EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, BUT WHEN?

Every knee will bow

Either now or later

For it is written ,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me,

And every tongue shall give praise to God.”  Rom 14:11

..............so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow [in submission], of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess and openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord (sovereign God), to the glory of God the Father.  Phil 2:10-11

“I have sworn [an oath] by Myself,

The word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness and shall not return,

That to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear [allegiance].   Isa 45:23

The Scripture is clear that every knee will bow to Him and every tongue will openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.   

It seems obvious that there will be people who will not bow willingly but will obliged to acknowledge His Lordship because they can no longer deny it, as they do now.  

I don't want to be counted among those.   

I want to be of the company that bows now and bows willingly.

Ps 95:6-8 says, 

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For He is our God,

And we are the people of His pasture,

And the sheep of His hand.

Today, if you will hear His voice:  “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion....

The Psalmist is inviting us to bow down, to kneel before Him, our Maker, our God, our Shepherd, our Lord.  

It's  a position of reverence and understanding.   I find it hard to kneel these days 'cause it hurts my knees.   But it also hurts my pride.   But I need to kneel, and not just on the outside. 

I need to kneel, to understand Who He is, and who I'm not.   

I am not Almighty God. 

I am not the Maker Who sees and understands everything.

I am not the Lord who has ultimate sovereignty.

I am not the Shepherd who knows how to correct and discipline with His rod and staff.   

It's in the bowing and the kneeling that I am reminded of my place - and His.  

http://clipart-library.com/search1/?q=kneel#gsc.tab=1&gsc.q=kneel&gsc.page=10

I can think of others who need to kneel and don't.    They're not kneeling or bowing down either.   Their refusal to bow to Him, to kneel before Him in their hearts, not just on the outside, has left people damaged.   And I'm so frustrated by their refusal to bow, to kneel, to surrender.   

And I'm left to wonder if God is as frustrated as me.    When we read through Isaiah, you can hear God's frustration, but there is so much more in His heart than just frustration.   He longs to have us understand His power and love, and the blessings that come from surrender.    Isaiah chapter 46 is His heart's cry to His people who have bowed to idols, instead of finding their place and peace in Him.   

Today the Lord reminded me that my frustration comes because I'm trying to change it, change them, and I can't.   God knows I've tried hard enough, long enough.   I've carried the burden of trying to convince them, to teach them, to correct them, to show them, to make them understand.  I've carried the burden of the damage they've done to people I care about.  I've also carried the shame of not trying harder to prevent it.   I've carried guilt for going along with it, of being silent when I should have spoken up.  

Today, it was time to surrender those burdens.   The weight was too much.   And it doesn't fix it, but perhaps if I'm out of the way, they are able to deal directly with Him.

I can't even figure my own stuff out, let alone someone else's.  So why do I think I can? 

Perhaps it's because I don't kneel enough.  

And in not kneeling, I'm not seeing Him, or them, the way I should.     It's amazing how being on your knees changes your perspective.  Pretty hard to look down on someone when you're down on your knees.   

I need to trust God with that person I want to see a change in.

I need to trust God with that person I'm trying to protect.

I need to trust God to be smarter than that person's cleverness.

And wiser than their foolishness

To be kinder than me, gentler than me

but also more powerful than that person's wilfulness, more powerful than me. 

I need to trust God and leave them there, with Him.   

I need to get out of God's way.    

I need to stop trying to mediate for them - only Jesus can do that.

I need to stop trying to convince them - only the Holy Spirit can do that. 

I need to stop trying to protect myself from the fallout and hide in Him.  

I need to speak truth and leave the rest to Him.  

I need to stop making it about me and them.  It needs to be about God and them. 

I need to trust God's kindness with that person's pain and mistakes.   

I need to stop making excuses for them and start making way for them.

I do them a great disservice if I keep rescuing them and cushioning them from the consequences of their own sin and failures.

We all need to face those things for ourselves.  

We all need to bow at His feet.

And what do we find there when we finally run out of excuses?

We find mercy - undeserved pardon.

We find grace - the power to change.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him;  for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.  Ps 103:13,14 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet He did not sin.     Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  Heb 4:15,16

They will bow to Him, willingly or unwillingly, but perhaps they can't while I stand in their way.

Will I bow my knee now, before it's too late,  to this God, my God, and receive His mercy and grace for ME?  

Will I leave there this burden,  this weight, this responsibility,  that I've carried for way too long?

Until I do I won't see how great He is,

How much stronger He is,

How much wiser He is.

Do I trust Him enough to walk away from it?

Do I trust Him enough to not keep checking on it? 

Do I make a way for Him to work, by getting out of the way?

I need to be like Joshua who  ......................fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”  Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.    Josh 5:14,15

This battle is holy ground, His holy ground, not mine.   

For I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like Me,

Declaring the end from the beginning,

And from ancient times things that are not yet done,

Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,

And I will do all My pleasure,’  Isa 46:9.10 

This song is a good way to surrender, to bow before Him.  

Lord I come, I confess

Bowing here, I find my rest

Without You, I fall apart

You're the one that guides my heart

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You

Every hour, I need You

My one defence, my righteousness

Oh God, how I need You

Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more

Where grace is found is where You are