Thursday, June 25, 2009, 11:11 p.m. – I had this song going through my mind:
When His Kingdom Comes / Dottie Rambo and Dony McGuire
Jesus will set up His kingdom within you,
Filling the void with delight,
Taking dominion over selfish desires,
Transforming the darkness into light,
Transforming the darkness to wonderful light.
When His kingdom comes, what a difference
When things are in earth, as they are in heaven,
When all has been settled and my heart is His home,
Oh, what a difference, what a great transformation!
Oh, what a difference when His kingdom comes!
O that I would be His perfect dwelling place!
O that my King would fill up the empty space,
And flood every room and every part to sanctify this temple,
And build His throne in my heart.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 31:
My Understanding: This “woe” begins very much like the one in chapter 30, warning those who have replaced faith in their Lord with their reliance upon their “Egypts.” Woe means anguish; affliction; sadness; despair; misery; grief - a warning of impending judgment if the people do not change their ways, etc. So much of today’s church has become man followers instead of God followers – not only of specific men (idols), but of human teachings and philosophies, attitudes, morals, etc. So much of today’s church finds their dependence in man instead of in God Almighty and has become pleasers of man instead of pleasers of God. In saying “woe,” God Almighty is condemning this practice of dependence upon man over and above dependence upon God.
So, God is going to bring judgment. He will rise against the “house of the wicked,” which is this modern-day church that is lukewarm and apostate, and against those who assist them in their lukewarmness, i.e. their Egypts. He will remove those idols that the church has turned to in place of turning to God, so that they will no longer be able to put their dependence in man. Their Egypt could be the government of the U.S.A., or Obama, or religious leaders, or T.V., entertainment in general, sports, careers, ministries, etc. – anything that takes precedence over God in our lives.
The Lord is showing us and will demonstrate to us that those that we rely upon and depend upon who we think will “save” us are mere men – they are not God, even though some of them seem to think that they are. They are merely flesh and bones just like us, and they will fail us and they will pass away. And, God will judge us and he will judge those who assisted us to turn away from God and to turn to dependence upon man, whether that be our country’s leaders or religious leaders or whatever or whomever. Both will perish together.
The purpose of this judgment is the salvation of Israel, not just the Jews or just the nation of Israel, but all Israel, including the church. All through OT history God had a point in time when he lost patience with his children and he brought them into judgment for the purpose of bringing them back to him. Again he will do this, and I believe that time is soon and that it precedes or is at the onset of the time of great tribulation, and that through this we will see a great spiritual awakening.
Again, there is a call to return to the Lord to those who have so greatly revolted against the Lord, speaking here to God’s people – Israel and the church. And, it goes on to state that “in that day” which is the day the Lord has assigned to judge his people, they will reject their idols that their hands have made, including man idols that man has created and esteemed.
Again we have a picture of God using “Assyria” to be his instrument of judgment against his people, the church included, and then God will come against those he has used as his divine instruments of judgment and then he will rescue his people, which will be the day when Jesus comes back for his bride and he sets up his kingdom here on the earth and reigns for 1000 years. So, our “Assyria” could very well be this “beast” of Revelation or this One World Order and One World Religion that will envelope the earth during the time of great tribulation when there will be a definite divide between those in true relationship with Jesus Christ and those that are not.
One of the commentators that I read stated that the heart of the prophet Isaiah’s message was one of appeal. The appeal here is the same as it was then. God is calling each and every one of us to be in a right relationship with him before this judgment comes and before his return to the earth to set up his kingdom. For now, his kingdom is in our hearts – in the lives of each individual believer in Jesus Christ and in the life of the true church. For it to be a true kingdom, there must be a king who reigns. Is Jesus KING in your life?
This song is calling each of us to allow Jesus to set up his kingdom in our hearts, filling all the voids of our lives that we try to fill with everything else that will never satisfy, i.e. our idols; our ‘Egypts.’ He wants to come and take dominion, i.e. authority, control, command, dominance, and power in our lives. He wants to transform those dark corners of our lives with his wonderful light of truth.
“When His kingdom comes” is not just about when he comes to set up his earthly kingdom during the millennium, but it is speaking about when his heavenly kingdom comes now to take residence, ownership and control of our lives – what a difference! When we are in control of our own lives and we are being led by our own selfish desires – what disaster! What bondage! But, when he comes to reign supreme in our hearts and lives, oh what victory, joy, peace and freedom!
When all has been settled – when we have surrendered our wills to the will of the Father in our lives and we have repented of our sin and have turned back to following the Lord and away from dependence upon our “Egypts,” and our hearts are his home, oh, what a difference, what a great transformation! I can attest to that in my own life! I know what it is to be in bondage to self and to sin and I know what it is to live in victory, and I can attest to the fact that there is such a great transformation that takes place when we allow Jesus to be KING and to reign supreme in our hearts and lives!
O that I would be his perfect dwelling place – I know that I will never reach perfection while on this earth in this earthly body, but I do know that it is possible to make Jesus Lord and to yield to his Lordship in my life on a day to day basis and to daily reject the flesh and fleshly appetites and I pray that I will continually be yielded to my Lord in every aspect of my life and that I will not take back the wheel and try to drive my own life ever again. I pray that Jesus will build his throne in each one of our hearts and that he will sanctify us through and through and make us holy. Amen!
