Last week, we learned about the incredible power accessible to us in the name of Jesus.  Jesus has been given the name above every name.  All power and all authority have been granted to Him.  Then, He chose to entrust it and His continued ministry to us, His church, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into our lives!

This morning, we’re learning about one of the keys to us unlocking the power of God in and through our lives.  This key unlocks not only God’s power, but also God’s rich blessing.  This key transforms chaos into peace, lack into plenty, confusion into confidence, and fighting to rest.  This key is obedience.

Obedience and submission carry extremely negative impressions in our culture and, to a degree, for good reason.  This is because of the forced oppression that many have sadly experienced in their lives at the hand of abusers. 

Obedience to God, however, is never forced.  Submitting to God is completely a free choice. 

God extends to us a simple invitation into His plans and purposes for our lives.  It’s an invitation into His sheltering Presence.  He invites us to follow His ways which lead into an abundant life and rich blessing.  Obediently submitting to God doesn’t strip us of our power or individuality or dignity.  It actually empowers us and leads us more fully into our God-designed uniqueness and crowns us with glory and honor!

Obediently submitting to Jesus, the One who first gave their lives for us, who truly loves us perfectly, who has only our best interests in mind, who desires only good things for us, and who created us on purpose and for a purpose is all gain and very little loss for us.

Obedience to God, as a child of God, is the key to unlocking the transforming power of God in and through our lives!  Whereas selfish pride and arrogance set us up for a great fall, humility sets us up for great promotion!

To see all of this happen within a real life in a practical way, we’re taking a look this morning at the life of Asa.  He came from a bit of a rough background.  His father was king, but was an evil one who only reigned for three years.  He continued his family traditions of going their own way into sin and rebellion against God and against themselves.

1 Kings 15:3

He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.

His grandmother also was wicked and held a position of authority as a queen mother (gebirah in Hebrew).  A king often had many wives, but only had one mother.  Her position was often one of counsel and intercession to the king granting her a lot of influence over the nation.  She would even rule the land between kings.  It was so bad that Asa eventually fired his own grandmother from her position of queen mother because of her unrelenting wickedness.

All this being background information is being shared for one reason.  It is to encourage us that we have the opportunity to break generational habits and curses.  We don’t have to follow in the wrong traditions that our families may have followed in before us.  We can forge new traditions and begin new legacies and new patterns to follow. 

We can choose to proclaim, like Joshua, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!”  Asa did just this.  I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but Asa pioneered a new path for his own life, for his family, and for his nation!  His story begins in tragedy.

2 Chronicles 14

1 And Abijah (Asa’s father) rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.

2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. 4 He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. 5 He removed the high pla