Welcome the Shining in God’s Word until the Morning Star Rises and the Day Dawns

May we be those who welcome the shining in God’s word until Christ as the morning star rises in our hearts and the day of His coming dawns.

As we remain daily under the shining of the Lord’s light in His word, the light becomes brighter and brighter, the morning star rises in our hearts, and as we continually give heed to the shining word of the Scriptures, we will have the kingdom as the day dawning in us before Christ comes as the Sun of righteousness. Amen!

May we be those who live a life that hastens the Lord’s return.

May we prepare ourselves for the Lord’s coming and not delay His coming but rather, do all we can to hasten it.

The Lord is waiting for His bride to be prepared so that He can come secretly and rapture her, bringing the overcomers as the precious ones to Himself to marry them and enjoy a thousand years of wedding feast together.

But are the overcomers ready? Are we those who are being prepared for the Lord’s return?

The Lord said that He is coming quickly, but it has been a little over two thousand years; when will He return?

Why is He not coming today? It is because we are not ready.

The bride has not made herself ready. Why do we need to give heed to the prophetic word today?

It is so that Christ may rise as the morning star in our hearts and we may be produced as His overcomers, the overcoming bride of Christ for whom He can return.

We need to realize that, yes, Christ will return openly as the Sun of righteousness, and all will see Him on the cloud.

But if that’s the time we see Him, it may be quite late for us, because He has a secret coming to rapture the overcomers before that.

Three and a half years before His open appearing on the cloud to take all His believers to Himself, the Lord will come secretly to steal the overcomers, to rapture those who have been giving heed to the prophetic word and have been preparing themselves for His return.

In such ones, Christ as the morning star rises in their heart, and the very next step in their experience is for them to be raptured, to really enjoy Christ as the morning star, the overcomers’ reward.

We want to be the ones who today and every day give heed to the prophetic word as to a lamp shining in a dark place so that day by day and even moment by moment Christ as the precious, shining morning star would rise in our heart and the day would dawn soon.

May we not lose heart but rather, give ourselves to love the Lord, love His word, be in His word, and give heed to the prophetic word so that day by day this shining star would rise in us, the day would dawn in us, and we would be fully prepared for the Lord’s return.

Amen, may we see the Lord in His secret coming, and may His parousia not be a surprise to us but a welcomed next step in our loving relationship with Him, for we seek Him, we love Him, we pursue Him, and we want to gain Him more and more until He fully gains us and we gain Him.

The Divine Light in God’s Word Enlightens, Exposes, Convicts, Subdues, and Shines until the Day Dawns!

In 2 Pet. 1:19 there are three kinds of light: the lamp shining in a dark place, the dawning day, and the rising morning star.

The words of the Bible convey spiritual light that shines, enlightens, exposes, convicts, subdues, and fills us with light until the day dawns and the Lord returns.

We need to convert the words in the Bible into the shining light; we need to come to the word in a living way so that the divine light in the word of God would shine.

Many Christians read the Bible in darkness and, after reading the Bible very much, they are still in darkness.

Even in Christian seminaries, where they study the Bible very much, so many are in darkness, for at most they get a lot of doctrines and Bible knowledge but not much light.

We need to give heed to the word of God as to a lamp shining in a dark place.

We need to have the shining of the Lord in His word; we need to be illuminated by the Lord in His word.

This is what we experience and enjoy in the church life today.

We can testify that in the church life, whenever we open the Bible, we’re enlightened and illuminated.

We may read from the Old Testament, and the Lord shines through every page we read.

Every page of the Bible is full of God’s shining, and every verse enlightens us; even every word is full of light.

If we come to the word of God in a living way, exercising our spirit to contact the Lord in His word and opening our hearts to welcome the word of God, the light will shine.

The divine light in God’s word enlightens us and exposes our real situation.

The divine light in God’s word convicts us, corrects us, and instructs us in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16).

Through the shining in God’s word, we’re exposed and also convicted.

Before we were saved we thought we are right and no one could convince us otherwise.

Even after being saved, we still thought we are right, and even the brothers and sisters could not convince us otherwise.

But when we come to the meetings of the church and we just open to the Lord, we are exposed and convicted, and we don’t need anyone to tell us we’re wrong: we simply know it and we repent.

The illumination from the divine light shines on us and we realize we’re wrong. In the church life we may not have many outwardly attractive things.

We may not have what many in Christianity are attracted to such as great speakers, good “praise and worship” teams, charismatic leaders, etc. But what we have is the Lord’s shining.

We have the divine light in God’s word shining in us when we meet and when we’re by ourselves.

The divine light is always shining through the saints, and we are spontaneously corrected, adjusted, convicted, and subdued.

Humanly speaking no one may be able to subdue us, no matter how much they try; even our spouse or our boss may not be able to subdue us.

But the divine light in God’s word shines and subdues us, and we realize our need for the Lord and for the fellowship.

May we see that the divine light is in God’s word and give heed to the prophetic word in God’s word as to a lamp shining in a dark place.

May we not run from the Lord’s shining but welcome it, say Amen to His enlightening, and agree with His exposing.

When we allow the Lord to shine on us, there is a way for Him to expose what He doesn’t agree with, and He subdues us inwardly.

We will then simply allow Him to work Himself into us and eliminate anything that does not match Him in our being, and we will be beings full of light, living in the light, walking in the light, and ministering light to others also.

As the Lord shines and the husband is about to argue with the wife, the argument is killed.

