Title: Let's Live Centered on God
Contents
Title: Let's Live Centered on God
Bible: 2 Chronicles 17:1-6
2009.11.29.Day
What do humans live for? What is the center of my life? It is important to realize the essence of life.
If my religious life is to enjoy wealth and glory, then I am far from the essence. The glory of wealth is the result that follows when the essence is resolved. However, if you live simply for the sake of wealth and wealth, it is like pushing a stroller without children. It's like carrying a card with no balance. Essence Essence is important....
Today I am going to talk about Jehoshaphat, the 4th king of Israel. A sermon is a story, but it is not just a story. It is a story that contains the will of God. Furthermore, it is different from ordinary stories in that it is the proclamation of God's message to us here today.
David - Solomon - Rehoboam - Abijah - Asa - Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat He was a man who lived only God-centered. He is faithful to his essence. I hope that you too will live your life of faith centered on God. I bless you all who live faithfully to the essence of human beings.
Let's see how he stayed true to his essence.
1. Faith in Asking God
There are many crossroads in our life's journey. Which way to choose at that fork in the road is a very important issue. If he chooses the path well, he will have a successful and happy life. Otherwise, if he chooses the wrong path, it will lead to failure and lead to destruction. Life is a choice. Yangsan Mayor (Oh Geun-seop) took the wrong path again and finally went.
When we choose to do something in life, there is always something to do. What is that? is to ask. Collect information. Ask an experienced professional. What about those who are still unsure? I'm going to fortune-telling. They believe and trust what the shaman and fortune teller say.
But Jehoshaphat asked God.
“He walked in the way of David his father, and did not seek the Baals, but the God of his father…”
Dear saints,
If you want to choose the essentially right path at the fork in your life, be sure to ask God. God is the one who guides our lives.
praise
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want...
2. I kept the commandments of God with my whole heart.
“Will do his commandments…” “He walked in the ways of the Lord with all his heart”
God's commandments were given to us in the Word. It is God's commandment and word to give happiness and joy in the way of life.
That book is the Bible. Therefore, you only need to live according to the Bible. Then you keep the commandments. But many do not follow God's commandments. Everyone has gone astray, each goes his own way. Then you must be prepared for destruction.
Who keeps the commandments? Who listens well? Those who love God keep His commandments.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
“(Proverbs 8:17) I love those who love me, and those who seek me earnestly find me.”
Those who keep God's commandments and love God receive God's love.
He who loves his wife will listen to her, and he who hates her will not listen to her.
Who will God love? I love those who listen to God's Word. Do you want to put on God's love? Serve God with all your heart and obey His commandments.
3. They did not follow the practices of Israel.
"Israel" here refers to Northern Israel. Northern Israel is a people who have already left God. This is a country where Jeroboam rebelled, created a false God, hired false priests and false prophets, and left God, which has nothing to do with God. So Jehoshaphat did not follow the actions of Israel.
Israel here refers to the path of unbelievers who follow the laws of the present world and live according to the ways of the world. People who do not walk on the narrow road, but on the wide road. It refers to the saints who do not take up the cross and go away.
Although many Christians go to church and live a religious life, their way of life is still following the way of life of the world. So we do not receive blessings from God. Even though God's people have to live according to God's Word, how many people sin, wallow, and do evil things just like the people of the world, and live selfishly.
Beloved saints! Please live holy lives as God's people.
4. The idols have been removed.
“He walked in the way of the LORD with all his heart, and he also took out of Judah the high places and Asherah poles.”
Jehoshaphat did not remove all idols from himself. It was all removed from Judah.
Idols - Anything you love like God other than God is an idol.
Money, power, ego, and sometimes even parents, siblings, and children can all be idols. It is an idol that God thoroughly hates.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. The LORD your God is a jealous God, and he punishes the children for their sins against me, from father to son to the third and fourth generations; but he is gracious to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
So God sometimes tests me. Whether you really love me or an idol... That's why I asked Abraham to offer his children as a sacrifice.
I hope you get rid of all your idols.
He who loves riches more is not worthy of the Lord. He who loves his children more is not worthy of the Lord. It is not worthy of God to love anything in this world more than God. I hope you only love and follow God with all your heart.
5. The result is wealth and glory.
What is the result?
“Therefore the LORD established the kingdom out of his hand, and the multitudes of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, and he had great wealth and honor.”
The country will stand strong. There is no external intrusion. All the people bring gifts to Jehoshaphat. So Jehoshaphat was filled with wealth and glory. Hallelujah!
“Blessed is the man who delights in the law of the LORD, and meditates on his law day and night.”
“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; in all that he does, he prospers.”
The glory of wealth is the result, not the end. However, everyone lives with the goal of becoming wealthy and noble. It is a fruit that automatically follows if you serve God well, obey His Word, and live God-centered.
So what is our purpose? It is to glorify God.
Dear saints,
Like Jehoshaphat, I pray that you will have a good life of faith centered on God and that your life will be filled with wealth and glory.