| Bow the Knee
It was conceived in the heart of Lucifer - this
seed of selfish pride. He had tired of fulfilling the whims of what
he thought to be an old, archaic Spirit. He would no longer bow
before the One who was Love. This germ of a thought became an all-consuming
desire. Lucifer loathed God. How he hungered for the glory that
only Jehovah possessed. His rebellious spirit, like an infectious
disease, quickly spread embracing one third of the angelic beings
in its deadly poison. No longer would they pay homage either.
Then, finding that the Almighty was just that,
Almighty, he was cast down. Down, down he fell to this earth. Old
Lucifer’s hatred deepened. His bitterness became the gall
he drank so freely off. Now, Satan, he was pacing the earth one
day when to his mild surprise he learned of the creation of man.
“Ah ha” he mused, “I can finally hurt the heart
of the old One.” Quickly finding the place of man’s
abode he also helped infect the human race with rebellion. Thus
began a titanic conflict that would last milleniums. It was a struggle
over to whom the knee would be bowed. Who would be true to the Lord
God and who would fall before Satan? The longer the conflict raged,
the hotter the fire of jealousy fanned in the heart of the insidious
serpent. “I will be God!” “I will be worshipped!”
Satan began a campaign to have mankind kneel
before him. Every individual was approached and tempted to reject
their Creator and to vow allegiance to the seducer. Many did so,
but oh so many did not. Hearts afire with love for their Savior
and Lord, they would not bow before the father of lies. Their names
are different, but their stories are very similar. When faced with
the most dire of consequences and even sure death, or the option
to kneel and kiss in homage the ring of wickedness, they would not
bend, they would not pucker the lip.
There was righteous suffering Job who would
not curse his God nor change his allegiance. Moses and the children
of Israel putting Egypt and its impotent deities behind and finding
on Mount Sinai the Only True God. Youthful David unafraid, twirling
his sling before a blaspheming giant. Three Hebrew children in Babylon
refusing to insult the Sovereign of their souls when told to bow
before the image of the accuser of the brethren. Daniel the prophet
throwing political correctness to the wind while humbly and openly
remembering His Lord three times a day, and Mordecia staunchly upright
in his defiance of Hamaan. No matter how tempting an offer came
their way, prophet after prophet would not compromise nor turn from
appointed task.
Oh yes Satan succeeded in making many into tyrants
and murderers. He filled the earth with his lies and his deception
was so well disguised that some never did see the truth. But, he
could not get those who had tasted of the grace of God, those who
had found in Jesus life everlasting, to kneel before him. The disciples,
rather than turning back when Jesus ascended, turned Jerusalem and
the entire world upside down with their dogged allegiance to the
Lamb of God.
So, Satan brimming with hate attempted to fill with fear those who
followed Christ. Persecution intensified. The crosses of the Roman
Empire became blood-soaked as upon them the life of godly people
ebbed. Arenas were filled with gentle believers being fed to lions
or slaughtered by gladiators. Throughout the years the stake glowed
bright with the embers of saints who would not recant. The centuries
passed while over and over again that malignant spirit kept seeking
worship but could not get it from the children of God. They would
not yield their hearts to anyone other than the One that is Love
personified.
The day is coming, in which, in one last desperate
effort Satan will demand this world to fall before him, to accept
his mark, or die. And die they will, by the thousands and thousands,
a multitude of redeemed souls devoted only to the Lamb. There will
be no dirt on the white linen of the redeemed. They will not blemish
their robes of righteousness. They will not bow until that day in
which, surrounded by walls of jasper they shall fall down upon golden
avenues and lift up holy hands of praise to the only true God.
And in that day, by the very power of the Almighty,
that foul creature that has plagued this universe and tormented
this world and destroyed the lives of millions will be taken and
brought before the presence of God. We shall see him as he comes
writhing and fighting all the way. Cursing the very God who created
him. Jehovah will silence that lying spirit and bringing him before
His throne, we shall join all creatures great and small, natural
and supernatural, human and angelic to witness what follows. We
shall hear the voice of the Father more thunderous in volume than
all the combined waterfalls of this world, speaking clearly for
all creation to hear, fulfilling His prophetic word: “that
at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.” In the sweetness
of that moment, when that wonderful, precious, sacred and powerful
name is uttered, we shall finally see… SATAN BOW THE KNEE!
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