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Waxing Great
2 Chronicles 17:12
"And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles, and cities of store."
When studying the life of the kings, there are many lessons that can be learned on how a country should be ran. However, many will read the lessons from the personal life of the king's and think that these lessons do not apply to their personal life. This is not true at all. Whatever will make a kingdom strong will also make your personal life strong.
God said in the verse above, "And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly;..." Jehoshaphat on the whole was a good man who followed the same principles that made King David strong. The Scriptures said that there was a fear of God in Jehoshaphat's kingdom. A nation that will not fear God will be a nation that God will eventually destroy. A nation will not follow the commandment of God without a fear of God. The Scriptures also say that Jehoshaphat built Judah. He wasn't concerned about building other nations as much as he was concerned about building his own nation. One of the problems of America is that the leaders are more concerned about every other nation than they are in building their own nation. Furthermore, you will find in verse 13 that Jehoshaphat made sure that his economy and military defense were strong. A solid economy and strong defense will help in the building of a nation. These four areas are what caused Jehoshaphat to wax great in his kingdom. Any leader who will strengthen these four areas will become a great leader of their nation.
However, the same can be applied to your personal life. If you want to wax great as a Christian, then you first need to have a fear of God. I am not talking about the type of fear that would cause you to tremble every minute of the day, but I am talking about the type of fear that causes you to respect what God's power can do for you and to you. If you obey God's commandments, then God's power will help you in your daily life. If you disobey God's commandments, then that same power will be used to punish you. A healthy fear of God is necessary in building a strong life, family, church and nation.
Likewise, you will never wax great until you start focusing on building. God is a builder! As a Christian you need to be focused on building your family and the lives of others. You need to be involved in your church ministries so that you can build your family and the lives of others. Nobody has ever become a great Christian who focused on themselves. A great Christian is one who uses their energies to build others.
Moreover, being strong financially will help you to becoming a great Christian. This does not mean that you need to be wealthy to be a strong Christian, but it means that you need to be financially stable. It will be hard to build lives when you are concerned with your financial woes. Work hard at keeping your finances stable so that you can focus on building lives.
Last, a strong defense is important to being a strong Christian. There are a few ways you are going to build a strong defense. First, you need to spend time studying the Scriptures. It is only through God's Word that you will overcome temptation. Second, you need to spend time with God in prayer on a daily basis. Prayer is what will give you God's power and wisdom to overcome Satan. Last, you need to have good personal standards. Standards will help you to stay separated from the world. You'll never become a strong Christian by hobnobbing with the world.
There is a need for great Christians in this present day. There are too many good people, but good people don't change the world, only great Christians will do that. You will never wax great as a Christian until you follow the four steps that made Jehoshaphat wax great in his kingdom.