2 Chr 15: 9-19

Under Asa's rule, there was peace and prosperity with his people and the land. He truly promoted the verse earlier in 2 Chr 7:14 and the people humbled themselves and turned from their wicked ways and the Lord truly heard from heaven and healed their land. The land was healed and prospered. When push came to shove, they went to the Lord and sought and found him. They didn't know the Law but they did know the Lord and and gave their heart and lives for him. He who opposed the Lord was put to death - so they meant business. The telling decision that Asa made was to remove his own grand mother from a position of prominence since she decided to create an Asherah and worship it. Per the commentary: Asa was loyal to the LORD all his life. But he was not able to persuade all the people to follow him in this. Some of the people were not as loyal to the LORD as he was. They continued to worship at the high places and altars of false gods. These high places for worship were in Israel. This may mean that they were in the territory of the northern kingdom. But the name Israel sometimes means the kingdom called Judah. Here it probably means Judah as the area that Asa was king over.

Asa's rule was recorded in this chapter as 35 years which was pretty long and effective given his loyalty and love for the Lord. There was peace for that long a period of time - remarkable given the history of the previous king and the people that he ruled.

What a vacation so far! The days have been exhaustive and long with a lot of walking, climbing and thus it has been draining. Yesterday, we went to Muir Woods and hiked along a relatively flat terrain but still clocked a few miles checking out the redwoods. We then drove back and hiked down to pier to go to Alcatraz and logged a mile or so as well as the rigorous walk around the Rock. We then hauled back from the pier and then did a quick turnaround to Saratoga to have dinner with my Aunt's nephew and his family. They have been in our lives for a long time since they started in my old neighborhood before settling in Silicon Valley for a few decades. It was good to share and catch up with each other but the most important highlight for me was to pray for Lily who is suffering from a severe case of MS and the effects on the family. We all had a great, great time.

Today was the pack up and heading to San Simeon for a tour of the Hearst Mansion. The drive (performed to perfection by Irene) was long and tedious and took its toll on us. We had a nice lunch at the park and after the tour made our way down to Santa Barbara where we nailed a Triple D dinner at a place called Mac's Fish and Chips. Great food and staff. Made our way down to the hotel and finally settling down but will have a long day @ Disneyland Cal Adv.

Praise for today: Sing to God; sing praised to His name; extol Him who rides on the clouds, by His name YAH, and rejoice before Him. Psalm 68: 4