All initiative is not inspired. A man may say to you - "Buck up, take your disinclination by the throat, throw it overboard, and walk out into the thing!" That is ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes in and says, in effect, "Buck up," we find that the initiative is inspired.

We all have any number of visions and ideals when we are young, but sooner or later we find that we have no power to make them real. We cannot do the things we long to do, and we are apt to settle down to the visions and ideals as dead, and God has to come and say - "Arise from the dead." When the inspiration of God does come, it comes with such miraculous power that we are able to arise from the dead and do the impossible thing. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life comes after we do the "bucking up." God does not give us overcoming life; He gives us life as we overcome.

When the inspiration of God comes, and He says - "Arise from the dead," we have to get up; God does not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand - "Stretch forth thy hand," and as soon as the man did so, his hand was healed, but he had to take the initiative. If we will do the overcoming, we shall find we are inspired of God because He gives life immediately .

It is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.—Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

For they that sleep sleep in the night: and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.—Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord.

Put . . . on the lord Jesus Christ.—That I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.—The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.

He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.—I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.

Ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children Light.

Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them.

All things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

Awake thou that sleepest, and rise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

See then that ye walk circumspectly.