AWAKENED TO THE REALITY OF HIS SPIRIT

[Albert Finch]

Isaiah 52:1 "Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments..."

God wants us to be awakened to Who He is, His Person, His love and His Presence. In the Parables of Jesus we see how important it was to Him that we be awake, that we would not be caught by surprise. When we are awakened to His life, the reality of His Spirit is very tangible to us. We are called to live an "awakened life" in His Presence.

BEING CLOTHED IN FRESH GARMENTS

Every day we choose what clothing we will put on. God has designed for us garments that will awaken us and strengthen us in His Presence.

When we see the correlation between these garments and our awakening, we will begin to walk in a brighter place in God's Presence.

God desires us to have ears that hear and eyes that see. When we are spiritually asleep, we miss out on what He is doing. Because of this, we can also default into stagnancy concerning HIS WILL FOR OUR LIVES ( our DESTINY). That is why we see a theme through Scripture on how God desires us to be "awake". In the state of awakening we are alive to all that He has, all that He is doing, and all that He desires for our lives.

With this in mind we need to ask ourselves more specifically what garments God is speaking of here. There are different garments:

1. Holy Garments (Exodus 28:2).
2. The Garment of Praise (Isaiah 61:3).
3. Garments of Salvation (Isaiah 61:10).
4. White Robes of Righteousness (Revelation 7:14).

THE SONG OF PRAISE

In a sense, these garments are one and the same because God provides them for us. There may be other pictures of our spiritual clothing that we could find. In the context of Isaiah 52 we are speaking more specifically about "the garment of praise". When it says "put on thy strength" we are reminded that the "joy of the Lord is our strength". One of the greatest ways that we express our joy is through our praise to God.

Judges 5:12 "Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song..."

This theme repeated in Psalm 108:2. The song of praise is intimately connected with awakening.

Psalm 108:2-3 "Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people..."

When we utter praise to God our spirit finds release, awakening ourselves to revelation of our oneness with God. As we lift our voice, bringing our spirit, soul and body into unity of worship to God, there is an exponential increase in our awareness of His Presence in our lives. In turn, we are awakened to His voice, revelation and Presence in our lives.

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