As I’ve released “Rise Up” this week it has led to a number of profound experiences. As with all teaching of the Lord, it is experiential. The Lord never seems to let us learn something in our head without experiencing it. The Lord isn’t satisfied with us having mental knowledge alone. He also isn’t satisfied with us proclaiming something that we aren’t living out in our own lives. “Rise Up!” Hmm, what does that mean? I’ve said that it means not living for the mundane, but the extraordinary. So, the moment of truth…is Aaron Barker living for the extraordinary or the mundane? I found the Lord calling me this week out of the mundane. It’s as if the Lord took my own album and handed it back to me and said, “Rise Up!” I can’t sing songs anymore about living sold out for Jesus without truly living that way myself. I can’t sing about trusting the Lord and living in hope unless I am. My friends have called me and asked if I’m nervous about the album, and I had to say, “yes, I am, I’d like to say I’m not, but I am.” That isn’t a “Rise Up” attitude! That’s a “Settling” attitude! My friends have challenged me this week on whether I truly believe that God has called me to take this music all over the world. If I believe, then I should be living at peace with the Lord because if He said it, it’s going to happen! The Lord says to fix our eyes on the things that are unseen, and not the things that are seen. The things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are unseen are eternal! (2 Corinthians 4:18) That’s a “Rise Up” attitude. A “Rise Up” attitude looks at what God has asked and doesn’t care about the results. A “Rise Up” attitude takes the word of the Lord and believes it against all odds! A “Rise Up” attitude is fully committed to the vision of the Lord over your personal life. A “Rise Up” attitude is an attitude of action! The Lord said to go into all the world and make disciples of the nations! Rise Up! Go! Rise Up! Go! Rise Up! Go! Rising up requires action by definition! Take a moment and look at these dictionary definitions of the word “rise” and decide today how you are going to put it into action!
1 a: to assume an upright position especially from lying, kneeling, or sitting b: to get up from sleep or from one’s bed
2: to return from death
3: to take up arms
4: to respond warmly : applaud —usually used with to
5chiefly British : to end a session : adjourn
6: to appear above the horizon
7 a: to move upward : ascend b: to increase in height, size, volume, or pitch
8: to extend above other objects
9 a: to become heartened or elated b: to increase in fervor or intensity
10 a: to attain a higher level or rank b: to increase in quantity or number
11 a: to take place : happen b: to come into being : originate
12: to follow as a consequence : result
13: to exert oneself to meet a challenge
