Intro: Hi I’m Neal Preston. My wife, Amie and I, along with our three children Bradlie, Kaden, Quince and an entourage of extended family and friends have all dedicated ourselves to helping lost, hurting and broken people find their God-given calling and make life count. We do this through creating resources that affect, effect and infect people's lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. We hope this resource you are experiencing today enables you to discover your divine purpose and experience the life you were designed to have.

Let’s jump into today’s episode.

Que: Here Comes the Sun

Today is Easter Sunday, also known as resurrection Sunday.
Today we celebrate the rising of the son. The son of God that is.
Resurrection Sunday is the day darkness was officially defeated by the rising of the sun.

In the same way the rising of the sun brings the dawning of a new day, so does the resurrection, or rising of the son of God for you. He makes way for a brand new day for you and for me.
Dark days are eliminated by the rising of the son!

How do you deal with the darkness in your life?
What is your answer to deep dark struggles?
Where do you look when the going gets tough?

In Matthew 6:22 and 23 the bible says, “The eye is the lamp of the body; if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad (or clouded), your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in your is darkness, how dark is that darkness.”

How do you see things? Is the sun rising in your world? Or is it setting?
How do you see your future? Is your future dark or is it bright?

I’m here to tell you today that brighter days are in your future if you choose to embrace the rising of the son! God made a way through the cross and resurrection, but He will never force His way upon you. It’s your choice to embrace or reject the day. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.

Colossians 1:13 He delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred you into the Kingdom of His beloved son (who rules the kingdom of light)

Let’s dig into this a little deeper and see the impact the rising of the son can have on you and I.

Have you ever endured a DARK NIGHT?

Amie’s grandma, Marie Lyons, who we called Nanny endured a dark and cold night one time with her 85 year old boyfriend, Mr. Bell.

They thought it would be fun to take a drive up to the giant sequoia trees an hour and a half up river with no cell service. They are casually strolling on the trails enjoying the trees and the mountain air, next thing you know, they are lost and have no idea how to get back to the car.

It gets dark, it gets cold, this is at 7 or 8 thousand foot elevation…. Freezing cold sometimes even in the spring and summer nights at times. They just cuddled up together and held out for the sun to rise.

Imagine how much they wanted to see the sun rise that dark night.

Driving down the mountain this morning it was dark. I didn’t see the moon anywhere.
You know, the kind of dark that feels thick. My headlights even on the high beams were bright enough. Sometimes darkness is over powering.

It’s dark, cold and scary nights that cause us to appreciate the rising of the sun.

Have you ever had crazy nightmares throughout a night and found yourself wishing for the night to be over. Me too!

Colossians 1:13 He delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred you into the Kingdom of His beloved son (who rules the kingdom of light)

I want you to get the depth of the picture of what is happening here.

Deliverance from darkness and a transfer from darkness into the kingdom of light. WOW!

It’s when the sleeper comes awake.
It’s when the stupid gets wise.
It’s when night turns to day.
It’s when the dead come to life.

It’s Awakening. It’s enlightening.

Does a dead man breathe? Can a dead man see? Is a sleeping man awake? NO!

What’s dead is dead. What’s dark is dark.
I want to teach you the two step today.

Step 1 Wake Up (Born Again, Awakening, Enlightenment)

Step 2 Gaze at God (Fix your eyes) (Go where He goes)

Let’s dig into step 1: Awakening

Ephesians 1:18-23
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Your internal man has to come awake, be born of the Spirit, experience enlightenment.
Without that you are dead.

Step 2 Spend your life gazing at God.

You gravitate toward what you gaze at.

When you are driving a car or riding a dirt bike, you always want to keep your eyes ahead of you looking at the direction you want to go because you gravitate toward what you stare at.

That’s why we want to Gaze at God and Glance at our Problems.

When you gaze at your problems you gravitate toward darkness.
Problems and pain can cause you to wake up and put your gaze on God.

2 Corinthians 4:6 (TPT)
For God, who said, “Let brilliant light shine out of darkness,” is the One who cascaded His light into us – The brilliant dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ.

Jesus died so that you and I can experience brighter days.
He endured the dark day so you can have the light of life.

Today is the day! Now is the time. No more sitting in darkness.
No more gazing at our problems. It’s time to wake up and spend the rest of our lives enjoying what Jesus died to give us. Brighter days!

Can I pray for you?

Jesus, thank you for your death on the cross. Thank you for being willing to go to the grave so that we wouldn’t have to. Thank you for conquering death and making a way for us to have life both now and forever. Today I pray for those who are listening to these words, that you would wake them up and teach them how to gaze at you and glance at their problems. I pray that dark days will point them to you. That struggle and pain would cause them to see how much they need you and that they can’t do this on their own. In Jesus Name, Amen.

If you are listening to this today and you are not sure if you have been born again, there is no better time than now to ask Jesus to wake you up. If that's you, I want you to pray this prayer out loud with me.

Jesus, I need you. I don’t want to live this life without you. I accept your invitation to get to know you. I thank you for dying on a cross to forgive my sin. I accept your forgiveness. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit and cause me to be born again today. In Jesus name I pray. Amen

We are so excited for you! That’s the most important decision any one can ever make!

If you prayed that prayer we would love to hear from you and support in any way we can.
Go to www.NealAndAmie.com for resources on how to stay on track with Jesus.

For those of you who live in the Kern River Valley or the surrounding areas we would like to invite you to gather with us for worship @ The Square in Wofford Heights Ca. You can go to our website…. www.TheSquare.Today for details.

Follow us on social media @nealandamie

Know this… if you place your trust in Jesus, BRIGHTER DAYS are here.