When His Kingdom Comes / Dottie Rambo and Dony McGuire
Jesus will set up His kingdom within you,
Filling the void with delight,
Taking dominion over selfish desires,
Transforming the darkness into light,
Transforming the darkness to wonderful light.
When His kingdom comes, what a difference
When things are in earth, as they are in heaven,
When all has been settled and my heart is His home,
Oh, what a difference, what a great transformation!
Oh, what a difference when His kingdom comes!
O that I would be His perfect dwelling place!
O that my King would fill up the empty space,
And flood every room and every part to sanctify this temple,
And build His throne in my heart.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 31:
My Understanding: This “woe” begins very much like the one in chapter 30, warning those who have replaced faith in their Lord with their reliance upon their “Egypts.” Woe means anguish; affliction; sadness; despair; misery; grief - a warning of impending judgment if the people do not change their ways, etc. So much of today’s church has become man followers instead of God followers – not only of specific men (idols), but of human teachings and philosophies, attitudes, morals, etc. So much of today’s church finds their dependence in man instead of in God Almighty and has become pleasers of man instead of pleasers of God. In saying “woe,” God Almighty is condemning this practice of dependence upon man over and above dependence upon God.
So, God is going to bring judgment. He will rise against the “house of the wicked,” which is this modern-day church that is lukewarm and apostate, and against those who assist them in their lukewarmness, i.e. their Egypts. He will remove those idols that the church has turned to in place of turning to God, so that they will no longer be able to put their dependence in man. Their Egypt could be the government of the U.S.A., or Obama, or religious leaders, or T.V., entertainment in general, sports, careers, ministries, etc. – anything that takes precedence over God in our lives.
The Lord is showing us and will demonstrate to us that those that we rely upon and depend upon who we think will “save” us are mere men – they are not God, even though some of them seem to think that they are. They are merely flesh and bones just like us, and they will fail us and they will pass away. And, God will judge us and he will judge those who assisted us to turn away from God and to turn to dependence upon man, whether that be our country’s leaders or religious leaders or whatever or whomever. Both will perish together.
The purpose of this judgment is the salvation of Israel, not just the Jews or just the nation of Israel, but all Israel, including the church. All through OT history God had a point in time when he lost patience with his children and he brought them into judgment for the purpose of bringing them back to him. Again he will do this, and I believe that time is soon and that it precedes or is at the onset of the time of great tribulation, and that through this we will see a great spiritual awakening.
Again, there is a call to return to the Lord to those who have so greatly revolted against the Lord, speaking here to God’s people – Israel and the church. And, it goes on to state that “in that day” which is the day the Lord has assigned to judge his people, they will reject their idols that their hands have made, including man idols that man has created and esteemed.
Again we have a picture of God using “Assyria” to be his instrument of judgment against his people, the church included, and then God will come against those he has used as his divine instruments of judgment and then he will rescue his people, which will be the day when Jesus comes back for his bride and he sets up his kingdom here on the earth and reigns for 1000 years. So, our “Assyria” could very well be this “beast” of Revelation or this One World Order and One World Religion that will envelope the earth during the time of great tribulation when there will be a definite divide between those in true relationship with Jesus Christ and those that are not.
One of the commentators that I read stated that the heart of the prophet Isaiah’s message was one of appeal. The appeal here is the same as it was then. God is calling each and every one of us to be in a right relationship with him before this judgment comes and before his return to the earth to set up his kingdom. For now, his kingdom is in our hearts – in the lives of each individual believer in Jesus Christ and in the life of the true church. For it to be a true kingdom, there must be a king who reigns. Is Jesus KING in your life?
This song is calling each of us to allow Jesus to set up his kingdom in our hearts, filling all the voids of our lives that we try to fill with everything else that will never satisfy, i.e. our idols; our ‘Egypts.’ He wants to come and take dominion, i.e. authority, control, command, dominance, and power in our lives. He wants to transform those dark corners of our lives with his wonderful light of truth.
“When His kingdom comes” is not just about when he comes to set up his earthly kingdom during the millennium, but it is speaking about when his heavenly kingdom comes now to take residence, ownership and control of our lives – what a difference! When we are in control of our own lives and we are being led by our own selfish desires – what disaster! What bondage! But, when he comes to reign supreme in our hearts and lives, oh what victory, joy, peace and freedom!
When all has been settled – when we have surrendered our wills to the will of the Father in our lives and we have repented of our sin and have turned back to following the Lord and away from dependence upon our “Egypts,” and our hearts are his home, oh, what a difference, what a great transformation! I can attest to that in my own life! I know what it is to be in bondage to self and to sin and I know what it is to live in victory, and I can attest to the fact that there is such a great transformation that takes place when we allow Jesus to be KING and to reign supreme in our hearts and lives!
O that I would be his perfect dwelling place – I know that I will never reach perfection while on this earth in this earthly body, but I do know that it is possible to make Jesus Lord and to yield to his Lordship in my life on a day to day basis and to daily reject the flesh and fleshly appetites and I pray that I will continually be yielded to my Lord in every aspect of my life and that I will not take back the wheel and try to drive my own life ever again. I pray that Jesus will build his throne in each one of our hearts and that he will sanctify us through and through and make us holy. Amen!
