SIN AND SINNING
2 Chronicles 33

God is awesomely merciful. There are no words that are great enough to describe the grace of His forgiveness. One thing that is clear about God, no matter how terrible the sin is, as long as there is life, asking for forgiveness and turning away from sin to God is all that brings a new beginning. Manasseh, becoming king of Judah at age twelve, committed all the un-committable sins under heaven that was enough for God to terminate him before any chance for repentance. Today is the day for repentance because tomorrow might not be there, and you do not want to die a sinner. 2 Chronicles 33:2-6, “But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.” It is hard to remember what else Manasseh did not commit in the name of sin and sinning to God. Manasseh was living and ruling the land in sin sinning was the order of his throne and he went as far back as he could to pollute with sin, all that was on the ground before he became king. It is recorded that the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not listen. Are you on the path of sin? He is speaking to you now saying: to obey is better than what the consequence will bring forth. In the case of Manasseh, “Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. 12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.” (2 Chronicles 33:11-13) There was no need for Manasseh to going through what he went through; you do not want to live through the consequences of your sin. He will forgive you if you will stop today and turn to Him.

PURGE AND REPAIR
2 Chronicles 34

Josiah was eight years old when he became king in Jerusalem. For God to move, age was not a limitation. Yesterday and today it is still not a limitation. During the reign of Josiah, the whole land was brought back to serving and seeking God diligently when Josiah’s actions led to finding the book of the Law in the house of the LORD. Definitely, the book has never departed the house of the Lord, but the people have departed from the book. Many need to find the book today, and stop fiddling with the book. How long will it take you to locate yourself in the word of God? Are you willing to seek Him and allow His word to takeover your life? Before the book was founded, Josiah did some things, and that led to the founding of the Book of the Law, in the house of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 34:3, “For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images.” In his seeking and purging, he broke, and burnt all that does not represent God.. In seeking Him, you will have to destroy all that you were doing before that does not represent Him, so that you will begin to have a clear vision of Him whom you are seeking. 2 Chronicles 34:8, “In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.” After purging the land, he turned into to repair. Are you willing to find the word of God in your life? The word is near you and you have yet to find it because the vessel is not right. It needs: Purging and reparations. As a believer, you have been fiddling with the word of God long enough. It is time you begin to find the word, so it will present in you the power in His word. With all the purging and breaking down, the word was founded when Hilkiah announced, “…I have found the book of the of the Law in the house of the LORD…” (2Chronicles 34:15) As much as this applies to a whole land, it can also be personalized. Seek God, purge out all that does not represent God, position yourself for complete reparation and the Word will position itself in the center of your life.

FEAR OF GOD
Genesis 22:1-14

As an acclaimed child of God, have you at any point in time take a close look from the inside to the outside, to see if there is a sincere and genuine fear of God reigning and ruling your life. It is written in so many pages of Bible what the fear of God adds up to in the life of a believer. Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” If the kind of wisdom you are operating with is rooted in the fear of God, you are set for great things, and good things are ahead of you. Above all you are in this world, but not of this world. Godly wisdom cannot be substituted neither can it be faked. Do you truly fear Him? It is the wisdom gained in the fear of God that reveals the knowledge of the Holy One. Proverbs 19:23, “The fear of the LORD leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.” The fear of God will give life instead of death. It is clear that it is not possible to fear the Lord and to abide in dissatisfaction. With the fear of God, satisfaction in every area of your life will be evident in the life of a believer. The Word of God is true. One of the reasons why the Word is not working for so many that proclaim the Word is because many are not walking in the Word, and that makes it impossible for the Word not to work for them. The world is the problem, but not the word of God. The fear of God will also make anyone that fears Him to be in a position that is not locatable for any evil visitation. It was the fear of God in the life of many giants in the hand of God, through the Bible that made their testimonies unique ones. God testified that it was His fear that made Abraham what he was, “And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Genesis 22:12) The fear of God is what will make the difference in the life of every man that passes through the face of earth. The fear of God is a non-compromising issue, to know God is to fear Him, and to fear Him is to know Him. Do you actually fear Him or do you think that you fear Him? Ecclesiastes12: 13-14, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.” Ask for the enablement for His fear to overtake you in every area of your life. He is worth all of the honor and glory.

