Saturday, March 8, 2014

Seeking God's Side. Second Chronicles 14-15; First Corinthians 3

May the mumbling commence!

Do you want the Lord to stay with you..?  Then stay with the Lord.  It is that simple, but it is hard work.  Read Second Chronicles chapter fifteen:

Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. "Listen to me, Asa!" he shouted. "Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.  For a long time, Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without God's law.  But whenever you were in distress and turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him out, you found him.  During those dark times, it was not safe to travel. Problems troubled the nation on every hand.  Nation fought against nation, and city against city, for God was troubling you with every kind of problem.  And now, you men of Judah, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded." 
When Asa heard this message from Azariah the prophet, he took courage and removed all the idols in the land of Judah and Benjamin and in the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, which stood in front of the foyer of the Lord's Temple. 
Then Asa called together all the people of Judah and Benjamin, along with the people of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them. Many had moved to Judah during Asa's reign when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.  The people gathered at Jerusalem in late spring, during the fifteenth year of Asa's reign.  On that day they sacrificed to the Lord some of the animals they had taken as plunder in the battle – seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep and goats.  Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.  They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death – whether young or old, man or woman.  They shouted out their oath of loyalty to the Lord with trumpets blaring and horns sounding.  All were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their hearts. Eagerly they sought after God, and they found him. And the Lord gave them rest from their enemies on every side. 
King Asa even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down the pole, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.  Although the pagan shrines were not completely removed from Israel, Asa remained fully committed to the Lord throughout his life.  He brought into the Temple of God the silver and gold and the utensils that he and his father had dedicated.  So there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.

Victory and success can be the hardest of tests for our relationship with the Lord.  King Asa was returning victorious from a battle that looked hopeless.  Thank God for His prophets! 

Azariah met Asa and his army as they returned with the plunder.  He met him with the message to stay with the Lord – only then will the Lord stay with you.  It is not the Lord is on my side.  It is we are seeking the Lord constantly so that we might be on God’s side.

To seek the Lord’s side means some things must be torn down… so that the things of the Lord may be repaired.  Even some of our family relationships must be forfeit – like Asa’s relationship with his grandmother.  To seek the Lord means gathering together to seek His face in worship.  To seek the Lord means doing so with all your being.

When we seek with eagerness, we will find God all around us.  And we will find peace.  We will find peace in the knowledge that we are the Temple of the Lord – we together, the people of the church.  Read from First Corinthians chapter three:

Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?  God will bring ruin upon anyone who ruins this temple. For God's temple is holy, and you Christians are that temple. (Verses 16-17)


So, let’s stay with the Lord.  Otherwise, we will bring ruin upon the Lord’s temple… and ruin will reign down on us.  We are set apart for the work of the Lord.  We are holy through connection and relationship with the Lord.  

Let's praise God together and seek His face.  

Enough mumbling for now…  

Peace Out

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