Riding with the King
Posted by Dion Todd November 8th, 2020 5,417 Views 0 Comments
Riding with the King from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.
(Isaiah 40:21–25 NASB) Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble. “To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
Today, many are rattled, and there is widespread confusion, division, and anxiety. The kingdoms of the Earth are being shaken, but God Almighty is in control of the situation. Think of the Earth as a giant Rubik's Cube that God is solving. Some pieces have to be changed around, and we don't understand why this piece was moved, but He does.
God Almighty is large, and He is in charge. We need to align with Him and what He is doing instead of assuming that He is automatically on our team. He is the Leader, while we are the followers. He is the main Vine, while we are small branches.
In Daniel chapter 4, the Lord had used Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, to discipline Israel. Nebuchadnezzar had become so rich that he became prideful over all that he had built and gathered. The Lord gave him a stern warning in a dream, but Nebuchadnezzar continued on until his judgment came.
(Daniel 4:28–31 NKJV) All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The King spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?" While the word was still in the King's mouth, a voice fell from heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!
King Nebuchadnezzar lost his sanity. He was kicked out of the royal palace. He lived in the wilderness, eating grass like an ox. His nails grew out and became like bird's claws. When seven years had passed, Nebuchadnezzar's mind was restored. He humbled himself, and the Lord gave him back his kingdom.
Do you see how trivial that was for the Lord? Our "people of power" are no mightier than a worm in the presence of God. He can promote anyone He desires, and no one can stop Him from doing so.
In Daniel chapter 5, King Belshazzar had a great feast and invited 1,000 of the kingdom's highest nobles. It was a royal banquet. After the King had probably too much wine, he had the gold cups and vessels his father had taken out of Solomon's temple when they sacked Jerusalem. The King and his nobles, wives, and concubines all drank wine from the sacred relics and praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
They were partying and enjoying life at the top of the food chain. They sipped wine from cups of solid gold. Then suddenly, the fingers of a man's hand appeared and began writing on the plaster wall beside the King. The King's face grew pale, and his knees began knocking together. His party was over. The King sought for someone to tell him what the words meant, and they brought in the prophet Daniel, who interpreted the writing and told him this:
(Daniel 5:23–28 NASB) ...you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified. "Then the hand was sent from Him, and this inscription was written out. "Now this is the inscription that was written out: 'MENĒ, MENĒ, TEKĒL, UPHARSIN.' "This is the interpretation of the message: 'MENĒ'—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. "'TEKĒL'—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. "'PERĒS'—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians."
King Belshazzar was killed later that night. While they were all partying with the city gates locked, an enemy army diverted the river's flow upstream, which flowed through the center of Babylon. The army crept into the city on the dry riverbed and took Babylon without a fight.
The Lord sets up kings, and He takes them down. It is a pattern throughout scripture. In Acts, an angel of God watched as the evil King Herod gave his last speech:
(Acts 12:21–23 NASB) On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. The people kept crying out, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
When a politician gives a speech, God listens. The Lord knows what is in the heart of a person. He knows their real intent. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus is not in your political party. He has His own party going called, The Kingdom of God, which will eventually replace all of Earth's petty systems of government. He establishes kings, and He removes them at will.
(Daniel 2:20–22 NASB) Daniel said, "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. "It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. "It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.
Please remember that God is still on the throne today. He has not fallen off, hit His head, and is now unconscious about current events. We have prayed for months for His will to be done in the U.S. election, and we have to accept it is. Presidents are not gods but merely elected officials who are allowed to hold a position for a season. If your world begins to crumble, when they begin to tumble, then you put your hope in the wrong place.
Pray, vote, and trust that God is well able to take care of the results. I have not once prayed for someone to be elected. That would be to assume I know what is best and me telling God what to do. I pray for the Lord's will to be done on Earth as it is in heaven. For Him to expose corruption and to put the right people in our government offices. I am not riding with Biden, nor Trump. I am riding with the King.
You can pray this with me if you like:
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that You bring healing to our nation. Please restore us and dissolve the divisions which separate us. Bring peace to our country. We humble ourselves before You and ask for mercy. May Your will be done on the Earth, in our nation, and in our government as it is in heaven. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!