Forsaking God

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2 Chronicles 15:2 Are You Seeking God?

He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” 2 Chronicles 15:2

People are always searching for something. Nearly everyday someone has misplaced something and cannot find it, but searches for it. Many are searching for meaning and purpose in their life or for reasons why things are the way they are. Some find what they are looking for, while many can never find it.

Azariah told Asa and all the nation that God would be found and be with them if they sought Him, but if they reject God, He will reject them.

While many people believe that there is a God out there, they also believe that one cannot really find Him or know Him. He is believed to be an elite God who stays hidden and only works behind the scenes outside the lives of individuals and unknowable.

Although God does not stand out in the open to be seen, He wants to be found. However, He only wants to be found by those who are actually seeking to find Him. God wants to be wanted by those who want Him.

People are often torn between wanting the world and wanting God. In this way they often forsake God in searching for the things of the world. Although this breaks God’s heart, He allows them to go their own way and rejects them.

Believers, who are truly seeking to find God and follow Him, will find Him. Instead of being split between the ways of the world and the ways of God, they will put their focus upon God alone and will find and know Him and be known by Him.

What are you seeking in this life? Seek only that which will last for eternity. The things of this world are only temporary and cannot truly satisfy. God can be found and can give you everything you need and more. Everything that God gives you, that are of importance, will last for eternity, not just a few years.

God wants a relationship with you, but only if you really want a relationship with Him. When you seek Him, He will be found by you.

Are seeking for God?

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will seek God with all of your heart and life; that God will be found by you; that you will have a relationship with God; that you will know that God desires to be with you; and that you will know God’s presence in your life.

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1 Kings 9:9 Why There May Be So Much Disaster

People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshipping and serving them–that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.’ 1 Kings 9:9

Every time a major disaster occurs affecting a large number of people, many will wonder why it happened. Almost immediately people will blame other people or God for what occurred. Some will blame others for the long-term effects of some action, while others blame for immediate choices made.

Seldom do people take responsibility and blame themselves for the disasters.

God told Solomon that he and the people must follow Him. If they don’t and follow other gods, He will bring great disaster on them, until the people of other nations will see and recognize that they left God, and He destroyed them.

It is sadly common for many who claim to be believers in Jesus to walk in sin and follow false gods more than following God. Sin is justified and accepted as good, twisting scripture to make it acceptable.

While God is patient and full of grace and mercy, there comes a point in which He will punish the choices of believers.

Communities or nations that begin to follow false gods as a whole and do not have true believers standing for God’s truth and ways, may begin to feel the judgement of God come upon them. He allows disasters to occur to try and get their attention back to Him so that He may forgive them and heal them of the disaster.

In the same way that Israel has experienced disasters for turning away from God, other nations have also experienced it and America is beginning to feel His strike against them. Believers need to stand strong and true for God and refuse to follow the false gods of this world to avert greater disasters.

You may be tempted at times to follow the false gods of this world–money, fame, sexual immorality, self-pleasure, or more. The world will do whatever it can to draw you away from God into its sinful pleasures that bring about death and destruction.

Focus your entire heart and life upon God and His ways. Do not allow the temptations pull you into sin and judgment. God will make a way for you out of temptation and provide more life than this world will ever offer.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will follow God alone with all of your life; that God will give you strength and direction to flee temptations to sin; that God will never have to bring disaster upon your life due to sin; and that the world will see you follow God.

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2 Chronicles 15:2 Seek And Find

Boys seeking

He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” 2 Chronicles 15:2 

Seeking someone out can be challenging. People move and travel all over the world. Once one loses contact with someone and they have moved, finding them again is often very difficult.

It can get even more difficult if the person does not want to be found. Over the years there have been wealthy people who have hidden for a time, not wanting to be found. Although with the internet, it is easier to find someone, it is still very difficult.

Asa had become king of Judah and led the people back to God. Azariah, a prophet, came to him and told him that if he seeks God, He will be found. He also said that as long as he was with God, God would be with him.

