Arise And Shine – by Apostle Paul Oduneye

Arise and Shine

Isaiah 60:1
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.”
For a person to be told arise, it means he had been knocked down or had been put on his or her back for a long time. A clear portrait of one individual not moving forward or a person not making any progress.
But according to the Bible, in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “To everything there is a season, and the time to every purpose under the heaven.”

If anyone has experienced challenges, and a time came when God Himself released the command ‘Now arise!’, it is not only an order to rise but to begin shining. Why? Reason is there is a certain reflection of God’s glory to back up your rising. So that as you rise, you do not remain in your former state, you will also begin to shine! People around you will begin to see the glory of God in your life.

Somebody reading this message, this year, will be glorified by God. Starting this day onwards, God will lift you up and make His glory to shine forth in your life, in the precious name of Jesus, Amen!
I am not certain which area in your life you have experienced situations contrary to God’s glory. As I have quoted many times, the glory is the opposite of shame or disgrace. Shame could be knocking down somebody today. It could be you.

In the area of family living, you expect a going up but undergoing a shameful knockdown. That is not the end of you. About finances, you may have been confronted by your landlord, or by the people around you and obviously you felt so ashamed to come to the surface. I want to tell you, by the Spirit of the Living God, He will lift you up out of every shame and will glorify you.

I may not know which area in your life you feel smashed and rejected, you’re so torn it’s hard to rise up again. You might be hard hit by health issues or challenged by a sickness, crossing over seems impossible. I want to tell you that God is able to lift you up. You might be trapped in a spiritual quicksand, probably wallowing in sin. You may want to get out of it, be freed of it but find yourself falling down into it again and again.
I have good news for you! The power of God is coming your way right now and His glory will rise on you. He will lift you up and break every chain the enemy has gripped you with. Rise and shine that the glory of God will come in your life! As written in the Bible, even the righteous falls seven times yet he will rise up again. It doesn’t even matter if you failed and been knocked down either by your mistakes or by the work of the enemy several times. I want to tell you people that what knocked you down in the past will not be able to knock you down again. God will make you to rise up way beyond your imagination. The glory of God will come upon you and surely people will see God’s glory in your life. When you read verse 15 of Isaiah 60, it says, “Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no men went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.”

When no relatives remember you, when former friends abandoned you, fellow Christians rejected you and none wants to bring you good news anymore, I bring you good tidings! God has sent me to declare to you, there is a rising about you, where you have been hated, you will be excellent this year! God will lift you up greatly. You shall become a joy to the coming generations.

Repeatedly, you may have been pushed back, marooned, become penniless, unfruitful, backward, unproductive and stagnant. The Bible says, soon and very soon, you shall rise up and shine, you will become the source of joy to many people. Your life will never be the same as before. You will turn out a channel of blessings and through you, people will praise the Lord. Hallelujah!

That’s good news for you! That is what God is up doing in your life. That is why He has sent me to reveal this message of hope to you.
When you read the Book of John 5:8, you will get to know the man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. It says, “Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” The man beside the pool of Bethesda had nobody to carry and rescue him. The people see him alone and helpless. One day, the King of Kings, the Creator of the whole universe came. Jesus Christ. said “Now, right now, carry your bed and go”. Just at the release of those powerful words, thirty-eight years of problem vanished.

One word from God is enough to terminate your twenty long years of crying. It is no issue how long you have been stranded or bound by rejection where nobody recognizes you, God will make a move. Do not get fixated about your ministry or business not getting any help, I want to tell you, God is sending His Word to you. By the release of the Word of God today, there shall be rising in your life. You are going to have a testimony of rising in the name of Jesus, Amen!

Not only that, when Jesus said you will rise, you will then begin to shine. As yet, not everyone knows how great you are, how glorious God has made you. Even you yourself might have thought you couldn’t be somebody of significance. I want to tell you, God has sent me good news for you – you are perfectly, gloriously made by God, and so is your true colorful destiny, in the precious name of Jesus.
God, our Creator at work, is doing something favorable for and about you. It is your turn to rise and your turn to shine. For it is written that there is time for everything.

You failed yesterday doesn’t mean you will fail forever. It could have been due to your mistakes, caused by those around you or by the work of the devil and his host. It’s not the end of your story. I know you came in and out of the puzzling mazes, but I want to let you know that now is the time to rise and now is the time to shine.
I’d like you to understand responsibility – the ability to respond to the imperative, “Arise, shine!”
To a tearful and most likely emotionally defeated individual in a hopeless situation, God didn’t say, “I will give you a hand today, I would help you to shine!”

