God was with the leaders or Kings while they sought to do His will. God blessed Abijah over Jeroboam and Asa over Zerah, the Ethiopian. Asa had ten years of no war because he cried out to the Lord. Jehoshaphat walked with the Lord and no war was made against him.
Azariah told Asa: "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 (15:2) Israel was without God for a long time but when they got in trouble they called upon God and He was there.
There are times in our lives when things are going smooth that we forget to pray and seek God's will. We think we are doing just fine handling things ourselves and then all of a sudden bad things happen. We may experience sickness, a job loss, financial problems or a number of other things come up to upset or change our lives. It is then we may cry out to God; "God where are you, Why did you turn away from me." Friend, let me tell you God did not turn away from you. It was you who turned away from Him. The good news is; He is still there. Call out to Him, Seek His will and He will be found. God tells us over and over He loves us, He wants to walk with us and bless us; yet, we want to continue on our own little way thinking we can handle it. NO, we can't handle it ourselves. Even to the breath we breathe we need Him.
It is easy to walk with God when we are in church or around fellow Christians. But.....do we walk with Him on our jobs, at home, or with people who are not Christians. We need God more then, we need to let our light shine brighter when we are out in the world. He is there where He has always been just seek Him.
I need thee, Oh, I need thee,
Every hour I need thee,
Oh, Bless me now my blessed Savior,
I come to thee.
May I ask God to walk with me and to be with me and to guide me in ALL that I do.
I wonder what happened to Asa at the end of his life? For someone so dedicated to the lord, he certainly turned turned away from God. Was he ashamed because of what the seer said? I'm with you Ms. Boots. "I need the every hour!"
ReplyDeleteNatalie, I had the same question about Asa :) I wonder...
ReplyDeleteThrough the lives of these kings, we can definitely see a pattern of them following God and times of peace as well as times of rebellion and war.
Ms. Boots, thank you for the reminder that we need God at ALL times!
Okay...Ms. Boots...I see that you posted this at 5:30 this morning and yet today during Pastor Chris' sermon he spoke at the beginning about the fact that God is the air we breath...I just LOVE the way God is connecting our blog with Pastor Chris' sermon!!! I like your comment about what do we do when it is NOT easy being a Christian...something I need to think about and be reminded of. Ironically, I find it HARDER at times aroung those who CLAIM to be believers sometimes! The actions I see and the words I here many times from supposed Chrisitans just shocks me! I think that these people are harder to be around because they have a pride issue and I have to wonder at times...are these people REALLY saved?????
ReplyDeleteI need thee every hour too and this scripture spoke to me in so many ways. In 13:7 it said some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and Jeroboarm could not come against them. Be careful who you let gather around you. We need God to keep us in the right company.
ReplyDeletev15 They raised the battle cry and 500.000 men were killed. We need to raise the battle cry for God and let Him show is His ways. Can you image what a battle cry sounds like.
15:1-7 I l ove how someone who speaks from the Lord can encourage you and give you courage. I really believe that is why we are to attend church because we never know what message we are missing.
15:12 They entered into a covenant with all their hear and soul. We are in a covenant and we need to be in it with all our heart and soul. We will get rest from our ability to give all.
16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him. May we always have our hearts perfect toward HIM so we can see HIS strength.
I am reading but not always blogging because I am in California and I am amazed at God's word as it speaks to all I have seen and done. l need THEE every hour.
I love that song "I Need The Every Hour." In my paraphrase to the song sometimes I need thee every minute would be appropriate especially with the school-aged children. Things can get hectic at times. God must be at the wheel of your life.
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