People like to have certain people around all the time. They do not like to be separated for anything, but separation does occur. Life happens and things change. God does not change or move.

While many people try to claim that God is not real, He is real. He cannot be found, unless one is seeking Him out. Unlike many people, God does want to be found by every person. God desires to have a close relationship with every person on the earth, regardless of one’s past.

Having that relationship is the reason why Jesus came to earth and died upon the cross. He made it able to cleanse a person of sin, so that he could be in the presence of God.

Just as with Asa, God is not hiding from you. He is right there next to you waiting for you to seek Him out. He will not force Himself upon you, but will wait for you to want Him. As soon as you begin seeking for Him, He will allow Himself to be found.

This opens the door to a great relationship that will last for eternity. Once you find Him, God will not leave you or forsake you. Only you can leave the relationship, God won’t leave it.

Take time today to seek God out. Make Him a part of every moment of every day.

I pray today that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will know the presence of God in your life; that you will continually seek for God; and that you will never forsake God. 

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Isaiah 1:4 Forsaking The Lord

Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. Isaiah 1:4

It is easy to stand on the side and see the sins of others, and then blame them for the conditions of a nation. All over the nation there are many Christians who are pointing fingers at the sins of others. They often state that the nation has become a sinful nation because of others.

Although it is true that the nation has become very sinful in many different ways, one cannot just blame others for this occurrence. In reality it is a group effort to cause a whole nation to become sinful and turn away from God. It is a process of individual people slowly turning away from God.

Many believers will say that they have not turned away from God. The question is: how many times has a person turned down being the witness God called him to be?

A nation is made up of people, individual people. It is individuals who cause a nation as a whole to follow God or reject Him. It is individuals who choose to allow sin to occur. It is individuals who refuse to be a witness of who Jesus is.

When a believer chooses to not be a witness for Jesus, he is causing someone else or the nation to continue to live in sin and reject God. Every believer must give every non-believer a chance to know God and choose or reject Him. Often many will keep quiet and make the choice for the other person.

In this way, many believers have turned their backs on God. This is where Isaiah says woe to that nation and its people.

You have to take a look at your own life. How are you doing at being His witness from day-to-day?

Are you willing to tell others about Jesus every time you get the chance?

Or are you keeping silent and not wanting to offend anyone?

One causes sin to continue, while the other is doing God’s will on this earth.

Are you in partnership with this world in causing great sin?

I pray today that you will be God’s witness every chance you get; that you will keep yourself from all sin; that you will tell everyone about Jesus; and that you will not turn your back on God.

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2 Chronicles 15:2 The Lord Can Be With You

He went out to meet Asa and said to him, ” Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” 2 Chronicles 15:2

Asa had become king of Judah and had led all the people back to God. He was staying very faithful to God. Azariah, under the influence of God’s Spirit, told Asa that God was with him as long as he remained with God. God would be found if He is sought out, but God would forsake them if He was forsaken.

People like to believe that God is always with them, and never leave them. There are some that look at the idea that God is everywhere, so God must be with them. Yet, the words of Azariah show something different. It shows that God can be with a person, but if He is not being sought out, He will not be found, nor will He be with that person. The requirement for God to remain with a person is that the person must be seeking Him.

God does not force Himself on a person. He allows each person to make a decision as to whether to follow Him or not. It is in God’s heart that every person would be willing to have a relationship with Him. That is the entire reason God sent His Son Jesus down to this earth to die on a cross–to have a relationship with each person.

Jesus said that He is standing at the door and knocking. He wants to enter into your life and spend time with you. Jesus is a gentleman who will not force His way into your life.

The good thing is that God will not be the first to leave the relationship with you. Jesus said He would be with you until the end of time. Even if you walk away from Him, He will still seek you out and try to draw you back. The difference is if you walk away from Him, you will no longer have His favor on your life.

Are you seeking God with all of your life?

Don’t leave Him, and He won’t leave you.

I pray today that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will not walk away from God; and that you will always seek out God.