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Good Kings
When you start to separate yourself to Christ and really make Him the focus of everything you do, He begins to open doors that you never would have thought possible. I’ve always believed that if you “Put Him First” in all you do, everything will fall into place, and it’s true. God blesses those that seek His face and those that seek His purpose and those that seek His ways.
I’ve been reading through the Old Testament and about the time of the kings of Israel. There were some good kings and some bad kings. There were some kings that lived long and prosperous and others that lived their life in defeat. What separated the good kings from the bad kings? I’d go through each king and show you, but that would take forever and I know you don’t want to read a 200 page column, so I went through the books of the Kings and Chronicles and highlighted different traits and characteristics.
Good Kings:
He did what was right in the sight of the Lord…he broke down the sacred pillars of the temple of Baal and burned them…he removed the high places and cut down the wooden images…he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left…he tore his clothes and humbled himself before the Lord…he removed the altars of the foreign gods.
Bad Kings:
He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord…he walked in all the sins of his father…he did evil in the sight of the Lord….he served Baal and worshipped him…he provoked the Lord to anger…he took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord…he burned incense and burned his children in the fire according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out.
It’s really quite simple when you think about it. The good kings did what was right and the bad kings did what was wrong. I think we can relate because we have that opportunity everyday to choose whether we are going to seek God with all of our hearts or choose to follow our own ways. We have the opportunity everyday to choose if we’re going to walk in the Spirit or if we’re going to walk in the flesh.
There’s a scripture that sums it all up. II Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
God loves His people. He wanted what was best for the children of Israel. He gave them chance after chance to repent and come back to Him. Every new king that came to rule over Israel had the opportunity to turn from the wicked ways of his father or follow the ways of the kings of Israel. God loves us so much that He gives us that opportunity, too.
Are there high places in your life? Are there things that you are putting before God? Are your actions provoking God to anger? Are you walking in the law of the Lord?
You know the areas that keep you from serving God completely. If you’re reading this column I’m sure you know about God. You know that He has the ability to take you out of the deepest pit of despair. He has the power to resurrect your broken life and make you whole again. He has the authority to break any addiction and take you out of any situation.
All God asks of you is that you humble yourself, pray and seek His face and turn from your wicked ways. It’s then that He can heal your heart. It’s then that He can begin to make that change in you. It’s then that you can live a victorious life. It’s then that you can walk in the confidence of Christ Jesus and no weapon of the enemy that comes against you will prosper.
Let’s begin to walk in the ways of the “Good Kings” and tear down anything in our lives that exalts itself above the Name of Jesus. Let’s begin to do what’s right in the sight of the Lord.
w/muchluv,
geno
SIGN OUR GUEST BOOK OR GABE WILL BE SAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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