No, He surely didn’t mean that! When God commanded, “Arise and shine!”, He did so with the release of His authority and the responsibility (to rise up and to shine) not to some magician who’ll do the tricks and say “Begin to shine”. No! God had you in His mind when He released and gave it. You are the object of that command, you have a role to play. It is our duty, yours and mine, to understand what the steps are to rise and shine.
He has released His words, ‘Arise and shine’, and the rest He left to you.
At the pool of Bethesda, the man with infirmity was trying to talk and tell stories like, “You know, I have nobody, been here for a long time, the angel came down I couldn’t even jump, this tale and that story.” But Jesus said, “I’m not at all about those stories. All Jesus said was, “Just rise and shine.”
Rise, pick your luggage and go home. Rise! Pick up your bed and move! In other words, God has released the rising and shining authority of His word, you now have a responsibility to make it manifest in your life. Without responding to your role, you can never rise and shine.
To rise and shine, our role is greatly required. We have roles to play for God to do His. You have to do your share. When you do your part, God is faithful to make you rise and shine. Hallelujah!
By the grace of God, I will tell you about the different roles to help in your rising and shining for the fulfillment of God’s plan. Stop looking at your past and stop blaming others. Terminate plans of whom to mock, and whom to put your problems on. By the help of the Holy Spirit and by doing your part, you will see God in action and at your rescue. See how God will surprise you. God may never move unless you move. That is why, the following you need to understand:

1. Arise and Shake Off the Chains.
In the world we are living, the enemy usually pulls people down with a chain. That’s why the Bible clearly says “it shall come to pass that its yoke shall be removed”. The enemy usually works with chains to hold the leg of people, to hold their neck in pulling them down. You cannot see those chains physically but you can shake them off, if you follow all that I’m going to tell you with the help of the Holy Spirit.
What kind of chain is the enemy using against you? It can be the chain of sin which you enjoy but is not aligned with God’s will. You find yourself in it and you just want to continue immersing in it.
There’s no way you can’t be consumed by a burning car when you just sit down, shout for help and ask 911 to quench it. If you will not make a step to get off the car which caught fire, you will get burned.
Same thing, if you want to rise and have your victory, make a decision to shake off fiery dust. It doesn’t matter how many times you messed up, how many mistakes you made, how many times you faltered, there is still chance for yourself to be set free. God will not deliver you when you’re not ready (have not decided) to deliver yourself.

You say you’re tired, you don’t want to smoke cigarettes again, you don’t want to drink beer again but you have more friends who smoke and drink than those who don’t. Automatically, when you go figures, you will get addicted yourself with those vicious friends.
If you truly want to rise and shine among peers, be ready to stand out separately.

I don’t know for sure what chain the enemy is using against you. It may be a chain of materialism (buying things even not within your means, putting your business investment at stake) and later will cause you to blaming Satan (Satan made me falter, turned my business go berserk and what else).

This is very important, you need to remember cutting your coat according to your size. You have to shake off things you’re incapable of doing out of lack of wisdom. You have to shake off those hedonistic dust.

In Isaiah 52:1-2, it says, “(1) Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee uncircumcised and the unclean.” “(2) Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bond of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.”

You know, there are some who never wake up after falling many times. If you want the rise and shine in your life, this is the word of God for you: Wake Up! You have been sleeping too much. Laziness can be the chain of the enemy to deprive you of your great destiny. God says, Awake! Put on thy strength. You have a beautiful garment from God. Stop wearing all those garments of reproach courtesy of your bad friends and your old ways. Make a change. God wants to clothe you with glory. Hallelujah!

The demons will run way when you wake up. They won’t come again if you decide to wake. God didn’t say He will help you to rise. No! Shake indolence off yourself. You are pure, you are aware. It’s a pity many people are aware of the cause of their problems – that the problem started when they began having mean friends, boyfriends or girlfriends, sinning. It’s also a pity that they fell prey to the will and lust of the world which they consciously caused early in life. It is time for them to say enough is enough, they have to shake it off!

