2.Chronicles 15:1-2,4 And the spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; the Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel and sought him, he was found of them.
Yes my Friends, there’s much truth to those words. Ever since Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and knew right from wrong, we’ve had freedom of choice and the Lord has refused to meddle in our affairs, unless we invited Him to. In Deut.15, before the Israelites crossed over the Jordan into the promised land, Moses sternly warned them against disobeying God’s principles. They were God’s chosen people, so they needed to set a good example, and going astray would result in serious penalties. But they never heeded the warning, and lapsed into disobedience several times over the years, and during those godless times the country was continually racked by misfortune, ‘..for God troubled them with every adversity.’ 2 Chron.15:5. After the death of Solomon, Israel fell into one of those godless times. The Egyptians invaded them, there was war between factions supporting Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, and Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, on account of Rehoboam’s’s evil ways and his ruthless suppression of the people. Finally, Abijah, Rehoboam’s ‘s son, became king of Judah and destroyed Jeroboam. But things really did not get better until Abijah died and his son, Asa, took over. For ‘Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.’ 2 Chron.14:2. He removed most of the altars and high places of the pagan gods, and instructed the people to return to the God of their fathers and observe His laws. And they prospered in peace, as Asa said, ‘..because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.’ (14:7) Ah Friends, why do we always have to learn the hard way eh? Then the Ethiopians invaded them, a million strong. And Asa cried out to the Lord for help, and He helped them rout the Ethiopians. Today’s Bit took place when Asa returned from defeating the Ethiopians. The Lord knew that Asa’s spirit needed strengthening, like we all do at some time, so He sent Azeriah out to greet and encourage him. ‘But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be well rewarded.’ (15:7) And Asa took courage from those words and finally eradicated all the abominations of the pagan gods from Judah, and the people rejoiced and swore an oath to seek the Lord continually. Friends, we are no better than the Israelites of old. We do the same things: turn away from God because we think His rules are too stringent, and the enemy’s are lax. But it’s all fool’s gold my people. The Lord is mightier than the forces of evil and has higher standards, which He will gladly help us attain. So why rebuff Him, then suffer serious consequences eh? That’s not wise. Remember, this life is based on standards, and those consistently with the highest, usually win the prize. And Friends, here we’re talking about the biggest prize ever; eternal salvation. Let’s not lose it because of irresponsibility and inattention to God’s word nuh. Much LOVE!…he who hears not…shall always feel…
Yes my Friends, there’s much truth to those words. Ever since Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and knew right from wrong, we’ve had freedom of choice and the Lord has refused to meddle in our affairs, unless we invited Him to. In Deut.15, before the Israelites crossed over the Jordan into the promised land, Moses sternly warned them against disobeying God’s principles. They were God’s chosen people, so they needed to set a good example, and going astray would result in serious penalties. But they never heeded the warning, and lapsed into disobedience several times over the years, and during those godless times the country was continually racked by misfortune, ‘..for God troubled them with every adversity.’ 2 Chron.15:5. After the death of Solomon, Israel fell into one of those godless times. The Egyptians invaded them, there was war between factions supporting Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, and Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, on account of Rehoboam’s’s evil ways and his ruthless suppression of the people. Finally, Abijah, Rehoboam’s ‘s son, became king of Judah and destroyed Jeroboam. But things really did not get better until Abijah died and his son, Asa, took over. For ‘Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.’ 2 Chron.14:2. He removed most of the altars and high places of the pagan gods, and instructed the people to return to the God of their fathers and observe His laws. And they prospered in peace, as Asa said, ‘..because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.’ (14:7) Ah Friends, why do we always have to learn the hard way eh? Then the Ethiopians invaded them, a million strong. And Asa cried out to the Lord for help, and He helped them rout the Ethiopians. Today’s Bit took place when Asa returned from defeating the Ethiopians. The Lord knew that Asa’s spirit needed strengthening, like we all do at some time, so He sent Azeriah out to greet and encourage him. ‘But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be well rewarded.’ (15:7) And Asa took courage from those words and finally eradicated all the abominations of the pagan gods from Judah, and the people rejoiced and swore an oath to seek the Lord continually. Friends, we are no better than the Israelites of old. We do the same things: turn away from God because we think His rules are too stringent, and the enemy’s are lax. But it’s all fool’s gold my people. The Lord is mightier than the forces of evil and has higher standards, which He will gladly help us attain. So why rebuff Him, then suffer serious consequences eh? That’s not wise. Remember, this life is based on standards, and those consistently with the highest, usually win the prize. And Friends, here we’re talking about the biggest prize ever; eternal salvation. Let’s not lose it because of irresponsibility and inattention to God’s word nuh. Much LOVE!…he who hears not…shall always feel…
SCRIP-BITS 