A Reflected Glory

Our theme for this year is Arise. A key scripture we’ve been rallying around is Isaiah 60:1: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”

As we’ve reflected on this passage, one insight has stood out: What is “your light”? The light that shines on God’s people is not from within ourselves—it is God Himself. The next lines make this clear: “the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (v.1) and again in verse 2: “the LORD will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you.” Yet in verse 3, we read: “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” It’s fascinating—what draws the nations and kings is called your light. The picture is one of reflected glory. Much like the moon shines with the light of the sun, so we shine with the glory of God. What the world sees is not our own brilliance, but His reflected through us.

This has a powerful implication. When we speak of “arising,” it’s not about stirring up our own glory, striving harder, or producing more fruit through human effort. Instead, it’s a call to go deeper in our walk with the Lord. It’s about making ourselves fully available to His guidance, empowerment, and formation—so that His character is reflected through us.

Our light—our impact—is not generated from within. It is the result of intimacy with Jesus. As we commit ourselves afresh to walk closely with Him, His nature will shine from us into the world.

This gives us an unexpected perspective: to arise, we must go deeper. To elevate the name of Jesus, our highest priority must be to press in and deepen our relationship with Him. As we start into a new quarter with students from around the globe, participating in 5 different schools, 3 seminars, and a variety of outreaches, we trust that God will lead us deeper in our walk with him, so that we can display him to the nations.

As you seek to reflect God’s character in your own context, may you be encouraged by this truth: God is not asking you to shine by your own strength. He is inviting you to walk more closely with Him. Draw near, and the fruit of that closeness will shine His glory brightly to those around you.  

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Outreach

Prayerful Hearts

Testimony from one of our DTS Students on Outreach

"Since being on outreach, I have seen my relationship with God deepening. We visited a Sudanese family who was very sick. Their stories were so heartbreaking. All my team could do was pray. We prayed for each members health. The family was muslim but they allowed us to pray in Jesus name. I could see their desperation, feel it. So we prayed. I stayed in the next day on my day off to pray for them and for all our team here. I feel that God is telling me that He feels what I am feeling. I realised how hard it must be for God to watch all these situations. But our prayers really do work. Words have power. So, how powerful are our prayers! I am reminded of Psalms 40:1-3, which emphasizes God's attentiveness to prayer. A wise man once said, "Prayer is the thermometer of our inner life. When we stop praying from the heart, we stop growing." God hears our prayers."