King Asa gathered the people. In 2 Chronicles 15:12  it says that they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, “…with all their heart and with all their soul.” Verse 13 says that those who would not seek the Lord were put to death! 

In the next scene Asa entered into a treaty with the king of Syria. The Lord sent a seer. 2 Chronicles 16:7 says, “…Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God…” Then in verse 8 the Lord reminded him that when he relied on the Lord, the Lord defeated his enemy. 

Verse 9 says, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly…”

Asa’s story is a great reminder for us. We get distracted when we take our eyes off of the Lord and look to man for help. Psalm 118:8 says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”

I recently read about Asa. There was Solomon, then his son Rehoboam, Abijah, then Asa. They were all kings in Judah. An Ethiopian army came out against them. Asa and his army were greatly outnumbered. 

2 Chronicles 14:11 says, “And Asa cried out to the Lord…Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against us.”

Verse 12 says, “So the Lord struck the Ethiopians…” Verse 13 says, “…So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army…”

Then the Lord sent a prophet to Asa. 2 Chronicles 15:2 says, “…The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” When Asa heard those words, he took courage and removed the abominable idols. 

I was reading a biography of John Williams. 1796-1839. I was so delightedly surprised when I read this one account, that I jumped to my feet and praised the Lord. Oh! He is so amazing. His love reached those who never saw a white man before, nor knew anything about Jesus’ death.

John and his wife were sent out by the London Missionary Society to the Polynesian Islands. There were fierce warriors and cannibals who sacrificed their children to the many gods they worshipped.

After successfully planting the gospel in the hearts of the Polynesians, missionaries were raised up from the natives to take the gospel to other islands. They went to a Samoan island. Paddlers in a canoe headed towards the ship. They shouted, “We knew you would be coming.” John asked a native missionary to ask how.

Here’s the answer. Their dying chief said these words, “I am leaving you now, but very soon a great white chief will come. He will cause the worship of spirits to cease in Samoa, and you shall know the One Great Spirit.” Psalm 19:7!!

Isaiah 55:3 says, “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live.” Incline means to listen favorably. John 14:6 says of Jesus, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” All that we need is to be found through our intimate communion with Him.

In John 5:39-40 Jesus addressed the Jews. It says, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you  are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

John 10:10 says, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” I love Ephesians 3:20. It says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”

Inclining our ear is a posture of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “…for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Do you pay attention to what your thoughts are? Our thoughts are formed from what we believe in our hearts. When we emotionally dwell on negative things from our past, we have not believed a vital truth.

We need to lay the brick-foundation of 2 Corinthians 5:17 in our heart. It says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” All means everything without exception. Five minutes ago is our past.

I have learned how necessary it is to speak to myself when I start to rehearse something negative. “Marilyn, that was yesterday. It has passed. Let it go.” What our thoughts dwell on shape our lives. 

Let’s use God’s hidden word to stop our fleshly reactions in their tracks. In that moment of recall, we can course correct. Jeremiah did. Lamentations 3:1-20 recorded his anguish. Verse 21 was the turning point. It says, “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.” Verses 22-24 were his declaration of God’s faithfulness. Verse 24 says, “…therefore, I hope in Him!”

In Matthew 14:28-31 we read the account of Peter walking on water. When Jesus bade him to come, he stepped out in faith. He walked on water to go to Jesus. Then he took his eyes off Jesus and onto what the wind was doing. In verse 31 Jesus asked him, “…why did you doubt?”

In 2 Timothy 1:7 Paul instructed his son in the faith that fear is a spirit. He declared, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” A sound mind has disciplined thought patterns.

In Matthew 6:34 Jesus commanded, “…do not worry about your life…” The Greek meaning is to be distracted, and a preoccupation with things causing anxiety, stress, and pressure.

What do you do when contrary thoughts assail your mind? Do you have a plan in place to counteract the thought? That is the power of memorizing. When God’s word is hidden in our heart, the Holy Spirit brings it to the surface ~ the exact truth we need to quench the lie.

What happens when we dialogue with thoughts of doubt, fear, or worry? We set off a cascade of thoughts that do not serve us well. They multiply rapidly and it is hard to shut them off. I remember way back putting my hands on my head and saying “Stop!” I had no clue what was happening.

In 1993 I found out that not all my thoughts were of my own origin. That was a golden life skill that I immediately adopted. Think about our creation. Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…”

We are created to live throughout eternity. Everyone. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “…He has put eternity in their hearts…” Jeremiah 1:5 says that He knew us before He formed us in the womb. Amazing.

Thoughts of doubts, fears, and worries that come into our minds are fiery darts programmed to attack our faith. Dialoguing with them allows penetration. They fall onto the ground of our hearts and begin to take root. From there the enemy sets up an internal stronghold.

James 4:7 is our mandate. It says, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” 1 Peter 5:9 says, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith…”

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

One of satan’s strategic weapons is to plant doubts. Why? They bring instability. James 1:5 says that when we need wisdom we can ask the Lord. Verse 6 says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind.”

The Greek word for doubting means a conflict within oneself, in the sense of hesitating, having misgivings, being divided in decision making, or wavering between hope and fear. When doubts come into your mind ~ rehearse truth. Read Psalm 77. Asaph doubted. Then he recalled truths about the Lord.

We are the only ones who control our thought processes. No one makes us think the way we do. That is why we have to stay attentive. Not every thought we have is of our origin.

The devil tempted Jesus over and over in the wilderness. Luke 4:13 says, “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”

We need to heed Peter’s warning. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” The devil is a liar. John 8:44 says that he is the father of it.

Therefore our recourse is in hiding God’s words of truth in our hearts. Memorizing those truths lays a foundation of checkpoints or barriers. God’s word in our hearts will not return void. Isaiah 55:11. It will instruct, guide, and direct us when satan sets traps to lure us. His agenda is always to destroy our faith. God’s hidden word is the shield for our faith. Memorizing is another form of spiritual warfare.

What do you do when doubts come into your mind? Dialoguing with them leads to disaster. Think of Eve in the garden. The first thing the serpent did was put doubt into her mind. Genesis 3:1 says, “…Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

What happened to Judas? John 13:2 says, “And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him.” Verse 27 says, “Now after the piece of bread, satan entered him…”

Ephesians 4:17 says, “Nor give place to the devil.” Giving a place creates an opportunity, leaving a door open, or giving up ground in our heart. The devil is always looking for an opportunity to penetrate our minds with a fiery dart lie.

Let us be like Jesus. John 14:30 says, “…for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” No hold. No hook. No power.  No entry point. 

The next time you have a negative thought ~ cancel it with your next thought being one of gratitude.