As the Lord shines and there are some activities we’re about to engage in but the Lord does not agree with, we simply say Amen to the Lord’s shining.

The wonderful shining of the divine light in God’s word restricts us. It supplies us. It keeps us in the light and on the way of life.

Lord Jesus, we want to come to Your word in a living way so that You may shine on us. Oh, may the divine light in God’s word shine in us, expose us, enlighten us, and convict us. Amen, Lord, thank You for Your word. Your word is profitable for teaching, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Your word is living and operative. We say Amen to Your word. We do not want to reject Your shining. We do not fight with the light. Oh Lord, shine in us. We love Your shining through Your word. Your shining exposes us and subdues us. Fill us with light. Shine in us whenever we come to Your word. Bring many into the divine light in Your word so that we may give heed to the prophetic word as to a lamp shining in a dark place! Amen, Lord, keep shining! Keep us in the light!

Making ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Appearing as the Morning Star by Welcoming the Shining in God’s Word

Christ as the morning star will be given to the overcomers as their first reward (Rev. 2:28-29).

We need to make ourselves ready for the secret appearing of the Lord as the morning star by daily welcoming His shining through His word.

Concerning the types of Christ, the entire Bible begins with Him as light and ends with Him as the morning star (Gen. 1:3; Rev. 2:28; 22:16).

In the beginning God created – and light came in; Christ is the real light, even the ever-increasing light for an ever-increasing level of life both humanly and spiritually.

However, due to the fall of man, the entire world is in darkness; therefore, we all need to give heed to the prophetic word so that Christ as the morning star would rise in our hearts and the day of His coming would dawn.

The morning star refers to Christ who, in the darkest hour of the night, prior to the dawning of the kingdom age, will secretly rise in the hearts of those who love His appearing.

We want to be His loving seekers today who continually give heed to the shining word of the Scriptures.

If we continually give heed to the shining word in the Bible, we will have the kingdom as the day dawning in us and Christ as the morning star rising in our hearts before His actual appearing as the bright morning star (2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 2:28).

But if we don’t continually give heed to the shining word of the Scriptures so that Christ would rise in our hearts as the morning star continually, how can He appear to us as the morning star?

We will be rewarded with a greater measure of what we enjoy and experience now, in this age.

If today we continually welcome the Lord’s shining through His word by giving heed to His prophetic word, we will have Christ as the morning star rise in us continually and He will reward us with Himself as the bright, shining morning star at His secret return.

May we make ourselves ready for the secret appearance of the Lord as the morning star by continually giving heed to the prophetic word so that He would shine in us today, day by day, and until His return.

May we welcome the Lord’s shining through His word, allowing the divine light in the Word of God to shine on us, enlighten us, and expose and convict us.

And may we keep coming to His shining, not being discouraged by what His light exposes in us.

We stand not with what we are by nature, which is the flesh and the self, but with our spirit, and we agree with the Lord’s shining.

What He shines on today, that’s what He will do in us. His shining subdues us. The divine light in God’s word restricts us.

Even more, as we continually remain under His shining, there’s an ever-increasing light in us to the extent that the morning star rises in us and the day dawns!

As we welcome the Lord’s shining today and not argue with the light, He has a way to keep shining until the dawning of His kingdom comes and we are rewarded with the kingdom age to be with the Lord in His wedding feast together with all His overcoming ones!

This is because, though the divine light in God’s word exposes us, it also adds the element of God to us.

The more are under the Lord’s shining, the more He reproduces Himself in us, and He has a way to live in us and through us.

Under the shining of the light in God’s word, the human life of the Lord Jesus as a pattern to all Christians is reproduced and lived out in us, and the Lord has a way to live again in us and through us. Amen!

Dear Lord Jesus, our Bridegroom, we want to prepare ourselves for Your return by daily welcoming Your shining in us through Your word. Amen, Lord, may the morning star rise in our hearts as we remain in God’s word, are under the shining of the divine light and are infused with what God is. Infuse us, dear Lord, with Your element as we welcome the divine shining. Add Yourself to us and remove any element that is not of You. We want to make ourselves ready for the secret appearance of the Lord as the morning star by giving heed to the prophetic word until the morning star rises in our hearts and the day dawns! Amen, Lord, we aspire to receive You as the morning star, our reward, and be one with You to bring in the dawning of Your kingdom on the earth! Dear Lord Jesus, come back quickly! Come, Lord Jesus!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1973-1974, vol. 1, pp. 289-295, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Making Ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Coming (2023 ICSC), week 3, entitled, Making ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Coming by Giving Heed to the Prophetic Word as to a Lamp Shining in a Dark Place Until the Day Dawns and the Morning Star Rises in our Hearts.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Shine Thou upon us, Lord, / True Light of men, today, / And through the written Word / Thy very self display; / That so from hearts which burn / With gazing on Thy face, / Thy little ones may learn / The wonders of Thy grace. (Hymns #902 stanza 1)
  – All Scripture is the very breath of God, / And by His Spirit into words was breathed; / By godly men the words were written down, / With all God’s fulness unto man bequeathed. / It is the breath of God as light to man, / With rays divine man to illuminate; / It shines in darkness and to man reveals / What is his truest need and actual state. (Hymns #799 stanzas 1-2)
  – What I never could do God is doing in me, / By saying Amen to His Word. / And the change is so real all the brothers can see, / By saying Amen to God’s Word. / I have ceased from my wandering and going astray / By saying Amen to God’s Word. / And my old inclinations are passing away / By saying Amen to His Word. (Hymns #1219 stanzas 2-3)