WRONG OPENING
Isaiah 39

Do you have an idea of the kind of door that has been open on your behalf by your parents, grandparents or great grandparents, or have you just been opening any door that is not right for your children or grandchildren? Hezekiah, King of Judah, was sick to the point of death before the prophet Isaiah showed up as a divine intervention, “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’”(Isaiah 38:1) Hezekiah needed to hear, that disorder in his house was the cause for his terminal illness. With the word of deliverance that located him, he quickly sought out the Lord’s face, and God responded on his behalf with healing. God added fifteen more years to Hezekiah’s life and also promised him, and his city, deliverance from the hand of the King of Assyria. What else could be better than God giving deliverance and preservation? Have you experienced God’s move lately? Are you experiencing any kind of God’s deliverance at the present? It is good to celebrate God’s miracles in a way that will not open the door for the adversary to operate against us. Hezekiah’s healing called for the attention of Merodach-Baladan, King of Babylon, to congratulate him. In response, Hezekiah was pleased by the King of Babylon and decided to opened up his house for the king of Babylon, “…And showed them the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.” (Isaiah 39:2) By doing this, Hezekiah exposed himself, and his generation, to the enemy’s hand. Think of how you celebrate, so it will not operate against you. Hezekiah’s opening show called for God’s response, “Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: 6 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. 7 ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” (Isaiah 39:5-7) As the Lord said, those that were in Hezekiah’s father’s house were gone as well as some of his sons because he had opened a door for his enemy to parade through like friend. As a child of the most high God, your only ground of celebration is before the most high God and not before any man. Go before Him, and ask for His mercy and deliverance in any area that your parent or grandparent might have opened a door for the enemy’s operation in your life. Also pray that you will not have any door of destruction opened up to affect your children and grandchildren.

WHICH GARMENT?
2 Chronicles 18

Anyone that hates telling the truth or hearing the truth will love telling lies or being told lies, because it is not possible to stay on a middle ground. There is no such thing as a middle ground, neither there is such thing as a halfway truth or halfway lie. Man can only reap what he sows, it is impossible to sow an orange and reap an apple. What kind of seed are you sowing in your life? Lying can only work for a period of time and it does not really matter how long it works, the truth shall prevail. Embracing the truth has its reward, and that is life in Christ Jesus. As well as not embracing the truth, which has its own reward, which is not having life in Christ Jesus. Truth is the way for life, lying is the way for death. Once King Jehoshaphat, of Judah, was supposed to go to war in support of King Ahab of Israel, against Ramoth Gilead. King Jehoshaphat did not want to go without knowing what would become of him in his support for the war. “Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the LORD today.””(2 Chronicles 18:4) By virtue of Jehoshaphat’s request, King Ahab went further and inquired from his prophets, and he was given a green light to go and prosecute the war. At the request of more enquiry by King Jehoshaphat, King Ahab responded, “So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”” (2 Chronicles 18:7) Do you sometimes operate with the mind of Ahab? King Ahab loves to be told lies because he was a hater and he loved to be told what he wanted to hear, but not what the Lord wants for him. Nothing possible could stop a liar when the time of destruction is up. Ahab did not listen, instead he added more to his lying character by, “And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.” (2 Chronicle 18:29) When the battle became intensified lying cannot prevail but truth. In the face of battle, “…Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God diverted them from him. “ (2 Chronicles 18:31) As for the liar, King Ahab, there was no way out for him in the heat of the battle but to die. Lying will cause you an untimely death physically or spiritually if not avoided. It is about time to change your garment to that of truth so that you may have life. One day, just one day, the truth will overcome, no matter how long lying has been prevailing.