Cutting Through the Jungle of Lies
This week’s teaching was inspired by the story behind my song, All Hail King Jesus, from the recording Here In Your Presence. I received this particular song on November 28, 2009.
the old word, hail, means to greet with enthusiasm or as an expression of acclaim or importance. When we say ‘all hail King Jesus’ we are saying ‘not only ‘welcome and greetings’ while simultaneously proclaiming the importance we place upon the person of Jesus Christ as King and Lord of our lives. Paul the Apostle in his writings to Timothy put it this way:
I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. 1 Timothy 6:13-16 NASB
As I was meditating on where the Lord would have me lead my church in worship prior to the next worship gathering I heard one phrase that kept reverberating in my heart and mind: “All hail King Jesus!” Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When the King is present – when He enters – it is a sign of reverence and awe for one to rise in honor. It is also a sign of respect to bow the knee to the King. This song is meant to be a call to all present to revere the King…to stand or kneel in honor of His great majesty.
How I feel in any given moment is beside the point. Personally, I cannot allow the way I feel to dictate if and when I worship my King. In the world - even today - If an earthly king were to walk into a gathering of his subjects, the expectation - the proper protocol - would be that all present would rise in honor of the monarch. The further expectation would be that when greeting the king, one would bow or curtsy before him. We think nothing of standing or bowing in reverence and honor for an earthly king - regardless of our present feelings. So why do we find ourselves allowing our feelings to dictate whether or not we show reverence or honor to the King of Kings?
For me personally, I know that I am a highly emotional man with an intense melancholy personality. God designed me to feel deeply. I get that. I understand and accept that, but that design to feel deeply does not give me license to ever allow negative feelings to dictate when and how I will worship my King.
Since I recognize and acknowledge the weaknesses of my giftings, I have come to learn that such negative feelings are produced by negative thoughts. Negative thoughts - like believing the lies of the enemy concerning who or Whose I am - can be changed. If thoughts can be changed, feelings will follow suit.
I see the lies of the enemy as a jungle between my King and myself. In such jungles I take the machete of God’s Word in one hand - the Truth - and hack away at the lies until I see the King. In the other hand, I wield the machete of praise and worship, exalting Jesus as King of Kings over my life and over my feelings. When I do this - worship in spite of the way I feel while proclaiming the Truth of Who God is and who I am because of Who He is - my mind is transformed and my negative feelings follow suit!
What jungle do you need to hack your way out of right now? What lies are you believing that are affecting the way you feel? As you listen to this song, use the Truth presented to you as a weapon of warfare and worship the King in spite of the way you feel right now. He is here…and it is always appropriate protocol to stand or to bow before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
“These [the enemies of God] will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” Revelations 17:14
[Philippians 2:8-11 NASB] 8 [Jesus] Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Let us cut through the jungle of the lies of the enemy today by using the Word of God and a heart of worship and praise to transform our hearts and minds. The King is here. What will you do with that information?
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to the podcast version this teaching along with the song, simply go to https://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/all-hail-king-jesus/
To get a FREE ebook version of Daily Devotions For Kingdom Seekers, Vol. 1, go to https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Devotions-Kingdom-Seekers-Vol-ebook/dp/B078WHGXCD/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1542729912&sr=1-1&keywords=Daily+Devotions+for+Kingdom+Seekers
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