Beloved, the Lord is calling on you and i to return to Him,no matter how we might have missed the mark or err from His commandments. Let’s here what God is here to us.
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev. 12:1-5).
This woman is the church in great agony travailing in birth to give birth to the sons of God. She was covered by the sun which is Christ. For Christ is the sun of righteousness. No human system or human covering will bring forth the fullness of Christ life in the church as represented in the man child that was brought forth in verse 5. We must come out of every human kingdom, however little, we must all behold Christ (not man) with open face as in glass, and then only shall we be changed into the same image from glory to glory, even by the spirit of the Lord. (II Cor. 3:18).
In order for us to be filled with the divine nature of God we must be over shadowed and covered only by the divine. Man’s shadow or covering can never lead us to perfection. Isaiah 51:16 “And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth and say unto Zion, thou art my people”. Since the heavens are of old and the earth is already founded we can safely conclude that God is speaking about our individual heavens (i.e. our soul) and our individual earth (i.e. our physical body).
The covering here is the type of covering that will not only our nature from within but will also physically protect us from all the evil of our times. “Be merciful unto me, o God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be over past (Psalm 57:1). “For thou has been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall” (Isaiah 25:4).
We are living in a time when there is so much insecurity in our nation. Many ministers today can no longer trust God for their security so they make their own security arrangement which is doomed to fail. Some trust in chariots, others trust in horses but we will in the name of the lord. The purpose of Christ’s covering over the church is to guarantee us a hiding place, a place of refuge until the calamities from our times be over past. No man or denomination can guarantee us protection apart from our LORD Jesus Christ. We must therefore abandon our methods, programs and return to the LORD. There are four words in Isaiah 30:15 that seems to indicate the direction where the salvation of the church lies.
(1) Returning: In returning shall ye be saved. We need to return from ‘Egypt’. We need to return from all our worldly methods. We need to confess our sins before the Lord God Almighty. “The place of confession is the place of forgiveness.” Rev 2:5.
(2) Rest: Thousands of hearts in the church today are longing for rest. They rush from one meeting to the other to try to get respite for their souls. But rest cannot come from aligning with the world systems. Rest comes through a true confession and a determination to forsake sin. Rest will only come to man as he adjust to the will of God. We need to take upon ourselves the yoke of Christ not the yoke of men for us to truly have rest. (Matt. 11:29-30).
(3) Quietness: in quietness and confidence shall be your strength. The feebles of our understanding of eternal truth is demonstrated in our ability to stay quiet before our God; alone with God. The church today is full of feverish activities that have very little depth. It is only the deep that can call unto the deep. The church needs to study to be quiet (I thess 4:11, I Tim2:2, I Peter 3:4).
“And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever”. “And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation and insure dwellings, and in quiet resting places: Isaiah 32:17-18.
(4) Confidence: The word confidence means assurance and courage which comes from the settling down of the soul upon one who is trustworthy.
“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee (Psalm 9:10).
To know God is to trust him; to know him perfectly is to have that perfect confidence in Him who alone inspires courage. They that know their God shall wax strong and do exploits. May God raise Christians in these last days who will know their God, Christians who will know not just acts (miracles) of God, but who will know the ways of God.
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.” (Philippians 3:10).
Finally brethren, “ I heard a voice from heaven, saying come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues-it is time to return to the LORD, it is time to flee from Man’s bondage into the glorious liberty of the sons of God – The Name of the LORD is a strong tower, and the righteous run into it and he is saved.
LORD cause your sons and daughters to return to you the fountain of LIFE. Shalom!
