Dear Church: Rest Up, Rev Up and Rise Up!

In this Spiritual Life UPGRADE, Dawn Wilson encourages Christ-followers to "be" the church the world needs to see in powerful ways as the nation enters a time of uncertainty with a new administration.

God's purpose for the Church has not been recinded.

Family of God, this is not the time to become unhinged or apathetic. We need to walk in the Spirit and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. We need to ask God for direction every day. We need to live in power, not defeat.

We need to BE the Church God intended—reflecting Christ and obedient to God.

I'm not just referring to our response to government—which is all some Christians are considering right now. I'm primarily considering our responses to the wickedness in our culture and the personal temptations we face because of those influences every day. 

Our responses are important, not only because we want to please God, but because the world is watching—

the world we want to invite to know Jesus.

The culture in America has changed dramatically from 50 years ago, and the culture will likely continue to change in ways that will concern Christ-followers.

We do not know what God will do, but we know what He's called us to do.

My Three Priorities Going Forward

The Lord has given me three priorities for the days ahead.

1. It's Time to REST UP.

Listening to the news cycles and encountering the evils of this world can wear us out. We can feel overwhelmed or angry, and sometimes we might feel paralyzed with frustration or fear!

Jesus says,

Come unto Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).

Jesus wants us to find rest in Him in the midst of our troubling circumstances.

We need to be careful to recharge our batteries every day in Bible reading, prayer, and worship so the Lord can refresh us, give us His peace, and prepare us for whatever comes.

When turmoil increases, it's time to seek the Lord and rest in Him.

2. It's Time to REV UP.

We need to rev up our spiritual motors and get energized to make a difference in our chaotic, confusing world.

We need to be examples of what true Christianity looks like. Revving up means getting our lives properly prepared and ready so God can use us.

The Word of God commands believers to be:

"blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world as you hold forth the word of life..." (Philippians 2:15-16a).

There are four clear specifics in that passage that can help us rev up and move forward with strength.

• Be blameless. — To be blameless is to be innocent, without guile, or without fault. Only God is completely without blame. Jesus perfect (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5), and He tells us to perfect even as our Father God is perfect (Matthew 5:48). How is this possible? Those who have trusted the Lord's provision for salvation are "made perfect forever" (Hebrews 10:14)— regenerated as a "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). That is our positional standing. When the Father sees us, He sees Jesus our Redeemer and advocate first, and He chooses to remember our sins no more (Hebrews 8:12)—He no longer holds them against us. To "be blameless" is to live like we understand our position in Christ, grateful for God's mercy.
• Be pure. — Having been shown great mercy and cleansed by the blood of Jesus gives us eternal life; but until we get to heaven, we will still commit individual sins. We need daily cleansing .  God wants us to be holy—which means to be set apart for Him. We are not to live like the wicked of this world. Jesus has given us an example of how we're to live (John 13:15). We guard our hearts and keep them pure as we constantly and consistently repent and "wash" our dirtied-up lives in the Word of God and pray, confessing our sins (1 John 1:9).
• Shine as Lights. — Without Christ, we were "once darkness." But now we are light in the Lord and we are to "live as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8). That is our inheritance (Colossians 1:12). Jesus told us to shine our light into the world, and our light is actually a reflection of His light (Matthew 5:16; John 8:12). We're not to get apathetic and hide our light (Matthew 5:15). The hope of the Gospel is that people living in spiritual darkness might see the light of what Jesus has done for them.
• Hold forth God's Word. — We're not to promote ourselves or become argumentive. We're simply to share scripture to give people understanding and hope. It is the Word of God and Spirit of God that changes peoples' lives (John 6:63, 68). Note: We are not responsible for how people receive the Word of truth; we're only responsible to share it (Philippians 2:16).

3. It's Time to RISE UP.

To rise up in terms of the Church does not mean rebellion against ordained authority (*); it means to bow in surrender to the King of Kings so we can rise up to do whatever God asks us to do.

We need to do God's work in God's timing and by His means. That means we can't act contrary to scripture.

Here's what rising up might include:

• Put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) so we can "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His mighty" against the devil's schemes.
• Praise God in the midst of our circumstances, believing He is in control (Psalm 34:1-2; 95:2-3; Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 2:9). G
• Pray for our Father God to show us His will—which, again, will not contradict scripture. (Matthew 6:10; Colossians 1:9; James 1:5; 1 John 5:14).
• Place ourselves in God's hands—like Esther did (Esther 4:14-16)—to stand in the gap for God's people and the honor of His name.
• Protect those who are being injured. Stand up against abortion, human trafficking, sex trafficking, and cases of injustice; and help orphans, widows and others—protect and help with wisdom and courage (Psalm 82:3; Proverbs 6:16-19; 31:8-9; Isaiah 1:17).
• Point people to the source of hope—Jesus!—as we faithfully, unashamedly share the Gospel (Mark 16:15; Luke 10:2; John 20:21; Romans 1:16).

Perhaps the Lord will speak to you about other biblical ways you can rise up in the days ahead.

It's not time to fall apart, Church. It's time to build and live in victory. It's time to Rest up, Rev Up, and Rise Up!

Which of these three priorities needs a little work in your life this week?

