Don't Put Off building the Walls till tomorrow…

Cardiff Castle, in Wales! Spring of 2012

Tomorrow may be too late!

I guess I can't seem to get away from the whole "Fortification topic"…although this was not planned! But I've been studying King Asa again (and King Jehoshaphat as well) and something that they did I think is so significant for us today. And it goes right along with what I've been sharing the last week or so… (Forgive me if I've shared this already, but it bears repeating!)

Let's read the passage together, and I'll highlight the parts that I really want to emphasize:

"And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God: For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest. Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered. And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valor." 2 Chron. 14:2-8

Of course, this whole passage is simply loaded! But what I think is so significant here is that Asa used the time of peace and prosperity that God gave to seek the Lord, to tear down the altars and the idols, to seek God and to obey Him, and to strengthen his walls and his cities. 

I'm looking at this all from a completely spiritual perspective of course. But how often throughout history has a time of war and trouble come upon people only to find them unprepared. Suddenly, frantically, they rush to prepare themselves, to buy the supplies they need, the extra OIL that they don't have, to gain that relationship with Christ. But if we wait till trouble strikes us, just like the sleeping foolish virgins, it could be too late. We need to prepare now!!!!! We need to be building strong spiritual fortification around our lives now, building strong characters now, overcoming sinful habits and selfish attitudes and lifestyles now, and most IMPORTANTLY learning to trust in Jesus as our Savior now!!! Otherwise, when the storm hits us, we won't be prepared to stand! Like most of the world, and most of the "pretenders in Christianity," we will fall, and we will be overcome. 

But if we are WISE…we will be prepared before the hard times come. We have peace now. (At least in America. We still have a semblance of religious freedom, although we are losing that fast, especially by what I've been hearing lately regarding our military.) But we still have peace, let us use this time of peace to become strong for Christ!

This is my Morning Sonshine for today! :-)

As the Bible says, "Work while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work!" John 9:4

Review:

• Bible Thought: I feel an increasing urgency in my heart that we don't have long left to prepare ourselves for the Spiritual attacks that are coming against Christianity. But we've been giving warning, the Bible has told us. So let us prepare!
• Blessing: So thankful again for all that God has given us to prepare. 
• Battle: The battle will come, of course, but no matter what comes, when the hard times hit, and when the enemy strikes, we don't trust in our preparations… just like Asa (read 2 Chron. 14:11) we trust in God.