Some have been knocked down by shame of the character. Despite the fact that they are Christians, their character is stained with pride, one with disrespect to superiors, bosses, and spouses. They show no degree of honor to anybody. I just feel that they are too much bloated and their character of being proud knocked them down. It doesn’t matter if you have been putting out that way too long, but it’s not the end of you. If you can be willing to shake off your dust and rise up with a new character, God is able to do it because you are the sons and daughters of Zion. Cleanse yourself. Adapt a change. That’s one of the ways you can rise and shine. No angel nor heavenly being can come and raise you.
None!
Do your part, before heaven will do their part. If you don’t, God won’t do His. So, do your part, choose the right relationship, the right character, right behavior. Make that change, clean up your act. Leave yesterday behind, choose a new life. You will begin to shine. The glory of God will begin to surface and prevail in your life and your ministry. There is time for you to take a step.
Rising and shining in life in God’s kingdom, takes acceptance of the responsibility. Do away with looking for people to blame for your failure, for excuses or ways to defend yourself. All you need is to accept responsibility, do what is right. You rise and you will shine again. Break away from the chain of laziness, break loose from procrastination. Do today what you can do now, not tomorrow or next week just because it’s the season of lockdown.
Before the lockdown period, what did you do? You didn’t do anything and you’re using lockdown as an excuse. Shake putting off things off, take a step, accept the new responsibility and God will make a way for you.

2.Engage Yourself in a Spiritual Warfare against every Force of Darkness.
You want to rise and shine? Engage yourself in a spiritual warfare. That’s another responsibility. It’s a sorry sight that many people live in this world unaware of the forces of darkness around them. They lead a simple life not knowing there are devils assigned to ensnare them and Satan put them in bondage that seemed forever.

Look at Isaiah 60:2, it says,
“For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.”

Many have been attacked by thick darkness, gross darkness covered the people (very hard, difficult ones) and where are these people? It doesn’t matter which country you are from, Satan is all over the world. If you say Satan is in Africa, and you run to Asia, you are just going to the major office of the enemy. If you run from Asia, you run to Europe or you run to America, you just run to the headquarters of the devil, he is everywhere.

The only way for you to be free, to rise and shine is not be lazy in spiritual warfare considering the enemy is spirit. You must understand that you are not fighting against flesh and blood. You fight against people around you and see them physically, but be keen, there are forces that don’t want you to rise, powers that lock down your blessings and your progress. That is why you must not be lazy in prayer – a spiritual engagement.

When you pray, the enemy should tremble, your prayer should make Satan afraid. Sometimes, you pray only when you eat, like, ‘Father, bless our food in Jesus name, Amen.’ The demon is just standing by, not afraid. Take note, you must engage yourself in THE spiritual warfare. You must be able to address the darkness saying, ‘Darkness, it is my time to rise, shift away, push away. It’s not your place, devil. My business is not your business, so devil, get out of this place!’ Until you do that, that’s where you begin to rise.

Many people destined for glory work like beggars here and there, because of lack of prayer, lack of warfare and lack of skills. What they know is that they are just Christians who hear the preacher and passively say, “Amen” after a prayer. Oh! You need to use your own mouth to actively fight the battle in prayer daily.

Your destiny is a serious matter, not a joke. This is a word of fulfillment. You have come to this world, to play a part in making a good impact before returning back to heaven. You have to fight for your destiny. You have to tell the devil, “Devil, it is my turn to shine, so, get off the way!”

You are praying for the whole week, there’s no time to destroy the work of the enemy. You are busy! You don’t even know that the enemy is everywhere. You are not aware! I want to tell you that there’s an enemy. There are forces of darkness, controlling forces that do things you yourself don’t like. You keep on finding yourself falling into these forces. You keep on wailing, wishing to be successful but don’t have the ability. You are under the operation of the devil. You need to set yourself free, you need to fight for your destiny and for yourself. It is your responsibility. No angel will come and do it for you. God will not come and do it for you. You have to do it. That’s why the message says, ‘Arise, shine!” You have a responsibility – that is the principle of God.

It is written, “Awake!”
God didn’t say He will help you to awaken, He didn’t say He will help you to arise. He will never break His principle for you. Do your part and God will do His.

Never spend a whole day without destroying the work of the enemy over your life, without praying against every force of darkness, as they are everywhere. You can be in any part of the world, the devil is there. So, you need to pray, to break the yoke of the enemy. You need to remove the barrier so that your rising will not be limited.

