Isaiah 60:1 "Arise (from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you-rise to new life)! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! [Amp]
ARISE for you are exceedingly capable! The word used for Arise in it's original language is 'koom' meaning to arise, to abide, to decree, to endure, and various other applications. By definition, to arise means to assume an upright position; to get up after being thrown down or falling; to become active in opposition or resistance. There is a calling out for the Bride of Christ to rise, pick up her weapons and storm the gates of the enemy and tear down the strongholds keeping the children of God bound. It is a call to excel above and beyond your circumstances and lay hold of the absolute truth found in the knowledge of God and your identity in Him.
In October of 2011 God gave me a vision and in this vision I saw a gate enclosing a vast battlefield. The gate was rusted and rickety; it looked as though you could walk up and push it down and yet was so intimidating that you feared the attempt. Beyond the gate, I saw an innumerable army laying down as though they were dead. Hovering over and almost overwhelming the battlefield was a feeling of intense mourning and yearning beckoning to the warriors to arise. Immediately I was overtaken by the hovering emotions and began to weep. When I looked up I was on the other side of the gate looking at the warriors blanketing the battlefield. Their armor was royal and immaculate. There was not a dint, scratch or rip anywhere to be seen. Their swords were laid down beside them void of any blood; they had not even been used. I heard God tell me that this was His army then he told me that He was going to show me the strong man. As I turned around I saw a man guarding the gate. Just as with the gate, his appearance looked feeble and weak but carried such an intimidation it empowered him to remain strong. God spoke to me again and told me his name: Perversion. He said that His warriors laid down their weapons and Perversion raped them of their identity.
Beloved awake! We have allowed ourselves to become intimidated and battle-shy by what has been done to us or what is surrounding us and have allowed Perversion to remain the strongman. His assignment is to intimidate, distort, manipulate and control your very identity in Christ. If he can make you believe that there is nothing you can do about your situation or doop you into justifying your little compromise or get you to shift your standard of measurement from the standard height of Christ to what the world is doing and deeming acceptable, he has manipulated you into allowing him to be the keeper of your mind and the strongman over your life! His methods go far beyond sexual compromise and abuse; that is merely one facet. He infiltrates our hearts and minds through the little 'half-truths', through the 'well everyone else is going to that movie, reading that book, or wearing those clothes' crutch. Remember what the serpent said to Eve in the garden? Eve spoke truth about the commandment God had given her and the serpent came back to pervert and distort that truth by saying ''you shall not surely die..." (Gen 3:4). Perversion says "Its just a little sexual innuendo. It's not like it was a full blown sex scene!" or "You can listen to that music, I know the life the artist is living is not Christian but all their music is inspirational." Perversion creeps in one little compromise at a time. Take inventory of the items and images with which you have surrounded yourself. How much of your inventory compares to the world's ideas or to the behaviors and beliefs that have been made acceptable by the world's standards? If a complete stranger was to take note of your inventory would they be able to see the Light and clearly make a distinction of holiness and righteousness?
Jude 3 says this "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." When you contend for something you are making a decision to stand up a fight for the position upon which you stand and represent. The Hebrew word used for faith is 'pistis' meaning persuasion of credence or moral conviction. Pistis comes from a primary Hebrew verb meaning to convince. In this passage Jude is telling us to not only fight for the belief that Jesus is the son of God who died and rose again for our salvation, that would be what he is referring to as 'common salvation'. Yes, we need to rise up as one body of Christ and begin to declare and intercede for the revelation of Jesus to infiltrate our nation and that is why Jude said he was diligent in his writings concerning this aspect of salvation. But he goes on to say that while he was writing this letter 'he found it necessary', in the original text you find a picture painted from this little phrase. Jude was constrained and gripped with distress and urgency to release the message God had given him and that is this: that we would earnestly, from the depth of our being and with everything we have within us, stand up and fight for the moral convictions surrounding us and drawing our allegiance.
As with every battle, there are two opposing sides vying for dominion. Ephesians 6:12 clearly defines the battlefield upon which we are fighting and identifies the enemy trying to creep in stealthily and gain entrance secretly through side doors that have been left open. The doom of this enemy was predicted long ago and when Christ rose from the dead that prediction was set in stone!!! The enemy knows that the battle has been won and that all authority and dominion has been given to the saints. So why is he still fighting and why do we still feel the battle raging? Because he also knows that the only power and authority he has is gained when one of God's children gives it to him. His battle plan is to creep into the hearts and minds of men and woman and begin to speak lies to them, surround them with overwhelming circumstances and pain, or distract them from the best God has for them by offering something pleasing and seemingly beneficial to them that will cause them to turn their eyes. Corey Russell says it this way, "we have become so stuffed on good things that we have no appetite for real things".
Beloved, there is an invitation extended toward you by your Heavenly Father to walk in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth far above the wiles of the devil! Arise, Beloved, throw off the old and lay hold of the promise being extended and walk in the victory paid for and so freely given to you for you are well able!!