* NOTE from Priority #3 — While some Christians may disagree, there may be cases where civil disobedience might be necessary. This article shares three biblical examples when God's people disobeyed civil authority—Article.

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the creator the blog, Upgrade with Dawn. She is a contracted researcher/reviewer for women's teacher and revivalist, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, at Revive Our Hearts, a blogger at TrueWoman.com, writes wiki-type posts at Christianity.com, and is a regular columnist at Crosswalk.com. She and her husband Bob live in sunny Southern California, and Dawn has traveled with Him in Pacesetter Global Outreach. They have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

Graphic adapted, courtesy of PhotoGranary at Lightstock.

Shining Your Light in Today's Darkness

Kathi Macias is a prolific writer with great heart. Her novels inspire and other writings teach God's truth with power. In this Influence UPGRADE, she seeks to change our cultural focus from frustration to faith, and remind us to shine for Jesus.

"The Bible declares that the darkness cannot comprehend (or overcome) the light (John 1:5)," Kathi says. "Sadly, some Christians have become so focused on the darkness that they seem to have forgotten this great promise."

I (Dawn) have often been reminded by the Lord to "shine." I've often joked that this is because of my name; but the truth is, the light I want to reflect is the light of my Savior—Jesus, the Light of the world (John 8:12). That's the light our dark world needs to see!

Kathi continues . . .

When I became a born-again believer in 1974, I immediately began to question my previously held concepts of nearly everything, including politics. By the time the next Presidential election came around, I found myself voting based on my new worldview.

Since then, I haven’t budged far from that position, and yet the past few years have caused me to seriously examine how I daily live out that worldview.

Sadly, I concluded that though I was standing on ground that represented biblical principles, I wasn’t always modeling those principles in a godly way.

Something tells me I’m not alone in coming to that conclusion.

In our currently divided and politically-charged society, I regularly meet Christians who, whether they agree with my position or not, struggle with reconciling their political stance (and resulting actions) with their Christianity. And that’s okay. Their struggle tells me they truly want to be Christ-like in all areas of their lives, including politics.

However, I have a much greater problem dealing with those who are absolutely certain their stand is the only possible one a Christian can take, despite the fact that other sincere believers may have a different view.

In considering and praying about this situation, I continually return to John 1:5:

“And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend [overcome] it.”

This first chapter of John is about Jesus (“the light”) entering a world of sin (“the darkness”) and, despite all resistance, prevailing to rescue those trapped in that darkness. How did He do that?

Put simply, the Light is so much greater than the darkness.

Few Christians would argue that point, knowing Jesus is the Light and has already overcome the darkness—not by condemning those caught in the darkness, but rather by extending His Light to them in a free offer of love. And, that, of course, is the key.

We too are called to be light in this dark world (Matthew 5:16), shining brightly so as to attract others and show them the way to escape.

But do we more effectively do that by continually proclaiming the evils of darkness . . . or by declaring the great unconditional love found only in the Light?

The answer, of course, is evident: We are called to emulate Christ, who walked in love, even toward those He knew would betray Him.

So how do we apply that fact to our own lives, specifically to our political stand, whatever that may be? We learn to recognize and overcome the darkness.

Just because we have joined ourselves to the Light doesn’t mean we can’t be influenced by darkness.

The moment we take our eyes from the light, darkness will make its move.

It is up to us to consciously choose to walk daily in the Light of Christ, dispelling the darkness around us.

Ephesians 5 provides us with three simple steps to do so.

1. Walk in love.

We walk in love by being “imitators of God as dear children,” loving others “as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (v.2).

Christ gave Himself for us and requires that same giving from us.

He set the bar so high that we can never reach it in our own strength or ability. We are completely dependent on Him, and we must be continually mindful of that.

2. Walk in light.

We walk in light by remembering that:

“[we] were once darkness, but now [we] are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light” (vv. 8-13).

Ah, there it is: The only way to dispel the evils of darkness, which enslave unbelievers and keep them from God, is to shine light—the Light of Christ—in our daily lives.

We must be driven by a desire to deliver the words found in verse 14: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”

It is doubtful others will receive that message from us if we are speaking words of prideful criticism or pushing argumentative positions, whether biblically correct or not.

3. Walk in wisdom.

How do we walk in wisdom? Verses 15-17 declare,

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

God’s will is never for us to add to the darkness, but rather to shine our light, everywhere and all the time. And that, of course, brings us back to regularly spending time with Him, sitting at His feet, learning from Him, and allowing His Spirit to direct our ways and our words.

In conclusion, as we necessarily walk through this time of political tumult and confusion, may we:

• Learn to spend our time lighting candles rather than cursing the darkness,
• praying rather than condemning, and
• offering of ourselves instead of criticizing others.

Do you struggle with shining your light for Jesus in our wicked culture or divisive political scene? How does the scripture's reminders to walk in love, walk in the light and walk in wisdom give you encouragement and direction?

Kathi Macias is a multi-award winning writer who has authored nearly 60 books and ghostwritten several others. Kathi won the 2008 Member of the Year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) and was the 2011 Author of the Year from BooksandAuthors.net. Her novel Red Ink won the 2011 Golden Scrolls Novel of the Year Award and was also a finalist for a Carol Award from American Christian Fiction Writers. Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband, Al. You can learn more about her and her books/ministry at www.kathimacias.com.