Cancel-Proof - Part 1

2 Chronicles 16:9a “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him

 

When God finds that person whose heart is loyal to Him, He blesses them. 2020 was the “cancelled” year. Vacations and trips got cancelled, schools got cancelled, dining out and in-person church got cancelled, cruising and movie theaters got cancelled, sports got cancelled, and even Disneyland got cancelled. 2020m was rough. We all had our lives upended by these cancellations and upheavals. We kno0w that 1010 was the cancelled year, but what about 2021? Year 2021 does not need to be cancelled. You can have a cancel-proof plan.

 

2 Chronicles 15 “The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. For a long time, Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.” As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord. And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. They sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around. Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

 

Now how does this Bible story help us to develop cancel-proof plan for 2021? Well, the first thing that Asa did when times were uncertain was that he made sure to get his own house in order. For 2021, plan to get your own house in order. The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you. When we choose to follow God, the more of His blessings we’ll experience in our lives. In light of the New Testament, we understand that the Spirit of God is always with Believers. Jesus came t live the perfect sinless life that we were meant to live, to suffer the punishment for sin that we deserve, to die the death on the Cross that we deserved to die, and to rise from the grave, that we should not perish in Hell but have ever-lasting life in heaven with the Lord.                                                   

 

 Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on cancel-proofing our life in the next post.

In Christ, Brian