Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the worldyou will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

 We can take the assurance that the people we desperately want to be, the God whom we desperately want to please, and the place where we desperately want to live is coming. All we have to do is hold fast to the word of Jesus. Let’s stake it all on that unchanging, never-failing Word.

Ezekiel is tasked with speaking to the Jewish people about the land of Israel. He aims to expose the extent of the problem that is about to bring on the nation's demise. The corruption in the land extends beyond the political leaders to the priests, prophets, and even the people themselves.

Through his prophet, God hereby offers the exiles another explanation for the severity with which he is about to punish the land of Israel. But also through His prophet, we find that God Himself promised to come and be the one who would seal the breach, who would avert His judgment, and bring salvation and deliverance to His people.

Looking into Abraham's life, we found that faith was the hallmark of his life. We also saw that his faith was established by obedience. While we concentrated on Abraham, Hebrews relates others. What we see is that faith has always been the way to walk in a relationship with God, and true biblical faith is more than mental assent; it is marked by obedience to God as we put our trust in Him and His Word.

What we looked at today is the progression of King Asa’s life and how he interacted with the God who appointed him to serve as King over the people of Judah. At the beginning of his reign, King Asa called on his people to trust in God. As a result, we find that Asa and his small army won an overwhelming victory over his enemy. However, later on in his life, Asa’s trust was no longer in the Lord but in his own wisdom as he sought to deal with his problems through his political savvy and cleverness.

Finally, at the end of his life, Asa deviated completely from his avowed trust in God by seeking help for his foot disease “only from the physicians.” The king’s sin lay in seeking their help “only” and not seeking “help from the LORD,” who is the ultimate healer of men’s diseases. Sadly, at the end of his life, the King died without any mention of his reconciling with the Lord.

This baptism in the Holy Spirit which Jesus received which led to the power of the Spirit is a promise that was made available to the followers of Christ after His resurrection from the dead. Before that experience, His disciples were to be first, born of the Spirit. Why, because unlike Jesus, we were born separated from God.

King Asa had taken over the reins of Israel and had embarked on a mission to turn the nation aggressively towards God. We witnessed how at one point a large contingent came against King Asa out of Ethiopia and the context suggests that Asa opposed him, but his army was far less in numbers than the enemies. So he called on his people to trust in God. After a resounding victory, while collecting the spoil from the battle, a man by the name of Azariah began to prophesy to the King. He told him,

2 Ch 15:1–2 (ESV) ...Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

True followers of Christ, true citizens of His eternal Kingdom, will live with Him forever. Because they are not convicted but instead forgiven. They are not put to death, and their names are not erased from the Book of Life.

God was calling Abraham; He was calling people in the pages of the New Testament, and He is still calling people today. Abraham believed in God and demonstrated his faith by leaving the comfort and security of what he had to follow God and move into what God had prepared for him. As He called Simon and Andrew, James and John, He is still laying His mantle on those of us to follow Him today. He is calling people to follow Him to a place that He will lead us to, and we have a choice to make whether we want to follow or not.

The importance of a firm, stable, and secure foundation is made evident when Jesus said in the culmination of His Sermon on the Mount, the relevant question left to be answered is this: “What kind of foundation are you building your life on?” Without Christ as our foundation, we are susceptible to all the storms that life brings. With Him, we can face any storm and remain firmly rooted, coming out victorious on the other side. Are you ready to make Christ the foundation for your life today?