“I declare, as the Word of God is coming to you right now, every covering of darkness over your life shall be destroyed in the name of Jesus, by the Light of this Word, I see God making a way for you. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen! “

Don’t forget, it is your responsibility to fight the good fight of faith. Everyone who believes in Christ Jesus must know how to fight. That’s why the Psalmist says, “Teach my hand to war.” Jesus came to this world and He fought seriously in the spirit. Enough is enough for a gentle Christian life, a kind of Christian life that is void of fire in prayer. You just don’t pray and sleep, and wake up and say you’re tired of your life, nobody’s of help, no one is looking after your family.
Did you help yourself in prayer? Did you fight?
Arise!
Fight the good fight of faith! Every chain must be broken by the power of God. Then, you will see your rising. You will rise up colorfully and gloriously. The people will be wondering about God’s doing in your life. It is your turn to rise. It is your turn to shine. You will never miss it in the precious name of Jesus, Amen!

3.You Need to See, if You Want to Rise and Shine.
The farther you see, the farther you go. The farther you see, the higher you can go in your life. One of the greatest weapons of the enemy is blindfolding human beings to disable their vision, for them not to see the glorious part of their destiny. Many have been blindfolded by the situations they are in. They have been limited, spending many of their years in the same spot.

You need the ability to see beyond where you are now. You have to see new things God will do.

Isaiah 60:4 says, “Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they came to thee: thy sons shall come from far , and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.” Can’t you see? Your rising and shining in life are your responsibility. One of the responsibilities God is telling you to do is to lift up thine eyes round about and see. If you don’t lift up your eyes and see, you can never have it. Verse 5 says, “Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged: because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.”

There are plenty of opportunities God will bring around for your rising. There are plenty advantages and favors that God will bring for your own lifting. But if you are thinking the same way you did ten years ago, you will never be able to get it. If you are not ready to see new things, to see those privileges that God will bring to you, you will be able to take advantage of your rising.
Many times of long opposition, God made a decision in heaven, I heard Him speak clearly to me saying it is time for rising and shining for His people and that it’s your turn to play your part and do your part to see before you can rise.
I’m not talking about the physical eyes. Somehow, what God wants to do for you is much bigger than what our small eyes can see. I’m talking about our inner mind, the spiritual eyes inside that can see far beyond what the people around you can see.
There are some revelations, ideas, divine inspirations that God will bring about for your rising.

Some of you are receiving it right now as you are reading this message. As I am releasing the words which God wants to tell you, you must have lost it and missed it but the idea comes back again for your shining. If you will embrace it, make use of it, you will fly higher. Do not limit God, never limit your rising, God has a plan for you.
You are destined for great glory in your community, state or municipality. Some of you are destined for glory that will shine in the whole nation and they will see that glory in your life. Don’t limit that glory.
You may say nothing is workable now that the world is in lockdown, that you will just wait and as you wait, you misunderstand the government.

Your glory is not from the government, your shining is not by the controlling forces of lockdown. It is your responsibility. When you lost one idea, God has thousands available. He has ways to show you if you are willing to see. Sharpen your inner mind to see fresh revelation and fresh ideas from God. You will be lifted in your glory and it will never be turned into shame again.
You recall the man Abraham in the Book of Genesis 13:14, it says, “And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward.” That is good! God said He will never give you a blessing you cannot see. Before He will do it, you need to imagine (visualize) it, and believe it. See beyond the level which you were last year. You keep on rotating in one spot, return and return to the same. God wants greater success for you, He wants to expand your coast and take you to new heights. Perceive greater, God will do greater in your life. You never miss it Hallelujah!

4.Get the Light.
Nobody will shine without the arrival of the light. Nobody can shine without the presence of the light. And how do you find the light? You will only find the light in the Word of God. (The Word of God is called “Rhema”).
The light is in the Word of God, as you are hearing it, God’s light shines on you. Value the word of God. Love to connect and listen on daily basis. You find a certain light thereof and bring forth your glory. It takes light to shine. I have said it many times. The moon has no light of its own. The moon is rightly positioned with the sun and has direct power to shine. It is called solar system where the Sun is over the Moon which shines forth the same light it gets from the Sun. For you to shine, you need to get the light. So when you want to get the light, where’s the sun that will give it to you? The Word of God, as was written in Psalm 119:130 where it said, “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” So if you want to rise, value God’s Word. Don’t take it for granted. Shine and burst forth.

