Defy the Gravitational Pulls That Want To Keep You Down: Ask God To Help You Rise & Shine

Isaiah 60:1 & John 8:12

Defy the Gravitational Pulls That Want To Keep You Down: Ask God To Help You Rise & Shine

Soul Food

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”
- Isaiah 60:1 (NIV)

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- John 8:12 (NIV)

Soul Search

• "Are there things in your life right now that are ‘dulling your shine?’ 
  Can you talk about them? "

• Are those things that are pulling you down the result of choices you have made or are they from outside of you?

• What happens to your temperament and your behaviour when things pull you down? 

• Do you reflect light (hope, optimism, courage, joyfulness) or do you reflect a darker side – like one underground as in a grave (despair, pessimism, discouragement, unhappiness)?

Soul Moves

• "We are all challenged by things in this world that seek to pull us down. But we can also ‘overcome’ the pull of gravity when we purposefully remember the God of the Bible who overcame the grave in and through His Son Jesus. 

• He is a God who defies gravity and the grave and who can put His Spirit in us so that we, too, can overcome those things that seek to keep us in the dark. "
  

• "Write a list of the things that are pulling you down right now. 
Make those items the beginning of a prayer list for yourself and any of the people involved in those things that create a gravitational pull on your life. 

• Turn the discouragement of the ‘shine dulling’ list into an invitation to God in prayer to turn those things around. More importantly, to turn YOU around in the midst of those things. And to turn the other people in that list around. "
  

• "Ask God to help your thoughts so that you don’t dwell constantly on those things that bring you down. 

• Ask Him to replace those thoughts with Bible verses that speak to life and hope and optimism and LIGHT – especially when you’ve been thinking too much in the dark. "
  

• "Write down the ‘light-reflecting’ (and life-reflecting) character qualities you want to have when you’re under downward pressure. 

• Have those you’re closest to, who see what you’re really like under pressure, let you know how you’re doing with your reflection. "