Turn to the Lord

I want to help you focus on the main things in life. The main things in life are God’s relationship with you, and learning more about God. I’m going to look at the life of a man who did know a lot of things about God in his early life, and then things went a bit wrong.

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2 Chronicles 14:1

He began his reign over Judah well.

2 Chronicles 14:2-9

There was an army’s strength of 580,000, and all of them were men of valour.

2 Chronicles 14:9-11

So he had 580,000 men against a million. And this is what Asa cried.

2 Chronicles 14:11

Asa had totally the right perspective. He had a good ten years, and now is in this battle.

2 Chronicles 14:12-16

Not only a good start to his reign, but now when the first war appeared out of the blue, there was not a problem, because it was God’s name that he went forward in.

2 Chronicles 15:1-7

So he came to Asa and told him that he’d got it right. He’d got the right balance, because everything he did he went forward trusting God to deliver.

2 Chronicles 15:8-12

This is now fifteen years into his reign. He first had ten quiet years, and then the Ethiopians rose up and God defeated them, and now, to mark the occasion, there was a massive offering unto God.

2 Chronicles 15:12-16

Everything was fine at this point. The reason why it was fine was because he trusted in God. He knew his position was from God. No one has any power except from God. In your life, you need to know where God is. Where’s his perspective in your life?

2 Chronicles 15:16-20

This was quite a time.

2 Chronicles 16:1

Something now has happened in Asa’s heart. Before, his instant solution was asking God for help. He rested on him and went out in his name. But thirty-five years in, everything was quiet. Asa didn’t bring it to God.

2 Chronicles 16:2-7

There was no hint in getting God involved. He knew what to do. He had money in the treasury, in the church, in the king’s house. So a deal was done. But God didn’t get a look in.

2 Chronicles 16:7-10

Asa had no relied on God in all this. He knew what to do, and it actually worked. But thirty-five years in, God was forgotten about. One thing you and I need to do, if you’re aware of how it all started off with God in your life, is not forget we’re were from. We mustn’t forget the origin of our faith, and that we started off in God. We mustn’t forget the foundation of your life, if you’re a Chroniclesistian. Are you just going through the motions? Are you letting things go by? You think you know what you’re doing, that you can sort things out. It’s not a coincidence that God’s brought you here and caused you to focus on your walk with Him.

This got to Asa because he knew inside what he had done, and he got angry.

2 Chronicles 16:10

As a leader, things had been found out, and then he took it out on the people.

2 Chronicles 16:11-13

He was still in a rage. As far as he was concerned, he’d dealt with his problem. He’d sorted it. But it wasn’t done in the right way. He cut God out of it. And now he has diseased feet, but he still doesn’t go to God.

2 Chronicles 16:13-15

1 Peter 3:10-13

It might be that you know, in your heart, that God has been getting hold of you. I want to confirm to you, that this is for the reason that he wants to change you on the inside.

What happened, Asa? You started off so well, and yet it ended up like that. It was as if you got too sure of yourself, and you became in charge of Judah. You forgot that God appointed you.

God wants you to turn around. He wants you to realise that you’re dealing with a God who changes people on the inside. It’s that simple. Learn from the life of Asa. Those of you who’ve been a Chroniclesistian for some time, remember the order of things. It’s God with whom we have to do. He is the author of our faith. He is the one who is faithful and in control. We can’t take everything for granted. Our heart is one of thanks that we rest on him, our shield and our defender. We’re going forward in him.