Jul. 24, 2022

CREATING LASTING CHANGE  7-24-22

2 Kings 22:1-2 ¹ Josiah was eight years old when he became king… ² He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. 
 
 2 Kings 23:25 ²⁵ Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did--with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength… 

2 Chronicles 34:3-7 ³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols and cast images. ⁴ Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces…and smashed the Asherah poles, the idols and the images. These he broke to pieces and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and so he purged Judah and Jerusalem… ⁷ he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles and crushed the idols to powder…Then he went back to Jerusalem. 

Questions for CREATING LASTING CHANGE:

1. What needs to be TORN DOWN, SMASHED, or CRUSHED to Powder? 

Hebrews 12:1 ¹ Therefore…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 

Galatians 5:7–9 ⁷ You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? ⁸ That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹ “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 

2 Chronicles 34:14 ¹⁴ …Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses… ¹⁸ And Shaphan the secretary read from it in the presence of the king. ¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes. ²⁰ He gave these orders… ²¹ “Go and inquire of the Lord for me… about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written in this book.”

2. Are you Willing to use GOD’S WORD as a GUIDE?

2 Chronicles 34:22–28 ²² Hilkiah and those the king had sent with him went to speak to the prophet Huldah… She lived in Jerusalem… ²³ She said to them… ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people-all the curses written in the book... ²⁵ Because they have forsaken me… ²⁶ Tell the king of Judah… ²⁷ Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God… I have heard you, declares the Lord. 

3. Have you given anyone the FREEDOM to Shoot STRAIGHT with you? 

2 Chronicles 34:29–33 ²⁹ Then the king called together all the… ³⁰ people of Judah… He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant... ³¹ The king… renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands… with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book. ³² Then he had everyone… pledge themselves to it… ³³ As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord.

4. Have you been TRYING TOO HARD, instead of TRAINING?

1 Corinthians 9:24–25 ²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

1 Corinthians 9:26–27 ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.