As I was reading this passage God really spoke to me. I pray that God speaks to you as well:
2 Chronicles 14
King Asa
1 Abijah died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Asa became the next king. For ten years into Asa's reign the country was at peace. 2-6 Asa was a good king. He did things right in God's eyes.He cleaned house: got rid of the pagan altars and shrines, smashed the sacred stone pillars, and chopped down the sex-and-religion groves (Asherim). He told Judah to center their lives in God, the God of their fathers, to do what the law said, and to follow the commandments. Because he got rid of all the pagan shrines and altars in the cities of Judah, his kingdom was at peace. Because the land was quiet and there was no war, he was able to build up a good defense system in Judah. God kept the peace.
Asa "Cleaned House"... As I prepare to go on my mission to Thailand I was reminded that I need to make sure I have "Cleaned House"; to make sure that I have not built up any altars or shrines to something other than God in my life. The first thing I thought of when I was reading that is that it cost Asa something to do this. He had to take laborers and resources to rid the country of these shrines.
The next thing I saw is that because he removed these things and centered the country on God there was peace. Just as we receive peace when we remove the shrines and focus our life on God.
Finally, he was able to build up a good defense system. Due to having removed these shrines and having the peace that God gave, he was able to prepare for future battles so that he would not be as vulnerable.
Wow! So later on in our lives when the temptations come our defenses are built up so that we will have a greater position in the battle.
I prayed to God to search my heart to see if there were any shrines that I needed to remove before I go to Thailand, so that I may be fully prepared... When I pray these things and am in tune to God, I am expecting to hear: "No son, your doing great, keep up the good work..." or at least to hear nothing... Well I didn't hear either of those, God said "Toys". "Toys?" I thought. I have been working on purging myself of things over the past few months so I thought surely this can't be, and tried to change the topic to something else; However the Spirit continued to persist, "Toys". So now I am trying to work out what that looks like, but I can tell you that is not what I wanted to hear.
If you really ask in faith and are willing to listen the Spirit will talk, just remember (as I forgot) when you pray to God and expect Him to want to deal with something YOU WANT Him to deal with, my experience is that He typically wants to deal with something else, and You won't want to deal with it, but that is the thing we need to submit before we can be filled more fully with His Spirit. Pray that I may submit the "Toys" in my life so that I may be more fully filled with His Spirit. Amen.
How are you doing with "Cleaning House"?
