Abundant Gift 35 [2 Chro 31:1-21] / Anne's Faith Column

 

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Abundant Gift 35

[2 Chro 31:1-21]

/ Anne's Faith Column

 

 

/ By pastor Priscilla

 

 

In accordance

with the king's command

to achieve a new spiritual

awakening,

 

 

 

the people of Judah,

who prospered greatly

by acting with one heart,

 

 

 

was willing to come to God

to serve him with

'abundant gift of thanks'.

 

 

 

"This is what Hezekiah

did throughout Judah,

doing what was good

and right and faithful

before the LORD his God.

 

 

 

In everything that

he undertook

in the service

of God's temple

 

 

 

and in obedience to the

law and the commands,

 

 

 

he sought his God and

worked wholeheartedly.

And so he prospered."

(2 Chron 31 : 20-21)

 

 

 

According to the

scriptures above,

 

 

 

the gifts offered for

spiritual revival

and religious reform 

were abundant,

 

 

 

and all those who offered

and managed the gifts had

precious experiences

of prospering.

 

 

 

Before this would happen,

King Hezekiah boldly

proclaimed the religious

reform.

 

 

 

The people

of the whole nation

obeyed the command

 

 

 

and, as part of it, they

immediately destroyed

the idols, and all of them

were united

 

 

 

and, surprisingly,

came to have time to

restore the Word of God.

 

 

 

As a result,

there was a wave

of change in the whole

country rapidly.

 

 

 

1. What made these

amazing things happen?

 

 

 

1) A person's determination

and courage provide

an opportunity to move

God as well as the

hearts of people.

 

 

 

Surprisingly,

the true awakening

coming from the

decisions of one leader

in the community

 

 

 

could transform

not only himself

 but also the lives

  of all the people.

 

 

 

And through this, each

one of them obtained

a valuable motive that

put them back to

their status

 

 

 

'God's chosen people'!

 

 

 

King Hezekiah

determined to seek

God again with a good

motive and good heart,

 

 

 

and he finally put his

plan into practice,

and this made God

so pleased.

 

 

 

After all, when a person

determines to do something,

if it is good and proper,

we can see that God is

pleased with it.

 

 

 

This is because

God's nature and

attributes are good.

 

 

 

Just as we ourselves

cannot pour new wine

in old wineskins,

 

 

 

we need to change

our thoughts and attitudes

for a profound change

and awakening of our lives.

 

 

 

And for this, it should be

preceded to have a

'good motive in our heart'

before God.

 

 

 

Therefore,

we cannot overlook

the need for courage for

our own decisions,

 

 

 

and each one of us need

to put it into practice

like 'Hezekiah'.

 

 

In order to achieve
spiritual awakening,

 

 

 

we must examine

closely to see if there

is anything higher

than God in our inner

beings. 

 

 

 

2) We must have

the sensitivity of a

spiritually awake leader.

 

 

 

We can guess that

King Hezekiah had

pondered for many years

about how to resolve

the serious conflict

between God and

his people.

 

 

 

 

That is, between

his unfaithful people

who had forgotten God,

 

 

 

and God who

waited patiently

for his chosen people

to return to him with

sincere repentance.

 

 

 

King Hezekiah,

who was spiritually

awake, felt strongly

that God would abandon

them sooner or later.

 

 

 

And in the end,

he realized urgently

that he had to take

special measures

as a leader of

the people.

 

 

 

Therefore,

he urged the people

to take part in the

religious reform,

 

 

 

and through

this movement,

they were able to regain

the Word of God

and the law,

 

 

 

and he eventually

led his people to restore

the relationship

 

 

 

between each one

of them and God

smoothly.

 

 

 

3) We need an attitude

to check on our spiritual

state all the time.

 

 

 

As Christians,

we acknowledge that

we belong to God,

 

 

 

but we must frequently

check whether we are

sincere enough to God

in our lives, based upon

our awareness and

concern of God.

 

 

 

On the other hand,

unlike our thoughts

toward God,

 

 

 

we should admit

that we are people

 

 

 

who have the habit

of returning to the

root of our sinful nature

so easily like a 'rubber band'

by the 'Law of Inertia'.

 

 

 

That's because

we are in the flesh.

 

 

 

In fact, we tend to lose

our heart due to our weak

and lacking faith in God,

 

 

 

and it may get us

into conflict and guilt.

 

 

 

We repeat the

unfaithfulness coming

from spiritual ignorance,

 

 

 

and we may be

wandering in life

   that is not improved.

 

 

 

In the end,

we gradually neglect

prayer and come to lose

our close relationship

with God, leaving

 only the form of faith.

 

 

 

Like Cain who was

finally abandoned

by God after living

a depleted life

in a series of dry

and cold lives,

 

 

 

 

we may become

the protagonists of an

unfortunate life who

leave God and go

 into wandering lives.

 

 

 

Therefore,

we must wake up

from spiritual sleep

caused by spiritual

stagnation,

 

 

 

and we must be born

again spiritually.

 

 

 

Furthermore,

we must become

children of God

who can proudly

call him 'Abba Father'

 

 

 

rather than a believer

who will receive a

'shameful salvation'. 

 

 

 

2. What attitude

 should we take?

 

 

 

1) Above all,

we must take off

the stereotyped

 consciousness.

 

 

 

2) We need to entrust

everything to God

the Holy Spirit,

obey him, and pray

 

 

 

with hot tears so that

each one of us may

be guided into our

own path.

 

 

 

A true spiritual awakening

must be accompanied

by complete repentance

and a corresponding

change of attitude.

 

 

 

That's why we need

to be always filled

with the Holy Spirit

 

 

 

so that our trust in God

can be completely

rooted in our faith.

 

 

 

3. Then, what is the gift

of thanks we should

  give to God today?

 

 

 

1) Just as the

Jewish people,

 

 

 

who had fallen and

behaved rudely

before God,

 

 

 

realized their mistakes

through the spiritual

awakening movement,

repented greatly,

 

 

 

and returned to God

to study the law,

we must all listen

to God's Word and serve

God with all our heart

 

 

 

and with all our soul

and with all our strength

and with all our mind,

 

 

 

and we must do our best

to serve our neighbors

  who haven't looked back.

 

 

 

2) Just as the zeal

of the leader and

the united heart

of God's people

 

 

 

who were moved

reached God

 

 

 

and the beautiful fruits

and abundant gifts of

thanks never ceased, 

 

 

 

we need to create

a new relationship

with God and restore it

by producing beautiful

things in the field of

our lives, today.

 

 

 

3) Lastly, we need to

fill in the fields where

we have not done our best

with the guidance of the

Holy Spirit

 

 

 

so that we may not 

 have lack of anything

as children who are

 moved by following

the Lord.

 

 

 

Prayer

 

 

 

 

Lord!

How should I go 

 to the Lord with

 abundant gifts worthy

of  God's grace?

 

 

 

How should I go

meet the Lord?

 

 

 

Lord!

Since we earnestly

desire to follow only You,

change us completely!

Amen.

 

 

 

 

2009/04/13

 

 

 

/ By Priscilla.