{"id":34933,"date":"2025-03-04T22:00:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T05:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=34933"},"modified":"2025-02-25T17:52:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T00:52:11","slug":"1-kings-15_9-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-kings-15_9-24\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Let Your Past Define You"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Kings \u00a015:9-24\u00a0 \u00a0 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Kings 15:9-24.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

1 Kings 15:9-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah,
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Asa did what was right in the eyes of the\u00a0LORD, as his father David had done.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his fathers had made.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0all his life.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He brought into the temple of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a09-15:\u00a0 These verses summarize the long 41 year reign of Asa king of Judah.\u00a0 Previously, for three consecutive generations, the kings of Judah (Solomon, Rehoboam and Abijah) fell headlong into idolatry.\u00a0 So when Asa, Abijah\u2019s son, comes on the scene as king of Judah, he is a breath of fresh air.\u00a0 Notice that when the author of 1 Kings summarizes Asa\u2019s reign, the author differentiate Asa from his idol-worshiping father by not even mentioning in verses 9-15 that Asa was Abijah\u2019s son.<\/p>\n

What I love most about Asa is that he deliberately chose not to follow the evil practices of the generations before him.\u00a0 His father Abijah was an idol worshiper who did not follow the Lord.\u00a0 His grandmother Maacah was as well.\u00a0 Yet Asa did not allow his past to define his future.\u00a0 He did not let his ancestors’ idolatry determine his relationship with God.\u00a0 Rather Asa took deliberate steps to remove idolatry not just from his own life but from Judah as a whole.\u00a0 Verse 14 says “Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life”.<\/p>\n

Likewise, don’t let the past define you.\u00a0 You may not have come from a Christian background.\u00a0 Your ancestors before you may not have followed the Lord wholeheartedly.\u00a0 But don’t let that determine your future.\u00a0 You can be an amazing worshiper of the Lord and a powerful leader in God’s kingdom.\u00a0 That is God’s destiny for you!<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kings 15:16-24 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the\u00a0LORD’s temple and of his own palace. He entrusted it to his officials and sent them to Ben-Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah and all Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah–no one was exempt–and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using there. With them King Asa built up Geba in Benjamin, and also Mizpah.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As for all the other events of Asa’s reign, all his achievements, all he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? In his old age, however, his feet became diseased.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Asa rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David. And Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 16-24: Here we see how Asa forms an alliance with Ben-Hadad king of Aram to help him fight against Baasha king of Israel.\u00a0 It is tragic that whereas Israel and Judah were at one time one country and one kingdom together, they are now divided against each other and forming alliances with other nations so to defend against one another.\u00a0 \u00a0Still, here we Asa leveraging the power of partnership.\u00a0\u00a0When you’re up against an enemy that is too strong for you, it helps to have an ally who can help you fight<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Is there a problem that is too big for you to solve on your own?\u00a0 You don’t have to fight alone.\u00a0 God is with you.\u00a0 Pray and ask God to help you find the right people who can partner with you in fighting your battle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, thank You for Asa, how he did not allow his past to define his future, and how he used the power of partnership to his advantage when facing an enemy that was too strong for him to beat alone.\u00a0 May I do the same, not allowing my past to define my future.\u00a0 May I take real, practical steps to remove idolatry from my life.\u00a0 And may I make the most of the relationships You have given to me so that I can experience more victory over the enemy.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Kings 15:9-24.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

1 Kings 15:9-15 (NIV)
\n9\u00a0\u00a0In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah,
\n10\u00a0\u00a0and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
\n11\u00a0\u00a0Asa did what was right in the eyes of the\u00a0LORD, as his father David had done.<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a09-15:\u00a0 These verses summarize the long 41 year reign of Asa king of Judah.\u00a0 Previously, for three consecutive generations, the kings of Judah (Solomon, Rehoboam and Abijah) fell headlong into idolatry.\u00a0 So when Asa, Abijah\u2019s son, comes on the scene as king of Judah, he is a breath of fresh air.\u00a0 Notice that when the author of 1 Kings summarizes Asa\u2019s reign, the author differentiate Asa from his idol-worshiping father by not even mentioning in verses 9-15 that Asa was Abijah\u2019s son.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34933"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34936,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34933\/revisions\/34936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}