In the book of Daniel chapter 2, we find the record of King Nebuchadnezzar summoning his magicians, astrologers and sorcerers to find and interpret a dream that had deeply troubled him. He decreed that if they could not, they would be cut in pieces, (verse 5). The hand of God was upon Daniel’s life and the Lord had given him favour with the king, who had promoted him to be among the wise men of the land whom the king consulted in all matters, (chapter 1).
After the King’s decree, Daniel sought the Lord to know the dream and the interpretation of it. God gave Daniel the answer to his prayer in a night vision, to which he responded to the Lord, Daniel 2:20-23, “…..Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his, and he changes the times and the seasons, he removes kings and sets up kings, he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding. He reveals the deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. I thank you and praise you, o God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has made known to me what we desired of you, for you have now made known to us the king’s matter.”
King Nebuchadnezzar had made a decree, but God had the last word on the matter, revealed the dream and interpretation to Daniel, and over-ruled the king’s word.
The challenge comes to me and everyone of us: Do I allow God to have the last word in my life? Do I excuse where I am, insist on my will in opposing others and God, subtly twist God’s word to promote my way of thinking, confuse conviction with condemnation? Do I allow my knowledge, information gleaned from the tree of knowledge of good and evil ( Genesis 2) to dictate, rule and have preeminence in my life? Then yes, I am having the last word and limiting and opposing God. God’s ways and thoughts are not our ways. His are much higher!
The Lord has permitted man to discover and acquire tremendous knowledge and wisdom, but He does not require us to trust in it and dictate the last word on all matters. The spirit of independence dwells in all flesh in the Adamic nature and will always seek to oppose the spirit man , born of God. It is our responsibility to daily die to self and allow the Indwelling Christ to have preeminence in our lives. The more we make the right choices, the easier it becomes, just as a muscle is exercised, it develops strength and ease of movement. How long will I struggle to uphold my word, or the word I have received from another source, against God’s? Have I even consulted God for His word on a situation? Or have I just believed received information from a source other than God as final? Only God has the last word in finality. It is up to each of us to find out what it is for our daily lives and put our gift of faith of the Son of God into it. Faith put into the word of God is creative, it fulfills itself. You do not have to prop it up. BIRTH SETTLES DESTINY! Am I in faith or fear? Fear is also creative and will make way for the father of all lies, the devil, to have a foothold in my life.
As always, the key is humility, surrender the right to myself. My life is so much easier when I allow God to have the last word. It is the end of the struggle for my rights and for me to have the last word. My heart is the seat of having the last word, it is my trouble spot. For every Believer in Christ Jesus, trouble is not in trouble, but in my heart’s attitude to trouble. Do I believe God’s word? Paul declared, Romans 8:28, “…ALL THINGS work together for good to them that love God.” Let God be true, choose!
The children of Israel saw and experienced the great and mighty works of God, yet for 40 years they grieved Him. Psalm 95:10-11 the Lord declared about them ,”Forty years long was I grieved with this generation,…it is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways. Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.” The rest of God is His presence. We are called not just to enter into His presence, but to live in it. How can we be carriers of his presence if we fail to live in it. The shekinah glory of His presence, His anointing, is our inheritance. Jesus spoke of it in John 17:21-22, praying for His disciples, “That they all may be one, as you Father are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us………and the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one , even as we are one.” The shekinah glory of His presence is inextricably linked to the glory/credit I attribute to the Lord for my life. Every good thing that comes out of my life is the glory of God, the credit due to His name alone. Jesus, the sinless Son of God declared that there is only One good, and He is God. Jesus declared that all the good He said and did was through the life of Another, His Father dwelling in Him. As it was for Jesus, our Pattern Man, so it is for us. The Indwelling Christ in me can enable me to do all things by His might and power, to God’s glory.
My will is the gatekeeper of the peace of God in my heart. God’s peace is given to keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. When I complain and murmur, I lose the peace of God and His presence in my heart and life. God’s peace, or lack of it, is a wonderful indicator of when I am in, or when I have left His presence. God gives His peace as a divine thermostat for our hearts, to recognise when we have made a wrong move. When I learn to read the thermostat correctly, I can quickly repent if I lose my way and get back on track with the Lord again. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee,” Isaiah 26:3. God’s peace bypasses my understanding, Philippians 4:7 “The peace of God which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” The peace of God is God’s divine “pacemaker”, to keep our heart in order, and allow God to have the last word.
How often do we ask God to fill us with all the fullness of Himself? God will not fill a full vessel, nor will He top up a vessel half filled with vinegar! We must be emptied out of all our last words and wrong ways. The good news is that as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, the new life of the Indwelling Christ will push out all the old life, like a bird moults unwanted feathers. As we walk in humility, bow our understanding, the life of Christ in us will incrementally come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (Ephesians 4:13).
We are on a journey, learning to allow the peace of God to rule our hearts to stay in His presence,….. a realm of choice.
“When I awake in Thy likeness, then will I be satisfied!” Psalm 17:15.
