“Increasing Our Light in
Dark Times- 06-28-15”
Recap
from last week:
Zechariah
4 – “Justice” is the Plumbline and “Righteousness” is the Plummet.
7 For
who are you, O great mountain [of human obstacles]? Before Zerubbabel [who with
Joshua had led the return of the exiles from Babylon and was undertaking the
rebuilding of the temple, before him] you shall become a plain [a mere molehill]!
And he shall bring forth the finishing gable stone [of the new temple] with
loud shoutings of the people, crying, Grace, grace to it! 8 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to
me, saying, 9 The
hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this house; his hands shall
also finish it. Then you shall know (recognize and understand) that the Lord of
hosts has sent me [His messenger] to you. 10 Who
[with reason] despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice
when they see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. [These seven] are the eyes
of the Lord which run to and fro throughout the whole earth.
3
stages of Expansion/Transformation happening right now:
1. Separation
2. Purification
3. Glorification
The
Lord is measuring us, expanding us, and preparing us for “Great Light!”
We
have a Covenant and a Purpose assigned to us by the Lord of all the earth:
Isaiah 42:6 I the Lord have called You [the Messiah]
for a righteous purpose and in
righteousness; I will take You by the hand and will keep You; I will give You
for a covenant to the people [Israel], for a light to the nations [Gentiles],
Isaiah 49:6 He says, It is too light a thing that
you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the
survivors [of the judgments] of Israel; I will also give you for a light to the
nations, that My salvation may extend to the end of the earth.
The Spirit of the Lord
brings Light, Life, and Liberty:
Daniel 2:22 He reveals the deep and secret things;
He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him!
1 John 1:4 In Him was Life, and the Life was the
Light of men. 5 And
the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it
[put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it].
1 Corinthians 4:5 So do
not make any hasty or premature
judgments before the time when the Lord comes [again], for He will both bring
to light the secret things that are [now hidden] in darkness and disclose and expose the [secret] aims (motives
and purposes) of hearts. Then every man will receive his [due] commendation
from God.
2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage,
freedom). 18 And
all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word
of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured
into His very own image in ever
increasing splendor and from
one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the
Spirit.
The cycles of darkness
and light:
Individual lives:
Job 29:2 Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
as in the days when God watched over me, 3 When
His lamp shone above and upon
my head and by His light I walked through darkness; 4 As I was in the [prime] ripeness of my
days, when the friendship and
counsel of God were over my tent, 5 When
the Almighty was yet with me and my children were about me, 6 When my steps [through rich pasturage]
were washed with butter and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
Psalms 112:4 Light arises in the darkness for the
upright, gracious, compassionate, and
just [who are in right standing with God].
Nations:
Job 12:22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness
and brings into light black gloom and
the shadow of death. 23 He
makes nations great, and He destroys them; He enlarges nations [and then
straitens and shrinks them again], and leads them [away captive].
Generations:
Isaiah 41:4 Who has prepared and done this, calling
forth and guiding the destinies
of the generations [of the nations] from the beginning? I, the Lord—the first
[existing before history began] and with the last [an ever-present, unchanging
God]—I am He.
For Zion’s Sake:
Isaiah 62:1 For Zion’s
sake will I [Isaiah] not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not
rest until her imputed righteousness and
vindication go forth as brightness, and her salvation radiates as does a
burning torch. 2 And
the nations shall see your righteousness and
vindication [your rightness and justice—not your own, but His ascribed to you],
and all kings shall behold your salvation and glory; and you shall be called by
a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name.(A) 3 You
shall also be [so beautiful and prosperous as to be thought of as] a crown of
glory and honor in the hand of
the Lord, and a royal diadem [exceedingly beautiful] in the hand of your God.
We are called to walk in
the darkness, and to affect it for the sake of the harvest:
Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that
they know not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make
darkness into light before them and make uneven places into a plain. These
things I have determined to do [for them]; and I will not leave them forsaken.
Isaiah 9:1 But
[in the midst of judgment there is the promise and the certainty of the Lord’s
deliverance and] there shall be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the
former time [the Lord] brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land
of Naphtali, but in the latter time He will make it glorious, by the way of the
Sea [of Galilee, the land] beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have
seen a great Light; those who dwelt in the land of intense darkness and the shadow of death, upon them
has the Light shined. 3 You [O
Lord] have multiplied the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before
You like the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil [of
battle].
Matthew 4:16 The people
who sat (dwelt enveloped) in darkness have seen a great Light, and for those
who sat in the land and shadow of death Light has dawned.
Our ministry is to those
bound within the darkness, to manifest His true Light!
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine
before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and
praise and glorify your Father
Who is in heaven.
2 Corinthians 4:1 Therefore, since we do hold and engage in this ministry by the mercy of God [granting us
favor, benefits, opportunities, and especially salvation], we do not get
discouraged (spiritless and despondent with fear) or become faint with weariness and exhaustion. 2 We have renounced disgraceful ways
(secret thoughts, feelings, desires and underhandedness, the methods and arts
that men hide through shame); we refuse to deal craftily (to practice trickery
and cunning) or to adulterate or
handle dishonestly the Word of God, but we state the truth openly (clearly and
candidly). And so we commend ourselves in the sight and presence of God to every man’s conscience. 3 But even if our Gospel (the glad
tidings) also be hidden (obscured and covered up with a veil that hinders the
knowledge of God), it is hidden [only] to those who are perishing and obscured [only] to those who are
spiritually dying and veiled
[only] to those who are lost. 4 For
the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers’ minds [that they should not
discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the
Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves but
Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves [merely] as your servants (slaves) for
Jesus’ sake. 6 For
God Who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts so as
[to beam forth] the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God [as it is manifest
in the Person and is revealed] in the face of Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
-
It’s time to let our/His light shine!!
-
It’s Harvest Time!
- Susan O’Marra
- 06-28-15
