In 2 Chronicles 25 Amaziah became king. He was the son of Joash who started well, but did not finish well. In verse 20 it says, “But Amaziah would not heed, for it came from God, that He might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought the gods of Edom.”

Judah was defeated by Israel because they defected. The Lord masterfully orchestrated their downfall. Then Uzziah became king of Judah. He was 16. 2 Chronicles 26:4-5 says, “And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord…as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.”

Verse 16 says, “But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction…” He died a leper. Jotham reigned in righteousness in his place. Verse 6 says, “So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.”

After him was Ahaz. He was evil. 2 Chronicles 28:22 says, “…King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord…” Yet his son after him, Hezekiah was righteous. He righted the wrongs of his father.

I recently had a mentee who wanted me to affirm her coping skills. They were all a frenzy of fleshly declarations. I told her about quoting Scripture as a faith affirmation. Her answer was, “I’m not able to just think about Scriptures.”

Scripture is our powerful weapon. 2 Corinthians 10:4. 2 Peter 1:4 says, “By which have been given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature…” When we affirm the promises that God has given us through His word, He hears faith coming from our hearts.

Speaking His promises will anchor our mind, will, and emotions. Quoting Scripture is how Jesus defeated the devil’s suggestive temptations. Luke 4:4-12. 

Hebrews 11:1 says, ‘Now faith…” Faith is present tense. We do not live by our faith from past trials. We need fresh, vital, now faith in this trial. What tries and purifies our faith? Our trials.

Hebrews 12:11 has a qualifier. Our trials produce the fruit of righteousness, “…to those who have been trained by it.” Embracing our trials takes NOW faith.

Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” That is a promise backed by the Lord who cannot lie. Titus 1:2.

Our progressive sanctification is the outworking of what He has begun. Paul chided the Galatians for relying on their flesh. Galatians 3:1 in the J. B. Phillips. It says, “O you dear idiots of Galatia, who saw Jesus Christ the crucified so plainly, who has been casting a spell over you?”

In verse 3 he wrote, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”

Verse 5 says, “Therefore, He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

We know from Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing the word. 2 Peter 1:3 says that we have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness.  All. No exception.

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.