5. Ask for Divine Wisdom.
Wisdom is the principal thing, In all thy getting get wisdom.
There are many people who desire to rise in life, but they are wanting in the wisdom of God. They forget that in this world, the great enemy for rising is the tricky Satan. The only wisdom that can overcome the devil is the wisdom from God. There’s no way you can be wiser than the devil if you don’t have wisdom from God, not the kind one gets from the university. But when you get it from God, you will understand the tricks of the devil that have been knocking you down. Having it from God will make you rise and overcome his tricks.

Proverbs 8:14-15 says, “(14) Council is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. (15) By the Kings reign, and Princes decree justice.”

So we cannot shine like a queen or king in the area of life without wisdom. Daniel 12:3 says, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the Stars forever and ever.” It takes wisdom to rise and shine. If you really want to rise and shine this year, you need to speak to God and say, ‘God, I don’t know it, I want to shine, I have heard your Word, give me wisdom.’ Don’t pretend to know everything. There are many revelations, new ideas that God will give you day by day. If you humble yourself to come to the presence of God and ask Him for wisdom, then you will excel and you will shine.
The glory of God will never be limited. No devil will be able to stop you. God is the One Who knows how you can excel and the devil will not be able to interfere. He is the Only Source of the wisdom He gave, then you will rise. It is then your responsibility to value the wisdom you asked of Him on a daily basis to teach you.

“God, teach me today, I don’t have much knowledge about it, you know better, Lord. Teach Me Lord, let there be an impartation of grace and understanding and knowledge, so that I can rise. Then everyone will see your glory in my life.”
Hallelujah!

6.Keep Shining in a Righteous Path.

Some people in this world have been raised today, they shine brightly today but a few days, months and years after, they falter. Their shining glory days become dim and are totally wiped away. There are so many stars, you heard everything about them celebrating and just few months passed, they are gone totally.

Know how you will rise and keep shining all the days of your life. Learn to value righteousness, meaning, consider abstinence from everything against God. Love to fear God, live a holy life. When God is lifting you up, Satan will also try to lure you with the lust of this world. When your money arrived, your glory has arrived. Satan wants to deceive you by giving yourself a proud tap on the shoulder forgetting that it’s all by and from God Who made your rising possible. That moment, the devil could have taken advantage of your glory and destroyed your colorful destiny. Never let him do it. To keep shining continuously and to maintain your shine forever, never forget Proverbs 4:18
‘The path of the righteous will shine till the end.’ It does take a righteous path to enjoy continuous shining. Not that you will shine today and fail tomorrow, shine today and fade next year.
Not at all!
When God brings forth your glory, His plan is to enjoy your shining all the days of your life. It takes shining in a righteous path and living life that pleases God that He enjoys your shining all the days of your life.

“I declare in the name of Jesus, your glory will never never dim all the days of your life, you will shine! People will see the glory of God in your life, in your ministry, business and all other areas of your life, the glory of God will continue to manifest in the name of Jesus.”

God will Hasten His Word!

God himself will hasten His word. Remember that from the beginning of this message the word came “Arise and Shine!” The duty and the responsibility of God is the release of His word and ours is to follow those things I mentioned and the rest you leave up to God.
When you do your part, God is committed to hasten the fulfillment of what He is saying. He’s capable of doing it even today. You can do it, I’m sure this is your year of rising. Just do your part. Obey what the Lord has said. Follow those steps. He will stand by His Word to bring it to pass.

Isaiah 60:22 says, “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.”

In as much as you have done your part, God will multiply you, and make you a great person. Not by slow motion but by speed, He will hasten it to happen, quickly. God is about to bring forth something in your life, faster than the expected time you ever imagine. But never forget those six points I have mentioned. I see God working by speed in your life for your greatness, colorful destiny, rising and shining. Loose the bond and shake off the chains of the enemy, follow the light of His word and you will never be a failure again. You will never be knocked down again, I see your rising higher from glory to glory. The power of God is picking you up now. I see you approaching the year of shining. Your ministry will shine afresh, your family will shine afresh. From now on, you will begin to shine gloriously and become a source of joy to many generations, channel of blessing to others and through your life, people will praise God. Receive your miracle. I see you rising up, moving from glory to glory. “Arise!”, says the Lord.

Hallelujah!

Blessed be the name of Jesus!