A Sonburst of Revelation to Grow By: THE SON CAN RISE IN MY HEART
Just as the sun rises daily to full strength, our desire as Christians is for the Son to rise in his full strength during our daily lives. This can only be accomplished by understanding and applying the truths of Scripture to our lives. Only God can command this light to shine out of our heart as we learn how to die to the three amigos of Me, Myself, and I. Only then can the life of Christ rise in us, bringing forth his power and beauty.
This is in harmony with the spiritual truth that he must become more and more, and I must become less and less.
Let’s begin with the relationship verse:
Lord, … may those who love you rise like the sun in all its power!
—Judges 5:31
Do you see that key word right in the middle of the verse? Love. It is such a relationship word! We love God … and he loves us as well. And it is because of his love that we have the promise that we can rise in power. God also uses his love as a vehicle of change in the life of a believer. He loves us, and when we accept his love, it creates in us a desire to know who is doing the loving. Wow, the Creator of the universe loves me! This love is what motivates us to do what God wants us to do. It is cultivated by sowing into our hearts the idea that God loves us, and allowing his love to grow into our lives, the new life which Christ has given us.
What we learn about our relationship with God leads us to a new revelation about what he is and how we are to interact with him:
“But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free.”
—Malachi 4:2
One key principle we learn from this verse is that because of our relationship with God, we fear him. But what does it mean to fear God? One of the ways to describe it is to say that we become in complete awe of our heavenly Father. We respect and revere who God is and his authority over all of creation.
As we embrace God’s authority over us, we also experience freedom. How can this be? It is precisely because of Christ’s power rising more into our everyday lives, that we are free. We embrace Christ in us and God’s authority over us, and we experience the freedom that God so graciously gives us. Free from the past, free from the law, free to experience all that God has for us, free to make a difference in the world.
This leads us to reflection:
Prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.
—1 Peter 1:13
Prepare your mind for action and exercise self-control … think about those words for a moment! What would happen in your life if you really applied those words to your life? Because of your freedom in Christ, you are not only free, but also full of the power of the Holy Spirit. Look at the verbs in this verse: prepare, exercise, hope, come, revealed. As you fix your mind on the gracious salvation of Jesus Christ you will be empowered to go out and do the work God has for you.
And this leads us directly to redemption:
Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star [Jesus] shines in your hearts.
—2 Peter 1:19
This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible because it is filled with potential for both this world and the world to come. We pay attention to the Word of God because it tells us how to achieve our ultimate goal. We live in a darkened world. When we pay attention to the Word of God it provides light in a world that desperately needs it. The sun scatters the darkness.
As Christ the Morning Star rises in our hearts, he scatters the darkness revealing what needs to be corrected in our lives. In addition, he imparts his life and empowers us to overcome wrongful desires and pursue his goodness. The Morning Star symbolizes hope and guidance. The morning star is the brightest star in the sky at dawn. I like to think that as Christ, the Morning Star, rises in our hearts, he brings healing to our inner person, strengthening us, enlightening us, showing us where we need to conform more with his will, and showing us just what it is he wants us to do. Such revelations bring joy and peace to us as we bring our lives in conformance with his will. The Son rises in our hearts and continues to empower us to not only grow in our relationship with God but to accomplish his will.
This brings us full circle to relationship where we increase our love for God and desire to have him rise in our lives like the sun, fully powerful and fully effective.
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