Good Morning! - 2010.09.02 - 2Chronicles 15:2 - With You With Him

Good Morning!

And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa,

and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with

him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him,

he will forsake you.  (2Chronicles 15:2)

Yesterday as Barbara and I were having our morning devotions the above highlighted phrase came to mind. I had tucked it away many years ago but had forgotten where it was found. The LORD is with you, while ye be with him;

We should not look at the above verses removed from their setting. The people had forsaken God and were reaping bad times. Really bad times! Some had begun to pray and God had begun to respond by sending them the Prophet Azariah who had a message for them. He put it on the line. If they wanted God to help them, they would have to get off the fence and be on God's side. What a great encouragement this is and what a great reminder of their responsibility toward God! It applies no less today for you and me.

Encouragement of Azariah, The Prophet. McGee, the radio Bible teacher also puts it on the line and it may offend some preachers today. "On the road to revival there are three bridges which must be crossed. We come now to the first bridge, which is a knowledge of the Word of God.

"The tragedy of the hour in our day is that there is not enough Bible teaching in the church. I say this very kindly, but we do not need more preachers. You can buy them like bananas, by the dozen. Bible teachers are few and far between; yet they are needed. And they were needed in Asa's day. They did not have a teaching priest. They had priests and Levites—they were knee-deep in priests and Levites—but they did not have a teaching priest. Consequently they were without the Law, without the Word of God." Is McGee too hard on them and on us today? Let's look at the word-for-word text that follows our text in blue.

Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.  But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. 

 

And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.  And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity. 

 

Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.  (2Chronicles 15:3-7)

 

This last verse strikes me hard! It has to be addressed to individuals. It is the individual who has hands. It is the individual who applies his or her heart to work. It is the individual who will be rewarded. But in the time of great national trouble, the individual is cut off and isolated from the public picture. It was true in Elijah's day. The great prophet of God thought he was the only one in Israel who cared about God or who was taking things to heart or who was praying daily with a broken spirit. God finally told Elijah about the seven thousand who had not bowed their knees to Baal (1Kings 19:18).

 

So it is today. You may think you are the only one who sees the great moral decline of America and the only one who fears the destructive consequences of God's judgment upon America. But, my friend, I believe at this point in time, there are many thousands of people in America who know God and are bowed in their spirits daily in prayer before God and are praying for an outpouring of the Spirit of God. Be encouraged to seek God with a bowed heart, a bowed head, a bowed knee or however you want to pray. What God is looking for is a bowed heart—a bowed spirit.

 

If you want to do further study in your Bible, here is an excellent study guide from the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge. These references are not live links. You will need to look them up.

 

2Ch 15:2 

 

Hear ye me: 2Ch_13:4, 2Ch_20:15, 2Ch_20:20; Jdg_9:7; Psa_49:1-2; Isa_7:13; Mat_13:9; Rev_2:7, Rev_2:11, Rev_2:17; Rev_2:29, Rev_3:6, Rev_3:13, Rev_3:22

The Lord: 2Ch_13:12, 2Ch_32:8; Deu_20:1; Jam_4:8

if ye seek him: 2Ch_15:4, 2Ch_15:15, 2Ch_33:12; Isa_55:6-7; Jer_29:12-14; Mat_7:7-8

if ye forsake: 2Ch_12:1-3, 2Ch_24:20; 2Ki_21:14; 1Ch_28:9; Rom_11:1-2; Heb_10:38, Heb_12:25

 

 

Our text is a great verse to memorize and to live by. Ω

 

This article can also be viewed at www.bibleliving.blogspot.com

 

To be removed from this mailing list, please click here. In the subject line type "remove."  ●To subscribe to this and other Encourager mailings, click here. In the subject line, type "subscribe." Also, please give your email name, email address, U.S. Mailing address, & phone  number.. ●Please set your spam system (contact list) to accept  encourager@biblewalking.com and  dan@dancarr.org.   ●Thank you for accepting our mail and passing it on. Photos: Microsoft Clip Art