Sister Brenda Wednesday Evening 10/17/12
The children of Israel were forbidden to sacrifice in the
high places and were to worship at only one altar. Anything in our life that is a high place
will hinder us from serving God. We need
to be consecrated and sold out and not hang onto anything. I don’t want to fail to do the whole perfect
will of God in my life. I want
everything that should be torn down to be torn down.
2Ki 12:1 In the seventh year of Jehu Jehoash began to
reign; and forty years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
2Ki 12:2 And Jehoash did that
which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein
Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
2Ki 12:3 But the high places were not taken away: the
people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
Jehoash had a good testimony, but the high places were not
taken away. The high places were
something that needed to be taken care of but was not taken care of by this
king.
2Ki 14:1 In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king
of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah.
2Ki 14:2 He was twenty and five years old when he
began to reign, and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name was Jehoaddan of
Jerusalem.
2Ki 14:3 And he did that which
was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father:
he did according to all things as Joash his father did.
2Ki 14:4 Howbeit the high places were not taken away:
as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.
Joash was another young man that did that which was right in
the sight of God yet the high places were not taken away.
2Ki 15:1 In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam
king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.
2Ki 15:2 Sixteen years old was he when he began to
reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
2Ki 15:3 And he did that
which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his
father Amaziah had done;
2Ki 15:4 Save that the high places were not removed:
the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.
Every time we don’t take down a place that is a problem to
us we are leaving a stumbling block in the way for us and for other people
too. It must have been a real challenge
to remove these high places. They
obviously wanted to do what was right but maybe this was the hard job.
There may be things in our lives that are a challenge, maybe
they are a secret thing. We cannot
afford to leave anything in our lives that would hinder us or hinder others.
2Ki 17:9 And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were
not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all
their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
2Ki 17:10 And they set them up images and groves in
every high hill, and under every green tree:
2Ki 17:11 And there they burnt incense in all the high
places, as did the heathen whom the LORD
carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to
anger:
2Ki 17:12 For they served idols, whereof the LORD had
said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
2Ki 17:13 Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and
against Judah, by all the prophets, and by
all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I
commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
2Ki 17:14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but
hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe
in the LORD their God.
In myself I thought, “That is ridiculous, there is nothing
in my life that I would worship.” No,
but maybe there is a high place in our life that is not sinful or wrong but robs
us of our time. There are some things
that are not sinful but if we override the checks, they will rob us of the
power and Spirit of God. We want to have
the fullness of God in our lives and have the power of God.
There have been things in my life in the past that robbed me
of the power of God. My challenge
tonight is for us to think about this thing of having a high place and be very
careful. They were not worshipping
according to the pattern but were doing things their own way.
Cain and Abel: Cain’s high place was that he grew fruits and
vegetables and he determined that he was going to sacrifice them. Yet it wasn’t what God wanted; God wanted a
blood sacrifice. Did you ever get blood
from a turnip or an apple?
The high places may have been a form of worship from the
past that they incorporated into what had been taught them as true worship. It might have been a form that they
endeavored to keep as they served God.
They had the form that was not pleasing.
God help each one of us to make sure that we don’t leave a high place
unremoved.
God was kind and gentle with Cain. When Cain was upset that He didn’t accept his
sacrifice, He said, “If you will do what is right then you will be accepted, if
not then sin lies at the door.” Cain had
an arrogance and wanted to do things his own way.
We may be this way and want to do things our own way. If so, God will put his finger on it and say,
“This is not the way that we do things.”
If we will be humble then we will be accepted. Cain could have gone and gotten a lamb, but
he was sassy and smart toward God. God
help us to be humble. God loves us and
doesn‘t want any of us to mess up or be lost.
Cain went on and sin grew.
He murdered Abel. Because He
didn’t take care of the first problem where he was out of order then he got
worse and farther away from God. The key
to all of us having the high places taken down out of our life and having power
with God and doing things right is for us to be humble.
All we can do is walk in what we know to do. There are things in our lives that God hasn’t
put His finger on yet and we are right in the sight of the Lord if we are doing
all that we know to do. Give others
liberty and let God do the work. There
may be things that they are not accountable for yet.
2Ki 18:1 Now it came to pass in the third year of
Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that
Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2Ki 18:2 Twenty and five years old was he when he
began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's
name also was Abi, the daughter of
Zachariah.
2Ki 18:3 And he did that
which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that
David his father did.
2Ki 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the
images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that
Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to
it: and he called it Nehushtan.
2Ki 18:5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that
after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
2Ki 18:6 For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his
commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
2Ki 18:7 And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and
he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
Don’t you want this written on your grave stone? “He did that which was right in the sight of
the Lord.”
It goes on in this reading to tell of the troubles that
Hezekiah had with the other kings. There
were accusations and people made fun of Hezekiah.
2Ki 18:36 But the people held their peace, and answered
him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
When we are being falsely accused sometimes we have to just
be quiet.
2Ki 19:14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand
of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the
LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
2Ki 19:15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and
said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between
the cherubims, thou art the God, even
thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
2Ki 19:16 LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open,
LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent
him to reproach the living God.
Whatever the attack or plan of the enemy we can lay it out
before the Lord. God will help His
people. God did bow His ear down. He was listening He heard. We are on the winning side with God. When we cannot figure things out if we will
serve Him with all our might and be faithful then He is on our side.
Isa 59:1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened,
that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
God’s arm is not shortened or shriveled up so that He cannot
reach to where we are. Have faith in God
that He will do what He said. God’s ear
is not heavy. God doesn’t have just a
one track mind. He hears us.
We are living in a day when we need God’s wisdom. There are situations in our own families that
are hard and are extreme situations. We
must have the power of God in our lives.
We cannot afford to hang onto anything and be less than 100% sold out
and serving God.
We’ve got to make it to heaven. We don’t want to miss it. We cannot allow an old bitter attitude to
keep us from hanging onto God. We must
put our best into it and tear down anything in our lives that would hinder us.
2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all
thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
This is the secret.
Let us love God with all our heart, more than any high place or secret
thing that would keep us from doing right.
1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him.
He told us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and
strength.
Isa 64:4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear,
neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what
he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
We must love and we must wait sometimes. Have faith and know that He will answer and that
it will be in time.
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind.
We want to do this.
The word ‘might’ also means all our understanding. All we can do is walk in all the light that
we know.
May 8th
The
patience of faith
Because thou hast kept the word of
My patience. Rev. 3:10.
Patience is more than endurance. A
saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an
archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and
strains, and every now and again the saint says—‘I cannot stand any more. God
does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets
fly. Trust yourself in God’s hands. For what have you need of patience just
now? Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith.
“Though He slay me, yet will I wait for Him.”
Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but
robust vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot
see Him just now, you cannot understand what He is doing, but you know Him.
Shipwreck occurs where there is not that mental poise which comes from being
established on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the heroic
effort of your life, you fling yourself in reckless confidence on God.
God has ventured all in Jesus Christ
to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him.
There are spots where that faith has not worked in us as yet, places untouched
by the life of God. There were none of those spots in Jesus Christ’s life, and
there are to be none in ours. “This is life eternal, that they might know
Thee.” The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has
to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance,
a glorious opportunity for seeing marvellous things all the time. God is
disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.
God didn’t ask if he would find innocency or greatness, but
he asked “Shall I find faith?” We have
no reason to not hold confidence in God.
He has never failed.
[1]Chambers,
Oswald: My Utmost for His Highest : Selections for the Year. Grand
Rapids, MI : Discovery House Publishers, 1993, c1935, S. May 8
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