Thursday, October 24, 2013

Bible Means Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth

BIBLE =Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

Insight Into Scripture - 2 Chronicles 14-17
In today's reading we read about the life of Asa; the King of Judah. After Asa passed away; Jehoshaphat succeeded Asa as king. Asa's foot disease may have been gout (not very common in biblical times) or gangrene. The fact that Asa chose to contact only physicians, who were associated with magical rituals or, at best, herbal remedies. This foot disease contributed to his death.

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Asa went to battle with the LORD on his side in the Valley of Zephathah near Maresha, and won. (14:10). It was a place where they raised and kept pigeons for food and their dung, which was used for fertilizer. This particular picture has room for 1,900 pigeons. That is alot of poop! For great Bible pictures see Bibleplaces.

Scripture Reading
And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim and commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the LORD gave him peace. - 2 Chronicles 14:2-6


Thought for the Day
Don't you love that saying? The Bible stands for Basic Instructions Before
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Leaving Earth
. How true! GOD gave us this entire book of good examples, bad examples, and life lessons from Jesus and other great men and women of faith. It is a wonderful resource for us to learn from those who have failed and succeeded. If your life is not going well, you can turn to the Bible for guidance and examples. Today, we read about King Asa, I believe that by taking a look at his life there is much to learn.

To sum up King Asa's life, he was a good king and served the LORD. He was very dedicated to HIM and the LORD gave him rest. When in battle, King Asa called upon the LORD and HE saved him..... no, the LORD "Crushed" his enemy; The Cushites (14:13). About the middle of his story; Azariah had some wise words for King Asa; "The LORD is with you, when you are with HIM. If you seek HIM, HE will be found by you, but if you forsake HIM, HE will forsake you"(15:2). These are GREAT words that King Asa did not heed for his future.

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Yes, King Asa was living a GOD filled life for 35 years (15:19)...... until a problem arose, he looked to the King of Aram and earthly treasures to save him, not GOD. (16:2) GOD even sent a seer; Hanani (16:7) to show him that he did not rely on GOD but relied on another human. Hanani helped King Asa remember how GOD came through for him with the Cushites.... I just wanted to stop for a minute..... I believe that alot of times GOD sends people into our lives for good and bad. Are you receptive to them, even if it is bad?

To move on with the story, I believe this was a critical turning point for King Asa. He would still have to live with the consequences of sin, but he had a choice to harden his heart or be humble and repent. He hardened his heart, became angry, put Hanani the Seer in prison and oppressed some of the people.
I am afraid the story does not get any better. King Asa 4 years later was afflicted with a disease, the Bible says something very interesting. (Me being sick with a disease you tend to notice anything that talks about sickness). King Asa did not seek help from the LORD, but only from physicians. King Asa died two years later.

I hope that looking at King Asa's life has helped you, maybe if not now, hopefully when your next problem arises you can use King Asa as an example.

Closing Prayer
Dear Jesus
Father thank You for the day and I am thankful for the sunshine, birds and all the life that You place around me everyday. Father I pray today that I will see the good and the bad that You send my way and that I learn from each of those. I pray that I am able to utilize each to better Your kingdom.
I love You and I pray in Your Name, Amen

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