1 Kings: In The Presence Of God

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Sunday, April 10, 2016
Chapters: 1 Kings 7-9
Message: 1 Kings: In The Presence Of God

Hello My Friend,

As born again Christians we have the privilege of having the presence of God with us at all times. One of the promises that Jesus made before He left the earth was that He would send us a Comforter, someone to be with us always until He comes to get us. That Comforter is none other than the Holy Spirit, He dwells in us, He is alive in us, and that means God dwells in us. “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” - John 14:15,16.

Before God allowed the Holy Spirit to dwell in all believers permanently He filled men and women as He needed them. It was not uncommon for people all over the world to travel to places they knew had a strong presence of God. We first learned of the structure that Solomon had made for the temple that would house the presence of God, it was designed just as David instructed. Now, we get details of what was built to go inside, everything was built with the same quality materials as the building itself. Solomon used a man name Hiram to be his contractor.

“And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work. And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the LORD: And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was, And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple. So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.” - 1 Kings 7:13,14,40,48-51.

“which David his father had dedicated;” Dedicate, To set apart and consecrate to God. When a person first receives Christ as their Saviour it is as if the weight of every sin committed has been lifted off and removed, they are empty and clean. Since God dwells in us, He wants us to dedicate our mind, body, and spirit to Him, the only way we can do that is by feeding ourselves with things that are pleasing to Him. I recently began a gluten free, low carb diet and for the first time in years I felt light and energetic, but yesterday I ate some pizza and now I feel weighed down and miserable. Building our house for God means eliminating things from our mental, physical, and spiritual diets that weigh us down and make us miserable. We are never going to be perfect, but we can learn from our mistakes and make less if we dedicate everything we put in our bodies to God. “But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.” - Psalms 4:3,4.

To the world and those who follow false religion the presence of God is dependent upon a building, billions of dollars are spent on worship centers geared to bring people to Him. Sadly, they are either too blind or deceiving the lost into believing that God is in that building. I will never forget my ex-boyfriend, who was supposed to be a Christian, telling me not to fill his family with my religion when I mentioned to them that God is not in a building. The world likes the appearance of a godlike being to go to, but they do not want Him dwelling in their lives. Now, the temple was built and everything was ready for God to make His presence. Solomon gathered all the people together to join in on the celebration, he knelt down, lifted his hands up in the air and began to pray.

“And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD. Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever. What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;) That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:” - 1 Kings 8:10-13,38-40,59.

“The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.” One amazing thing about God is that even in the darkness He is with us? My phone has a power saver on it that dims the light during the night, if I get up in the middle of the night I can see the display perfectly, but if I turn the lights on I can barely see it. While God’s presence is always with us, day or night, it is often in our darkest hour that we see Him. Why? It is much easier to see God we are suffering because we are spending more time with Him. Think about it, how often, apart from praying for meals, upon waking up, or before bed, do we communicate with God as though He is right there with us? If we stop to think about it, we can go days without talking to Him. Dark days are given to us so that we are reminded that He is always with us. “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” - 1 Peter 5:10.

Knowing you are in the presence of God comes easier when we are obedient to Him. We can say a thousand word prayer, but unless we truly mean what we say, all we are doing is talking to the air. Solomon spoke the largest prayer recorded in history, and God heard Him, He came to him in another dream, this time assuring him that He heard his prayer, but He also had a warning. “And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:” - 1 Kings 9:3-7.

“and this house, which I have hallowed for my name,” Hallowed, To make holy; to consecrate; to set apart for holy or religious use. There is that phrase again, to set apart, every house that God dwells in is hallowed, that means that every soul He dwells in is set apart for God’s use. What about the rest of the body? That is determined on how well we take care of His house if we are saved. God will not hesitate to remove a soul from a body that abhors or mocks Him, if they choose to live a life that even the world detests He will cast them out of His sight, and sadly they will die in their sin. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11,19,20.

Jesus Christ Revealed: Today Jesus is revealed through the temple. Jesus is the temple, who dwells in all believers through the Holy Spirit. “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.” - John 2:19-21.

Today's Prayer: God, There is no better feeling than having Your presence known to me, it is as if I can feel You right there with me. I admit that when I get discouraged or busy with life it causes me to talk to You less and lose the sense of Your presence. I find myself burning the candle at both ends and getting no where, and that is when I need to remind myself that I am not alone, You are with me, and You will help me. Lord, walk with me, lead me and guide me, clean my head, body, and spirit from all the bad things that are weighing me down, and replenish them with Your wisdom, guidance, understanding, mercy, and grace. I want to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to You, and to take care of the temple that You dwell in. I ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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