– Rev. Rafael Martinez, Pastor of Gibson Memorial
“ Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion” . (Isaiah 52:1-2)
The times we live in are difficult and many people just complain about everything that is happening. There is no interest in praying for the family, our church, the community, our nation, etc. There is no interest in preaching to the people around us. There is no interest in seeking God with the heart.
The aforementioned are symptoms of being spiritually numb. God says: “Wake up, wake up,” and if He says it twice, it is because we are in too deep of a sleep, and He wants us to wake up. When a person is asleep, they are unaware of what is happening around them. Many people have died during a fire, intoxicated by a gas leak or other tragedies, while they are sleeping.
The enemy has made us enter this dream. Through sin, we enter into conformism, passivity, and spiritual cooling off.
Dress in Power and Beautiful Clothes
God also asks us to “put on power,” and this is done through prayer, fasting and in nourishing ourselves with the Word of God. By having our time of intimacy with the Heavenly Father we will be invested with power to be faithful witnesses of the Word of God.
God wants us to dress in beautiful clothes, the clothes of holiness. As a wife prepares for the wedding, so we must prepare for God. In Zechariah 3:1-4, we see how Joshua was before the angel of Jehovah and the devil was there to accuse him. Joshua had vile clothes, he was dirty and with an unpleasant appearance before God, the angel of Jehovah rebuked the devil and sends Joshua to change his clothes, removes his vile clothes and puts on gala clothes.
Dust yourself off, get up and be free
Dust yourself off. When you leave something forgotten and neglected, it fills with dust. Being spiritually asleep, you neglect your life, your relationship with God. The enemy wants you to feel discouraged and humiliated, but today God tells you, shake off the dust and cheer up.
Get up. As Isaiah 60:1 says, “God’s desire is that we rise up and shine, that we be light to the people around us and show the way that is Christ.”
Be free. Remove the ties or the shackles which tie you to your past life or to the will of the enemy. Today, break those ties in the name of Jesus and be free to serve God with all your being.
God wants to use us as instruments of blessing, but we must wake up, put on power, shake off the dust, rise up and shine, breaking away from any discouragement in the name of Jesus.
WAKE UP AND RISE UP IN JESUS NAME
Author: Juan M. Ramos
Written for www.destellodesugloria.org
Edited and translated by: Rev. Rafael Martinez