I woke up one morning this week and decided to pray. I kept hearing a song in my spirit that I had heard on a commercial when I was a child. It goes, “Put on the Windex Shine.”
At first, I ignored this song and kept praying, but the song kept coming back into my mind. Finally, I asked, “Why I am I hearing this song?” Then, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me, “It’s time to shine.”
I thought, “Put on the Chante Shine,” as I sang the melody of the old Windex commercial. I remember when I was looking to change my name. In fact, I was going to call myself “Chante Shine,” because Jesus Christ calls me the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).
Wit a minute, before you start laughing, in the Bible God changed many of his people’s names. He changed Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, Sarai to Sarah, and Jesus was called Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23).
The name changed represented a change in the person’s destiny. Abraham means “father of a multitude,” Sarai becomes Princess Sarah, and Jacob which meant supplanter, became Israel meaning, may God rule.
When I attended Colgate Rochester Divinity School while living in Rochester, New York, I attended a Reform Jewish Temple where I studied introductory Hebrew. All of the students in the class were given Hebrew names. When I told my teacher, “my name is Chante,” she instantly said, “That’s like Shirah in Hebrew. You shall be called Shirah.” I thought, “What a beautiful name” and accepted this title for myself. It was five years later, that I would adopt the name Shirah Chante into my creative arts.
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. (Isaiah 60:1)
The scripture above is what came to mind when I heard the Spirit say, “It’s time to shine.” I remember singing a song I wrote called “Shine” at my church in Los Angeles. I remember the congregation loved it. Many people were standing up and singing with me. It was a very exciting moment as I had never performed this song with so much energy and style. It was truly amazing.
The lyrics to Shine are worth listening to:
“You are the light of the world
You cannot hide.
So, lift up your head,
And let your light shine.”
Love healing hearts,
Shirah Chante