU are His vineyard), makes him one of the greatest writing prophets of all times. Make sure you set aside time to read and understand his sixty chapters of hope and inspiration, everything written with you in mind and for your benefit. Wow!  The greatest love story every written,  just for YOU!

When God wants to get your attention, He does it through other people in your life and through little signs that many times go unnoticed.  I received two more messages to complement my morning Bible verse. While driving my son to school, Katy Perry's song, "Firework" was playing on the radio.  Check out the lyrics:

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper-thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep?
Six feet under screams, but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there's still a chance for you?
'Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the Fourth of July

'Cause baby, you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!",
You're gonna leave 'em all in oh oh oh

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane, comes a rainbow

Maybe the reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it's time you know

You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the Fourth of July

'Cause baby, you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em all in oh oh oh

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time you let it through-ooh-ooh

'Cause baby, you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em all in oh oh oh

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

If the Bible verse and the song were not enough to get my spirit soaring, then the note from my wife was all I needed to make sure my day was starting properly. At the bottom of her note was a picture of a lighthouse. Next to the lighthouse was another Bible quote, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" ~ 1 John 1:5.  There is no greater power on this earth than the power of a praying wife.

Perhaps some of my restlessness comes from knowing that I must return to the cave and separate myself from the world around me in order to complete this book. God wanted to assure me that I will not be alone in the cave and I will not be in darkness.

I may be starting to sound like a broken record because of all the daily prayer requests I keep asking for from you. Please don't stop praying.  I need your prayers now more than ever in this final trimester of book writing. Your prayers are my light source while I am separated from the world. Thank you and God bless you.

And to the angel who gave me the special bookmark, I am deeply thankful for your thoughtfulness and your presence in my life.  Each time I use my bookmark and see the red hearts on the ribbon, I will remember your words of encouragement. The hearts will remind me of this year's blog theme, LOVE... I will focus all of my writing around this theme.  Your bookmark will serve as my daily rainbow and will help me to find my place in God's word, it will forever remind me that no man is a failure who has friends, especially friends like you.  My love for God's people grows stronger every day.  Thanks for helping me to ignite my spark.  No matter how far away I am sent to do His will, I will always treasure how you ignited the spark within me and it will warm my heart even when I am in some of the coldest places on the planet.

Now it's time to share this spark with the world and set it on fire.  Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the Glory of the LORD has risen upon you.  If you find yourself in a storm, look for the rainbow.  When you see it, you will know that God is with you.  May you be reminded of the love letter I have written you today every time you see a rainbow in the sky.  It is a gift from God, just like you.  No matter how bad the storm, a rainbow will ALWAYS appear.  Remember, that's not my promise, it's God's.  Just do me one favor.  When you look up and see the rainbow, please smile.  If I happen to be on the other side of it, knowing that you are smiling will make me GLAD.  I may not always be able to see your smile, however, I will feel it in my heart.





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