Steadfast in the Spiritual Battle: The Promise of Reward
2 Chronincles 15:7-8a
Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded. And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Obed the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land…
God needed Asa to remain strong in his stance against idol worship throughout the land. However, purging Israel of the many strongholds of false religion was no small feat. In fact, by the simple fact that Our Lord sent a prophet to encourage King Asa in the work tells us that he must have needed the encouragement. There were no literal wars going on in the land, but the spiritual battle raged on, and it had begun to take its toll. Imagine if you will the tidal wave of wreck and ruin that was held at bay from this season in King Asa’s rule and reign, simply because He was striving to please The Lord. The very fact that there was literal peace in the land was because King Asa was winning the battle on a much deeper level; he was winning the spiritual battle. Was he perfect? By no stretch of the imagination. But did he get Heaven’s attention? Absolutely! And no surprise that Hell also took notice, hence the reason for King Asa’s need of encouragement.
Now, what better way for God to encourage King Asa to carry on his spiritual warfare to victory, than by sending a man of God to give him a prophecy that his work would be rewarded? All of us at some point begin to wonder (even while walking with The Lord) if all of this spiritual warfare is ever going to pay off. If you have never been there, first thank God, and then get ready, because sooner or later you will. You see, spiritual warfare takes on a toll of its own, and one can soon become weary in well doing while waiting on all of the promises he stands upon to start manifesting themselves in noticeable and quantifiable ways on this side of Heaven. Furthermore, it is human nature to ease up on efforts where rewards seem to either be too far in the distance to wait, or completely out of site altogether.
This now brings me to my focus; to live by faith and not by sight is to live not seeing the end from the beginning naturally speaking. However, it IS to see the end from the beginning with the spiritual eye, BY FAITH. And when we need encouragement to carry on, all we need is a word from The Lord as a quick reminder that one day, sooner or later, we WILL be rewarded!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded. And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Obed the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land…
God needed Asa to remain strong in his stance against idol worship throughout the land. However, purging Israel of the many strongholds of false religion was no small feat. In fact, by the simple fact that Our Lord sent a prophet to encourage King Asa in the work tells us that he must have needed the encouragement. There were no literal wars going on in the land, but the spiritual battle raged on, and it had begun to take its toll. Imagine if you will the tidal wave of wreck and ruin that was held at bay from this season in King Asa’s rule and reign, simply because He was striving to please The Lord. The very fact that there was literal peace in the land was because King Asa was winning the battle on a much deeper level; he was winning the spiritual battle. Was he perfect? By no stretch of the imagination. But did he get Heaven’s attention? Absolutely! And no surprise that Hell also took notice, hence the reason for King Asa’s need of encouragement.
Now, what better way for God to encourage King Asa to carry on his spiritual warfare to victory, than by sending a man of God to give him a prophecy that his work would be rewarded? All of us at some point begin to wonder (even while walking with The Lord) if all of this spiritual warfare is ever going to pay off. If you have never been there, first thank God, and then get ready, because sooner or later you will. You see, spiritual warfare takes on a toll of its own, and one can soon become weary in well doing while waiting on all of the promises he stands upon to start manifesting themselves in noticeable and quantifiable ways on this side of Heaven. Furthermore, it is human nature to ease up on efforts where rewards seem to either be too far in the distance to wait, or completely out of site altogether.
This now brings me to my focus; to live by faith and not by sight is to live not seeing the end from the beginning naturally speaking. However, it IS to see the end from the beginning with the spiritual eye, BY FAITH. And when we need encouragement to carry on, all we need is a word from The Lord as a quick reminder that one day, sooner or later, we WILL be rewarded!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill