04/02/2014 - THE RESULTS OF NOT LISTENING TO THE LORD

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And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. 2 Chronicles 33:10

Prosperity is a good thing; but it can become a very bad thing to those who don’t accept that they should seek the Lord and follow His commandments. Human beings are very easily fooled; many times a simple breeze of peace can turn us into fools and carnal people. It has always been like this: if we don’t persevere in prayer, we can end up being used by the enemy.

Manasseh, son of king Hezekiah – one of the most faithful kings ever – succeeded his father to govern Judah. When he assumed the throne, the north kingdom (Israel) didn’t exist anymore, for the Assyrian empire had taken it. The Lord said that the same fate was reserved for Judah, but the king and his people didn’t believe it.

In our days there are lots of people playing around with their faith in Christ. They think they’re special and they don’t realize that the empire of wickedness can act in their lives. Who were you before you accepted Jesus? Why do you allow yourself to be taken away by temptations and abandon your commitment with the Lord? Many aren’t giving ears to the Lord.

Manasseh did all that was wrong in Jerusalem. It was a time of prosperity, and the people didn’t want the Lord and His strict commandments anymore. Little by little, they started imitating the pagan people, and even the king burned his own children as an act of witchcraft; this allowed demons to take hold of God’s territory.

For this reason, the Lord sent the Assyrian king army’s princes to arrest Manasseh amongst thorns and to take him captive to Babylon. However, when he realized what he was doing, Manasseh repented from his wickedness and prayed to God, and the Lord sent him back to Jerusalem. When he got back, Manasseh condemned idolatry and removed all the idols from the temple.

Those who once paid a high price for walking away from the Lord, and now are repented should remove all idols from the altar of their hearts; these idols could be secret desires, a promiscuous life or any other satanic work. It is necessary to clean your house so that the enemy won’t attack you anymore.

The Lord won’t allow those who walked away from Him and then repented to insult Him again. It is necessary to be very careful with the second death. Those who have once fallen and made a vow to not sin again, but didn’t comply with their vow will be considered liars, and will experience the second death (Rev. 21:8).

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares