Isaiah 60 marks a change in the prophetic words of Isaiah.

Arise, ^||shine; for thy light is come,

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

 The word “Arise” marks the command to perceive the new season, the new kairos, and by faith receive this command as to understand that the change of season brings about a new state of being. The Lord is preparing a new season which will come in 2020, not necessarily corresponding to our New Year exactly. However God is already announcing to us the new season. The command is “arise”, from the low place we may have found ourselves, it is to lift up our hope and faith that God is turning our fortunes.

Psalm 126 catches perfectly this theme.

When the Lord ^aturned again the captivity of Zion,

We were like them that dream.

²  Then was our mouth filled with laughter,

And our tongue with singing:

Then said they among the heathen,

The Lord hath done great things for them.

God “turns” situations when He changes the season. This Psalm prophetically forecasts what God would do for Israel, He would turn their captivity. And for that to happen God used Babylon and Persia to refine Israel and both Babylon and Persia were humbled in turn. God would use Persia, more concretely Cyrus, to release them with one motive: to build the house of the Lord. And how wonderful it will be when God will release us in our various situation to “build His House.” Just that before the house is rebuilt physically so God’s house must be rebuilt in their hearts first!

The Lord is going to do a mighty work in the next season that even those who do not know God will know the miracles and attest that surely Someone mighty is at work.

The Word in the next season will come as fountain opened in our “Jerusalem”. Zechariah 12:10-11. God is about to open out to us the Scriptures and put in place that all what we were going through was a process to what fruits we will now enjoy.

The second command is “Shine”, and shining is reflecting Him. We are like the moon, we only reflect the light of Him who is Light Himself. Genesis 1:3 is the very first manifestation of creation. It will be the first manifestation of our new season. Light. How will that be evident in our daily life? We will experience a new joy, a new depth of understanding of God’s Word, a new direction either ministerially, geographically. We will experience new provision. The condition being that we BUILD THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.

 Ezra 1 talks about a “stirring” of spirit. In any new season there is a “stirring” in people’s hearts in favour of God’s people and God Himself, because God is about to do wonders with God’s people. So as we see the Light, by faith, we will begin to shine. We see that the Glory rises.

The rising glory…evidence also of the next season. As verse 2 says in Isaiah 60 there is great darkness on the earth. This darkness is ignorance of God’s ways, blindness, deception, delusion. If there is any day that deception is abroad it is now. 1 Timothy 4 characterises the type of deception that takes over. The love of self is the first deception as we crown ourselves lord of our own lives. So the rising glory is in direct correlation with the level of darkness. This in itself, whilst a seasonal change has a personal application. We need to make a demand for the glory to combat the darkness. However this depends if we are obeying Him with the ordained task given to us.

If we take 2 Chronicles 7 into context, the glory comes where there is fire. If we pass through the fire of the baptisms of the Spirit we will have access to levels of glory. When you consider in Exodus, the explanation of the handiwork of Bezaleel you see all pass through fire. The fire sanctifies. It sets apart, separate from to be separated to. So if we have withstood the fire of the preceding season we qualify for the glory in the next season.

The contrast in the next season between two sets of believers, there will be those grounded in the Word, will know God’s ways, whilst others seek for signs…shall be ignorant and in darkness in the next season.

In times past a preacher called Kenneth Hagin, rebuked his contemporaries for having the wrong foundation for ministry, based on gifts instead of the Word. He said they would not last out the season. His ministry lasted over 60 years. He spoke to many generations concerning the Word and helped many ascertain the ways of God.

God is about to release a new level of theologians in the earth who can join both knowledge of the Word and the Power of the Spirit. They will bring a manifestation which will become a demonstration of the Doctrine of the Lord. A new passion for the Word will be in every stream of what we called Church. The Catholic Church have just made a declaration that 2020 is the year of the Word.

I am in contact with a leading Catholic Theologian, Scott Hahn, and have several of his books, and they have a rich understanding of Scripture. He left the Presbyterian denomination and became a Catholic Theologian with a mission to make the Catholic Church biblically literate. This is a lesson for us all. See http://www.scotthahn.com . I have learnt so much of the ways of God through him.

Through Al Houghton I have learnt so much concerning the ways of God, so much so we have a close connection since my visit to Colorado Springs in September. More relationships have come about because of that meeting. Next year will be many visits to the USA.

The more deeper God reveals Himself in the Word the more we desire. We fall in love as we see our discernment grow, and our lives will be full of signs of His working amongst us.

We need to “arise” and “shine” for His Glory is rising, the darkness has had its day, now to the offensive oh Saints of His Word!

Shalom!