A Prescription for Ecstasy

*This is a continued post from yesterday so you may want to read my WFW post for background info* Have a "Hope"-Filled New Year!!


Second Chronicles, chapters 34 and 35, reveals a great many stages in the Christian life. The life of King Josiah offers us some valuable insight into our walk with the Lord; steps which I believe will lead to our epitaph saying that we "did right in the sight of the Lord".

These chapters have helped me in rejoicing in the work that the Lord did in my life in 2008. The passage reveals that God desires our COMPLETE and ABSOLUTE worship without compromise. I believe that some of the steps that the Lord graciously led me to take in 2008 to purge myself of idols and distractions from my walk with Him directly led to His great working in so many areas of my life. I believe He is showing me that His path is narrow and few find it, but for those who do and follow Him, the burden of it is light and the pilgrimage is a joyful one.

Here is your 2009 prescription from your online blog pharmacist as dictated from the Great Physician Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. SEEK Him!

"For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David;" 2 Chronicles 34:3a

2. PURGE ALL other God's before Him

" and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images, and the molten images." 2 Chronicles 34:3b

3. KEEP ON purging, burning, tearing, and utterly destroying anything that sets itself up against the knowledge of God in your life until He says the work is complete. Nothing, no place, no idea, no person, no hurt, and no failure can be off limits if you truly want God's restoration and work in your life.

"Then He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and urged Judah and Jerusalem. And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, even as far as Naphtali, in the surrounding ruins." 2 Chronicles 34:5-6

4. RETURN to Jerusalem. REPAIR the temple.

"Then He returned to Jerusalem…when he had purged the land and the house…to repair the house of the Lord his God." 2 Chronicles 34:7b and selections of 34:8

5. Do the WORK given to YOU by GOD and let others do the work given to THEM by God.

"Then they gave it (money) to the hands of the workmen who had oversight of the house of the Lord, and the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord used it to restore and repair the house. They in turn gave it to the carpenters and to the builders to buy quarried stone and timber…and the men did the work faithfully with foremen over them to supervise…" selections of 2 Chronicles 34:11-12

6. As you continue seeking the Lord for daily guidance; REPENT and OBEY daily.

"And it came about when the king heard the words of the law that he tore his clothes." "Go, inquire of the Lord…the words of the book which has been found;" 2 Chronicles 34:19 and 34:21a

7.REJOICE in God's grace and protection as you hear and humbly obey Him.

"Thus says the Lord God of Israel regarding the words which you have heard, 'Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God, when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes, and wept before Me, I truly have heard you," declares the Lord. Behold, I will gather you to your fathers and you shall be gathered to our grave in peace…" 2 Chronicles 34:27-28a

8. STAND on God's Word and others will FOLLOW.

"Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statues with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in this book. Moreover, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 2 Chronicles 34:31-32

9. CELEBRATE God in the presence of others and ENCOURAGE them in His service.

"Then Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover animals on the fourteenth day of the first month. And he set the priests in their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 35:1-2

10.SERVE, for the load of the Lord is light.

"Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it will be a burden on your shoulders no longer. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. 2 Chronicles 35:3b

11. GIVE generously from the riches of the Lord.

"And Josiah contributed to the lay people, to all who were present…from the king's possessions. His officers also contributed a freewill offering to the people…" selections from 2 Chronicles 35:7 & 8

12. Finally, God WILL be glorified like never before when you follow His ways.

"And there had not been celebrated a Passover like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign this Passover was celebrated." 2 Chronicles 35:18-19

For those of you who are skimming and want the abbreviated version here it is:

1. SEEK HIM
2. PURGE IDOLS
3. KEEP ON PURGING IDOLS
4. RETURN and REPAIR
5. WORK IN DELIGHT
6. REPENT and OBEY
7. REJOICE IN HIM
8. STAND and LEAD
9. CELEBRATE and ENCOURAGE
10.SERVE HIM
11.GIVE CHEERFULLY
12.GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED

This is my prayer for you in the year 2009,

"And they were all seized with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen remarkable things today." Luke 5:26

The phrase "seized with astonishment" is translated to the Hebrew word, "ekstasis" which is where we get the word, "ecstasy". How about you? Have you purged your life of all that inhibits you from experiencing "ecstasy" in the sight of our Lord? I pray that 2009 will be your year of ecstasy!

In honor of my dearest sister, Ernestine AKA HOPE: Have a "HOPE"ful NEW YEAR!!

God bless you all and I love you dearly!

To read about others Thankful for God's work in their lives in 2008, click here.