2
Chronicles 15 King Asa
God
is an artist Paints pictures He is into pictures
The Bible paints several
pictures of Mans relationship with God - Ladder
Potter / clay Shepherd / Sheep
Master / Servants Father
/ Children
Friends
The Highest Lovers
Bridegroom & Bride
As
the Bridegroom rejoices over the Bride God rejoices over You
A) Bridegrooms Denise at
my wedding !
B) Awesome picture of our
relationship with God
C) God is a romantic Every
flower / every sunset every snow capped MT range is His way of saying I
love you I made this for you.
I
am a romantic Love doing things to surprise and bless my wife. Shop
A) Didnt start well - Lame Proposal
B) Trevor
did it right Dress / Roses / Limo Carriage ride Proposal at
favorite spot
1) I would have loved to
have seen the look on Lindsays face during all of that
That
is part of the fun seeing the look on their face
A) I think God feels that
way about us I long to bless you!
B) Watch what I am going to
do today
C) Good pleasure to give us
the Kingdom
2 Chronicles 16:9
For the eyes
of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong
on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.
That is Gods heart We are
the object of His affection He longs to bless
But He wants us to desire
Him -
A) Recall Asa became king in
Judah after the death of his Father Abijah.
B) For 40 yrs the kingdom of
Judah has been away from God gone after idols
1) Started with his great
grandfather Solomon grandpa Rhehoboam dad Abijah
C) 40 Yrs of decline 40
yrs of wickedness in the land
Asa
changes all of that we saw last time where he comes to the thrown & did
what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord
A) He removed all the
idolatry and wickedness and charged the people to seek God passionately
B) God blessed him with 10
years of peace
C) Asa used those 10 yrs to
build up and strengthen the kingdom / Cities Walls / Gates / The Army!
D) After those 10 yrs of
peace He faced his first test
Zerah the Ethiopian comes
with army of 1 million
1)
Asa passes the test turns
to the Lord for Help
E) It is after that Battle
that we read in Ch.15
2 Chronicles
15:1-2
Now
the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. 2 And he went out to meet
Asa, and said to him: "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD
is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you;
but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
Notice
when God sent this message to Asa.
A) It wasnt during a time
when He was struggling it wasnt in a time of great Crises
B) No, the message comes to
Him after a great victory
1) Just had victory over an
army of 1 million men
2) At a time when Asa had
been seeking Him
I
find it very interesting that God would send this message at this time!
A) Asa is doing great and
God is going to continue to bless him for a number of years
B) This is Gods way of
saying: Asa you are doing great I am blessed by you but I want to remind
you of something
I am with you
while you are with me If you seek me I will be found by you, but if you
forsake me I will forsake you.
C) That last line means
That God would lift His hand of blessing from off of Asas life!
D) Also a warning God
knows that our times of success can lead to our downfall
1) Importance of always
seeking Him
ASAs great grand father
forgot to make this a priority
Rehoboam Bad start
listened to young counselors,
Kingdom divided
He recovered Had some good
years
CH 12 V1 When he was
established He turned his heart 2
Chron 12:1
Now
it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened
himself, that he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel along with him.
V.14 Problem started long
before that - 2 Chronicles 12:14
And he did
evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.
See the writer of Chronicles
is telling us the problem started because He didnt prepare His heart to seek
the Lord
The problem occurred before
Ch.12:1 He stopped preparing his heart to seek the Lord
Condemnation from
the Lords perspective is not that He forsook the
Lord but the Lord pinpoints when it started When he failed to prepare his
heart
Here is what the Lord is
trying to tell us that backsliding and blatant sin starts in the heart
Starts with a
lack of heart preparation
John Wooden If you fail to prepare, you better be prepared to
fail.
Spiritually that is true
-
So The Lord sends His
prophet to Asa to warn Him of falling into the same mistake dont stop
seeking Me
So
the Question we want to answer tonight is this: How do we prepare our hearts to
seek the Lord?
Note 4 ways
#1
Deal with the Sin Sin stops up the spout of
blessing
Everyday Job living in the
moment relationship
Wrong to wait until the end
of the day: Satan condemns we get frustrated
#2
Worship Become a worshipper
A) Puts things in
perspective { See God
B) Quiets our hearts - Enthroned
#3
Simply walking with God
A) Read
B) Pray
C) Fellowship { Being around
those who are seeking God.
#4
Having proper values Where your treasure is
your heart will be there also
A) Valuing what God Values
B) My heart is prepared to
seek the Lord when I am focused on the things that God is focused on
So the Lord comes to ASA
The
LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by
you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
I am with you
while you are with Me If you seek Me I will be found by you, but if you
forsake Me I will forsake you.
C) That last line means
That God would lift his hand of blessing from off of Asas life!
D) The Key to Asas
continued blessing would be His desire to Seek the Lord
Verse 7
2 Chronicles
15:7
But
you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be
rewarded!"
A) Be strong in Me you
will be rewarded
B) In other words continue
to find your strength in me and you will not be disappointed
Result: 2 Chron 15:8
8
And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded the
prophet, he took courage,
Tells us that Asa responded
to the Word of God!
Key to see revival happen in
our lives when we respond to Gods word
James: be doers of the
Word not just hearers only