Mensa Otabil - Stand on Your Feet (09/29/2025)
Well, today I want to encourage you to stand on your feet.
Acts chapter 26, verses 15 and 16. So I said, «Who are You, Lord?» And He said, «I’m Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to make you a minister and a witness, both of the things you have seen and all the things which I will yet reveal to you.»
This is the Apostle Paul sharing his testimony of his encounter with Christ. Paul met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, and on that road, Jesus knocked him off his horse—or his high horse. The power of God brought him down, and he fell from the horse. It was Christ’s way of showing him that although he felt very powerful, there is something more powerful than himself, and that is the power of Christ. Many times, Christ does the same thing to unbelievers—people who feel very complete and think they have it all together. He just knocks them down, and they fall. It is God’s way of telling you that there is something bigger than yourself.
But in our text today, something happened. After Jesus had knocked him down and he had fallen, He didn’t leave him on the ground. He said to him, «Rise and stand on your feet.» And that’s a very important statement. Christ does not want His disciples to just fall down and lie down. When He has shown you His power, He also uses the same power to lift you up. He doesn’t want His people to lie in defeat; He wants His people to rise up and be empowered.
So Christ speaks to you today, and He speaks to me today. He says, «Rise, stand up on your feet, because you are made not to be on the ground. You are made to rise and stand on your feet.» It’s a command for us not to lie down in self-pity because sometimes life can knock you down, and you lie down hoping that someone will come and lift you up. He doesn’t want us to lie in self-pity; He doesn’t want us to lie in defeat. Even if something else knocked us down, He’s speaking to you today. He says, «Rise up and stand on your feet.» As Christians, we don’t lie down in self-pity; we don’t lie down in shame; we don’t beat ourselves down. We don’t look at how life has treated us and just lie down and surrender. We rise up and we stand on our feet.
And today, the same Lord is commanding you: rise up and stand on your feet. That thing that came against you will not destroy you. God will lift you up; God is raising you up; God is setting you up again. Although life brought you down, God says: rise up and stand on your feet.
So, after 40 days of power, that is where we stand. We don’t lie on the ground; we rise up and we stand on our feet. There is healing in that command; there is restoration in that command; there is help in that command; there is a turnaround in that command. Rise up, stand on your feet. And Paul obeyed that instruction; he rose up, and the rest of his life he came through difficulties. He faced persecution, but he was always on his feet. He never bowed, and he never allowed life to defeat him. Today, God wants to impart the same thing to you. He wants you to rise up and stand on your feet. Life will not defeat you; you will conquer this, and you will be victorious in Jesus' name.
Why don’t we share a word of prayer together? Say with me: «Heavenly Father, today I arise. Today I stand. Today I receive new strength, and I thank You for lifting me up.» In Jesus' name, amen.
Keep standing, my friend. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.