— To uplift, inform and challenge —

Fellow Soldier,

Perhaps you’ve tried or been tempted by some of the plans purporting to enhance spirituality; be it 3-keys to dynamite prayer; 7-ways to a divine love life or 12-steps to deliverance from ... whatever ails you.  In other words, a packaged method to further your sanctification.  Included might be a slick offering promising “secrets” to greater Creator favor.  Maybe you’ve even been tempted to have a sin-snit or throw a pity-party because you hear others forever claiming victory heaped upon success ... while you (possibly with more talent, training and ability) hardly see a semicolon between struggles. H-mm? ... maybe?

Although us-ins yet know so little about the things of God, we can comment on the following with some confidence.  We pray it will encourage.

A Perfect Heart

Heart-set is the rudder of life and a key issue with God.

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (2Chron 16:9a).

Succeeding His father (Abijah) to the throne of Judah, Asa became the first of the religiously “good” rulers of the Southern Kingdom.  He immediately took action to pull God’s people out of idolatry and to build up the nation’s defenses.  Then, after 10 years of peace and prosperity, the huge Ethiopian/Libyan army attacked.  But, because of Asa’s trust in and steadfast allegiance to God, Judah miraculously prevailed. (2Chron 14)

The prophet Azariah met Judah’s home-bound victors to comfort and caution — spurring religious reforms, temple upgrades and confirming covenant with Him.  Then, because Asa’s heart was right with God, Judah enjoyed 20 more years of peace and prosperity, but Asa did not live happily ever after. (2Chron 15 & 16).

Asa’s Syrian bribe

What follows is a warning, especially to we who’ve been in Christ for some time.  By now, we might well have won great victories in Christ’s name, been commended by God for works of faith and possibly have made very impressive moral reforms.  Any and all of which can lead to a dangerous complacency or reliance on our own strength and devices; upon the arm of flesh.  It happened to King Asa after 35 years of righteous service.

In year 36, King Baasha of rebellious Israel (Northern Kingdom) was preparing to lay siege to Judah — in type, a re-play of the military threat of three decades earlier.  Rationally, we might expect seasoned Asa to confidently calupon God for wisdom, strength and deliverance.  He didn’t. Rather than seeking divine help, he went horizontally ... to man.  He bribed Syria (an enemy) to fight Israel.  This thwarted the siege and Judah was thereby spared.

Now, in the natural, this successful strategy looked like a victory for God and warranted another chevron on Asa’s sleeve.  not how God saw it!  In fact, it was a major loss for His chosen; for Asa in particular. Why? Well, bad enough Asa relied on an enemy for help, but worse yet — he looted the temple treasury to pay the protection fee.  However, the greater offense was that he did not seek God as when the Ethiopians and Libyans had attacked.  Underscoring the seriousness of divided allegiance, the Lord sent Hanani the prophet who called Asa to account (2Chron 16:1-10).  The prime issue being loyalty.

Perfect = Loyal

The spiritual truth here is basic: God is present and powerful in defense of His obedient followers, as He earlier declared: “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (Deut 20:1).  Imported into the New Testament, that truth (in part) reads: “Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. ... I will never leave you or forsake you” (Jas 4:7,8a;Heb 5b).

Contrary to common belief, when born-again, one is not “home free.” No; the longer and more prominently one serves the Lord, the more opportunity there is to fall.  Many an illustrious saint tragically fell into sin after years of gloriously walking with God: Solomon, David, Saul and Asa — to cite but four kings.  Today, Bakker, Paulk, Roberts, Swaggart and Tilton come to mind, among many lesser lights. Corrupting influences of success and power in the secular realm, do their ugly work within the church, as well.  Sad but true.

Why do these foster unrighteousness?  Sin!  It relentlessly dogs us all; even the most earnest evangelist, pastor, faster, teacher, intercessor and those vowing poverty, chastity and to obey.  Though re-born and with citizenship in heaven, our minds remain Satan’s targets; even as our bodies marinate in sin’s vile juices soaking the world around us (see Rom 7:14-25).

Vows, covenants and good intentions for godly living have a ring of virtue, but succeed only to the degree one is loyal to God.  Here’s the way He had Azariah the prophet caution king and company after their victorious Ethiopian rout: “Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you” (2Chron 15:2b).  After declaring His faithfulness, God cited what’s expected of us for His support, in the qualifiers of “while” and “if.”  Only when our heart is loyal and if we seek Him.

God then had Azariah spell out the penalty for disloyalty: “but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you” (v2c).  No, that’s not to say He’ll disown a Christian, take back His Spirit and reticket a born-again’s eternal destination. It does mean there are consequences for sin; disloyalty included.  In Asa’s case, his Syrian bribe cost him the chance to capture its army.  Hanani also informed the king that, henceforth, he would have wars (2Chron 16:7b,9a).  Consequences! A foot disease finally killed Asa, not because he went to a doctor, but because he relied on man rather than God (seeing a physician doesn't constitute disloyalty, so long as our faith for healing remains with God).  Though Asa had walked with the Lord for decades, he compromised his allegiance and suffered the consequences.  Beware!

Loyalty not sin-free

On God’s mercy scale, heart loyalty weighs heavily against foolish sin.  We need look no further than King David whom God called a man after His own heart (1Sam 13:14). Though David’s resume includes most of sin’s biggies, he uncommonly pleased God because of his divine and loyal heart-set.  Look at Asa: in spite of serious late-life sin, his Creator ordered this gracious epitaph: “Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days” (1Ki 15:14b).  Asa sinned, but in the only Mind that really matters, his heart was loyal to the end. Praise be to God forevermore!!

Let’s be clear about sin.  God expects our sins to diminish as Christ is gradually formed in us (Gal 4:19) and under the New Covenant, there’s no “gracing away” of sin with impunity.  Sin has consequences!  Do a search. Begin with Judas Iscariot, Ananias, Sapphira and warnings of Hebrews twelve.  Sin, when left to run its course without Christ, terminates in eternal death (Rom 6:23).  However, allowing for the handicap of it being in our members (Jas 3:6) the atoning blood of Christ provides relief from that damnable genetic infirmity.  Be not deceived by misunderstanding God’s amazing grace.  All sin is evil and must be guarded against.  But the issue at hand is the matter of our overall allegiance to God; how loyal we are to our faith in Him.

Part-time Loyalty

The heart-state of some Christians is well characterized by the following (hypothetical) conversation:

“Do you love your wife?”
Of course I do!
“Are you glad she married you?”
Absolutely!
“Are you faithful to her?”
Certainly! ... most of the time.

They say, “We love God ... grateful Jesus saved us and are loyal to Him ... generally.”  Surely, God values all allegiance, but that’s not to suggest fickleness is a pleasing heart-state for His own.  Indeed, He expects far more (1Pet 15,16).  Though He’ll not toss us overboard for stupidity and foolishness — even blatant sin. He convicts, corrects and cleanses; then we must face the consequences.  But be mindful, they might be devastating to you and yours; perhaps even cost your temporal life.

Staying loyal to God is challenging, but the wisest course.  His merciful and gracious love takes away all fear, suffers much sin and stupidity ... but allows consequences to train us.  We have learned that Christianity has everything to do with heart sincerity and being loyal to the tenets of our faith ... to our all-wise Father.

ABOUT US:  Founded in 1993, Hallelujah Living Ministries is a donation-based, non-denominational Christian outreach to uplift, inform and challenge followers of Jesus Christ.  For more information or a copy of our always-free print newsletter, please include a  postal mail address along with your comments and prayer requests. Thank you for visiting  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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