The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined… For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
(Isa 9:2-7 KJ2000)
In the early ’80’s I went through a very dark time in my life, filled with heavy depression and no hope. One day as my wife, Dorothy, was praying for me she heard the Lord say, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined.” It did not happen right away, but it DID happen. In a moment of time after 14 years of being cut off from God and in spiritual darkness, as far as my five senses were concerned… in one glorious moment His light came shining in even while I was yet dwelling in the land of the shadow of death! All depression lifted as His light came flooding in. He was back! Though I can look back and see that I was only under the shadow of His wings all those years and He was still there teaching me in a subliminal way so that my flesh would not get puffed up about it.
Since then this Child that was born, this Son that was given has carried me and been my government, my Wonderful Counselor, my Mighty God, my Everlasting Father, and my Prince of Peace. Where once I looked to men for church government, for Christian counselling, to be mighty in the things of God for me, to be my mentoring fathers, to be my peace makers when church disputes occurred… now I have found that Jesus Christ is my All in all and it is in THIS place, with THIS heart where the increase of HIS government knows no end… “to order it, and to establish it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will [is and has] perform this.”
Least you or I think that I am something special…
For it befitted him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare your name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I sing praise unto you. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children whom God has given me. (Heb 2:10-13 KJ2000)
Yes, God is making us ALL His sons as we release the control over our lives unto Him and make Jesus our All in all. Amen Lord Jesus, come and quicken us with YOUR Life.
A Wilderness Voice 
“His sons as we release the control over our lives unto Him and make Jesus our All in all.”
Yes, so He is! Patiently He is waiting we finally let go of all we cling to… and we test His patience so long. Our focus is always to secure our wishes… and by this “earthly” mindset we act somehow schizo!
On one side we profess He is our Lord and God… and we’re His precious possession He bought with His blood and on the other side we bombard Him with our prayers when He takes from us what we love so much… but not suiting His perfect plans.
Yes, He is OUR ALL and all He does is perfect and serves His loving purposes! There is not one exception! Everything has to serve for the best of His chosen!
Well, this is quite a challenge I know… but we’ll never come to the reality of living in His divine realm when continually clinging to old thought patterns.
When will we come to the point and put our trust in Him over all we think and feel? When will we come to the point and praise Him for every pain we have to endure by getting stripped an purified by His loving hand?
When will we make the reality of our faith the basis of all we act on here on earth instead of praying our will to come true?
Yes, we have to realse control… our grip on us and the world around us so He becomes the ALL in us!
There is a precious dimension hidden when we dare to act against ourselves… when we willfully enthrone Him over ALL in us so He becomes the All in all (and yes, this means all… not 99,9%!).
It’s living in heaven though your feet are still walking this earth! It’s peace nobody can take from you… and most of all: It’s precious intimacy with the Beloved!
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Dear Michael
When I walk in those times of great darkness, I am always so encouraged by the verse that says that when you walk in darkness and there is no light anywhere to be found, just keep on trusting your Lord. Yes, for summer to come, winter first needs to have its way, doesn’t it!!
Bless you
Mia
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Thanks, Mia. I know that verse in Isaiah and after finding it I found about ten others in the Bible that say much the same thing or at least point to the fact that God often cloaks Himself in darkness. Did you know that apple trees will not produce apples in warm climates where there is no killing frost? The make lots of pretty foliage, but no fruit… sounds like the Christian walk I used to have. 🙂
May He keep you under the shadow of His wings, dear sister,
Michael
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This is very encouraging Michael. My husband is still waiting for the Light to come into His spiritual darkness after even longer than the years you had, and it is really encouraging to hear of someone else who has had the Light come after long periods of time.
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Sandra and Ross,
God seems to put more value on the preparation of a man than what He can get out of him. Paul put it this way, “For none of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living” (Rom 14:7-9 KJ2000). Have Ross drop me an email, Sandra. I would love to hear from him.
BTW, I agree with the word from the Lord you posted on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVhA1TcSPHg&feature=youtu.be
God IS doing a new thing and because of all the carnal debris that men have built on the Foundation of the Church which is Christ, God is about to put a match to it all. Only the spiritual gold, silver and precious stones placed there by Him will survive. Many of us will be saved by His purifying fire, but what HE is raising up, a new creation in Christ, will make it all worth while.
Love in the Son,
Michael
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