Get Up! Get Up!: Open Their Eyes

By John Arroyo, Angel Arroyo and Peggy Corvin

Written by John Arroyo, his wife, Angel Arroyo, and Peggy Corvin, a freedom minister holding a Master of Theology degree, Get Up! Get Up! Open Their Eyes supplements Attacked at Home: A Green Beret's Survival Story of the Fort Hood Shooting. It uses John and Angel's spiritual lessons as they navigated the labyrinth of hospital

• Language: English
• Publisher: Southwestern Legacy Press
• Release date: Nov 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781732762503

John Arroyo

Captain John M. Arroyo U. S. Army (Ret.) and his wife Angel live in Burleson, Texas. John graduated with a B. S. from Campbell University in North Carolina and an M. A. from SUM Bible college and theological seminary in Sacramento, California. Angel graduated with a B. A. in theology from Texas University of Theology in Hurst, Texas. John travels extensively, speaking at churches, military installations, civic centers, and schools. His message about resiliency in the face of overwhelming odds has resonated with all of his audiences, and he is a much sought-after speaker.

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Part 1

Get Up!

Get up. Stand on your feet. I have chosen you to work for Me.

—Acts 26:16

Turning Point

Where were you when everything changed? I thought I knew where I was going that day. I was on my way to the battalion supply office. I thought I knew what I needed; organizational property information so I could complete an important training exercise.

Where was God? Looking back, I can see His hand in every moment. The parking lot was full, and seconds ticked off the clock as I searched for an open spot. Those seconds counted. The spot that opened up was near my brigade headquarters. I stepped out of my car just as shots rang out and time slowed down. I turned my head and unknowingly looked at the car of the perpetrator of evil, but then turned away to look at the road. It was in that moment the .45 caliber bullet ripped through my throat, severed my left jugular vein, traveled through my voice box, and embedded in my right shoulder and arm.

God prompted the turning away. Had I stood there and stared at that man, he could easily have fired a bullet that ripped through my head. My story would have ended in that parking lot. God didn’t cause me to get shot that day. Because He is all-knowing, however, He knew the attack was coming. He will never waste a single act of evil in our lives. He will use it to reveal more of His character and nature than we have ever known before.

He knew I wasn’t following closely after Him and He would use this great evil to an advantage to bring me closer to Himself. He tells us He is a jealous God. He longs for us to draw near to Him so He can be near to us. Looking back through my life, I can see time after time He tried to bring me closer. Person after person was sent to model His ways and invite me to do the same. He nudged me to look for Him, even using my grandma’s anointing oil to show me His Power while I was deployed. But I kept pushing Him away. The world had a stronghold on me. The devil’s wiles were still enticing me. The devil’s lies had become my truth. God knew I needed a different source of supply for my life, and a different kind of information because He had a different training in store for my life.

It was time for a turning point for me. He had recently opened up a new life in Texas and had sent some more great, godly, inspiring people in my life. But He knew it was time for me to stop living a Christian life vicariously through others. It was time to come and KNOW God heart to heart. It was time to turn to Him and let go of everything else. It was time to surrender it all so He could give me everything that would ever matter.

God intervened and saved my physical life that day. He did it because He wanted to save my soul so He could give me abundant life. God loved me that much! Just like He loves you that much too.

Freedom Exercise:

Read, Reflect, Record

These exercises are designed to lead you into deeper communication with God. The Word of God is alive and helps us understand what is of our soul, and what is of God’s Spirit. As you begin, pray, and tell God you need His help to gain understanding and insights from His Word. Ask for more of Holy Spirit within you to reveal any hidden things. There is no time frame for each of these. Sometimes these entries will lead you into very deep soul work with the Lord and they may require your attention for several days. Sometimes an entry may be completed in only one session with The Lord. Write out your reflections in a journal or a notebook so you can refer back to them.

As you read through each of these Scriptures personalize them. Read them as a conversation you are having with God.

You formed my innermost parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being formed in secret, and intricately and skillfully formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were appointed for me, when as yet there was not one of them even taking shape. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.

—Psalm 139:13–18

While we were still helpless and powerless to provide for our salvation, at the right time Christ died as a substitute for the ungodly. Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to willingly give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a good man, one who is noble and selfless and worthy, someone might even dare to die. But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, since we have now been justified, declared free of the guilt of sin, by His blood, how much more certain is it that we will be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that we will be saved from the consequences of sin by His life. That is, we will be saved because Christ lives