Born thy people to deliver,
Born a child, and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By thine all-sufficient merit
Raise us to thy glorious throne.
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus 1744
By: Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Listen to this modern version of this Christmas carol as you prepare to ponder the lyrics. Please make certain to enjoy the video below.
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Everyone enjoy this podcast and transcript below! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures and reflections shared.
Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.
As we conclude our journey through this Advent season and this Christmas carol, do more than sing these words, invite Jesus to come and fill your approach to Christmas with a greater awareness of His presence. Welcome Him to come and reveal Himself to you again. Let’s think about this.
Rule
We finish the first half of this stanza asking Jesus to bring His gracious kingdom. In the second half our prayer is answered as we invite Him to rule and raise. His kingdom comes temporally as He rules in our hearts and eternally when He raises us to His throne. Will you create the atmosphere which ushers in HIs gracious kingdom by inviting Him to rule and raise?
Before you answer in the affirmative please consider for a few moments what that may mean for you.
The Spirit ruling in your heart alone means He is in charge.
- Not only when it is convenient, because it won’t be.
- Not only as long as you agree, because you may rarely.
- And certainly not Him along with several other ruler jostling for superiority.
The Spirit along ruling in your heart.
By thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezekiel 36:27 ESV
The culmination of this past work and future promise is the present reality of His Spirit in us ruling our hearts. The Spirit enables us to walk in God’s ways by obeying His rules. That may not sound appealing but it allows us to experience His rule and reign internally while we wait for the fullness of it externally.
He reigns when we yield to the inner workings of His Spirit. Our heart is the seat of our emotions, intellect and will. If we allow the Spirit alone to rule in our hearts our emotions, intellect and will are bent toward the kingdom purpose of God. Will you yield your heart today?
RESONATE!
Take a few moments and ponder what allowing the Spirit alone to rule your heart my require. But also think about what it enables. Then pray this simple prayer, “Spirit, rule alone in my heart today.”
Raise
This is the supernatural result of allowing Him to rule. Your trajectory will be vertical and His work in you will ensure your arrival. Your ascent begins when you place all your trust in His merit instead of any of your own.
Your merit is insufficient. You could never earn heaven because you could never become perfect any more than a different cloth can clean a window. In order to be raised you must assume a lowly, humbled position before Him.
By thine all-sufficient merit
Raise us to thy glorious throne.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us…raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7 ESV
There is an interesting past and present here. He raised us, so that in the coming ages He might show His grace. Past, present and future all woven together into a tapestry which beautifully reveals the merit of His work in us and on earth. Thanks be to God!
How we long for the coming of His kingdom and our part in it. Fortunately, we will find our place through no merit of our own, for we would fall terribly short. Instead, He will raise us to our place by His throne through His all-sufficient merit. Hallelujah! Thank Him for that gift.
RESONATE!
Take a few moments and remind yourself of the quality of your merit. Now think of the merit of Jesus. There is no comparison. Pray simply, “Jesus, thank You for attributing Your merit to me.“
Lord, thank You for showing me why I needed to be ruled by You, by revealing the two distinct paths marked by your merit and mine. Help me trust in Your merit every day. In Jesus name. Amen.
Raised Thinking!
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Podcast 35.4 Transcript
Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.
Born thy people to deliver,
Born a child, and yet a King,
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 ESV
He promised a child would be born Who would be king. That child would deliver us not only through the tyranny of earthly potentates, but from the curse of sin, our sin. The prophet told of One who would come one day. He did come. He will come again. Come Lord Jesus!
Born to reign in us forever,
Now thy gracious kingdom bring.
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15 ESV
It is this future reign we are longing for, which for the eternal One is already a reality. We who are bound by time are waiting to get to the external expressions of that Kingdom, but we can still experience it now in the internal workings of our existence. Welcome Him to reign today.
By thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezekiel 36:27 ESV
The culmination of this past work and future promise is the present reality of His Spirit in us ruling our hearts. The Spirit enables us to walk in God’s ways by obeying His rules. That may not sound appealing but it allows us to experience His rule and reign internally while we wait for the fullness of it externally.
By thine all-sufficient merit
Raise us to thy glorious throne.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us…raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7 ESV
There is an interesting past and present here. He raised us, so that in the coming ages He might show His grace. Past, present and future all woven together into a tapestry which beautifully reveals the merit of His work in us and on earth. Thanks be to God!
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more, with the refrain.
Born thy people to deliver,
Born a child, and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By thine all-sufficient merit
Raise us to thy glorious throne.
Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, Be Resonant.
The post Invite Jesus to Rule and Raise appeared first on Resonant 7.
Image Attribution
By thine own eternal Spirit Rule in all our hearts alone – https://media.ascensionpress.com/2018/05/17/a-new-law/
By thine all-sufficient merit Raise us to thy glorious throne – https://greatergrace.org.uk/risen_multimedia/glorious-throne/
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