2 Chronicles 34:1,  Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.  He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father  David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

I absolutely love reading the Old Testament as much as I do the New Testament!  I am one of those people who could sit and listen to an older person tell stories from when they were young all day!  I even brought that up when I was praying the other day that I sure pray that we will get to just sit and listen to God tell about things He did before “the earth”…. Anyhow, that is, I am certain part of the reason I can read and reread the stories in the Bible over and over and it just never gets old to me!  Sometimes reading Kings and Chronicles is like an emotional roller coaster ride because one king will follow God and the next one doesn’t and whether or not they do and to what extent they do affects the entire nation of Israel!  It’s exciting when they follow and serve God because the entire nation is blessed and so sad when they are evil because even the children pay the price.

We have the same choices every day of whether we will whole heartedly follow God or do our own thing.  We have the choice of standing for what God says is right or going with the flow or just becoming complacent.  Satan is after you, your family and your nation.  There’s a serious spiritual war going on and we need to be on our knees and in The Word of God so we are equipped for the battles that come our way.  We need to fervently pray for our pastors too.  Satan knows that his time is short and he takes it very seriously because he wants to destroy as much as he can while he still can.  We somehow seem to have watered down the spiritual battles going on and that is the worst thing we can do.  If we were in a war and our military went in and decided to ignore that there was a battle surrounding them and they just went about their everyday lives without any concerns they would die.  

When the kings and people in the Old Testament chose God and served Him whole heartedly they prospered and lived in victory.  God’s mercy is so amazing that He was eager to see them turn from sin and follow Him.  His love for us is so amazing and He wants His best for us but it can only be found in following Him and leading others to Him.  If we want change then we need to be on a mission to share the Gospel (kindly ~ don’t think that beating them over the head about sin is going to win them over).  You know, a little kindness and the love of God shining through you will draw more people to God than harsh judgmental words.We need to take stands in our schools etc., and we need to do it without backing down about what is right and wrong and fight for the children, but that is different than dealing with an individual who needs to know Jesus.  The Bible even lays out the difference between dealing with believers and non-believers.  But everything we do should reflect Him and His desire for no one to die in their sin.  We need to pray for Him to love others through us.  There’s so much hurt and anger out there ~ they need God’s love to draw them to Him so He can heal their brokenness.  We are not the Holy Spirit so it is not our job to try to convict someone else of the sin in their life we need to be the example of how to live Godly lives that ooze His love!  Allow God to change their lives.  

Everyone wants change in the world and that will only be found in Jesus.  We need to be His hands and feet so they will see Him.  It’s all about Him and what He did on the cross for each and every one of us.  Ask Him to show you today any changes you may need to make and ask Him to give you a passion for His word and in your prayer life.  Seek Him with your whole heart and allow Him to guide you into all He created you to be!