Solomon

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2 Chronicles 7:16 Chosen And Consecrated

I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 2 Chronicles 7:18

Names to be placed on special buildings are done on a regular basis. Often it is done by someone who has paid a huge amount of the expense to have the building built and desire their name to be upon it. Having one’s name on it is giving approval for that building and what goes on inside of it, and also gives honor to the one whose name is on it.

After Solomon dedicated the new temple of God, God came to him and told him that He had chosen and consecrated this temple so that His name would be there forever and that He would keep His eyes and ears on it.

The world loves to have their name known as someone special. Those who are extremely wealthy desire to get their name out there on things that are permanent and will continue to bring in more wealth. However, all of this is for self and is selfish.

Every person who has chosen to repent and believe in Jesus has become a new creation; they are a new building–the temple of God. This is all done by the choosing of God. It is God who calls a person to repentance and the person accepts the call. Once accepted, God then consecrates the person, removing all sin and making him the new temple of God.

As the temple of God believers carry the name of One who is greater than any person that has ever walked upon the earth. God, the creator of the universe and all that is in it, has chosen to place His name upon the believer for all eternity.

Before you became a believer God chose you to be one of His children. The moment you chose to accept God’s call for repentance and belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you became a new temple of God.

The process of God consecrating you to be holy and righteous began upon your repentance and belief. He is working in your life to make you more like Jesus every day. His name now rests upon you for all the world to see for all eternity. God is keeping an eye on you and is listening for your call to Him, since His name is now on you.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know you are a temple of God; that you will allow God to consecrate you to be holy and righteous for His namesake; and that you will know His presence in your life each and every day.

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2 Chronicles 6:4 Praise For Fulfilled Promises

Then he said: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hands has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David.” 2 Chronicles 6:4

Often when someone fulfills a promise to someone else, they are thanked. Others will give praise about the person because he did what he had promised. People will talk good about him keeping his word.

It is often talked about even more because many people do not keep their promises. It is very common for promises to be broken for nearly any reason to not fulfill it.

As Solomon was dedicating the new temple of God, he told the people to praise God because He had fulfilled His promise to his father David.

It is difficult for people to trust anyone to keep their promises. When one does find someone who keeps his promises, it is often slightly to very shocking and unexpected.

God, however, has always kept every promise that He has ever made to anyone and everyone. He has never failed to keep His promises. While this is true, many believers do not always trust God to keep His promises and then forget to give Him praise for the ones He fulfills.

If one stops and thinks about it for a moment, he will probably be able to name of dozens of promises God has fulfilled in his own life recently. Promises of provision, of life, of joy, of forgiveness, of protection, of salvation, of His presence, of wisdom, of direction and much more.

Everyday God is fulfilling at least one promise to each and every believer, if one is really willing to see what God is doing in his life. Knowing this gives the believer reason to give God praise for what He has done and is doing and will continue to do.

Through the Bible, God has given you hundreds of promises. He may also have given you direct personal promises to in your spirit or through someone else.

Many things that occur in your life do not just happen by random chance or good luck, but by the promises and will of God.

Take time on a regular basis to think of what promises God has recently fulfilled in your life. Give Him praise for those fulfilled promises. Then go out and tell others how God is fulfilling His promises in your life.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know the promises of God in your life; that you will see when God fulfills a promise; that you will give God praise for fulfilled promises; and that you will tell others of what God has done in your life.

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2 Chronicles 5:14 Filled With God’s Glory

and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God. 2 Chronicles 5:14

In many locations around the world, it is very common, throughout the year, for a great fog to roll in during the morning time. The fog is often so thick that it makes it very difficult to do anything. Great care must be taken when a person leaves to drive somewhere because of the limited visibility. Sometimes it can completely stop people from doing what they wanted to do while it is so clouded with fog.

After Solomon dedicated the temple of God, the glory of God filled the temple so much that the priests were unable to perform their services.

Although church buildings exist all over the world, they are not the focus of where God dwells. Since Jesus arose from the dead, left the earth and sent the Holy Spirit, God now dwells in the lives of people, His believers and followers.

Most people go about their day to day living with very little to no thought of God. They are able to do whatever they desire with no apparent consequences. People ‘see’ the path of the world and follow it.

Believers have God’s Spirit dwelling in them. They are the newly dedicated temple of God. Their hearts, minds and souls are to be so filled with God, that they are unable to do the works or sin of the world. All that they can see is the glory of God and what He is doing or saying. They are shielding their eyes from the temptations to sin against God in seeking their own personal glory and honor in order to let God’s glory and honor shine in the world.

The moment you chose to repent and believe in the saving work of Jesus, you became the temple of God. He has chosen to dwell in you and put His Holy Spirit upon you and in you.

Allow yourself to be so filled with God that He is all that you see. It will strengthen you to take a stand against the temptations to sin. The world will be able to see that God’s glory is upon you and in you. This will make you a witness for the world to see, because you set apart for God’s glory and honor, not your own.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will be filled with God’s Holy Spirit; that God will shield you from the temptations of the world; that you will do the work of God; and that the world will see God’s glory in you.

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2 Chronicles 4:1 A Place For Sacrifice

He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. 2 Chronicles 4:1

Most religions around the world have physical altars for various purposes. They are used for worship, prayer and sacrifices. Some of these are very plain and simple, while others are extremely ornate and fancy in design.

The world also has unseen altars that they sacrifice the things of life on in order to get what they desire and to worship what they have in life.

Solomon had a bronze altar built that was twenty (about 30 feet) long by twenty cubits (about 30 feet) wide by ten cubits (about 15 feet) high.

The extremely large altar that Solomon had built would later be used to sacrifice thousands of animals on each year for the sins of people and for the thanksgiving of the people of Israel. After Jesus died upon the cross and arose from the dead, the need for physical sacrifices were done away with.

Although those sacrifices were done away with, the need for sacrifice is still there.

People are quick to sacrifice many different things in order to get something that they want. The greater the desire, the greater the sacrifice will be made.

Many believers claim to want to know God and be like Jesus but are unwilling to place their lives upon the altar to be a living sacrifice to God. They will hold on to the things and ways of this world, refusing to change. This can be seen in many churches when they have taken out the altars to be replaced by a stage or platform. They want to be seen by the world, rather than offered to God.

Every believer needs to lay down his life upon the altar of sacrifice to be a living sacrifice unto God.

As a believer, you are to be in the constant process of becoming more and more like Jesus every day. The world and its ways will always be tugging at your heart to keep you in its ways.

In order to change, you must be willing to sacrifice your life upon the altar to God’s ways. Kill off the old ways of sin in your life and become a new creation who is created to do good works unto God that will last into eternity.

Are you willing to get on the altar for God?

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will sacrifice your wants and desires to gain God’s desires; that you will live your life honoring and obeying God; and that God will give you strength to sacrifice any sin in your life upon His altar to be forgiven and made new.

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2 Chronicles 3:17 Established And Strengthened By God

He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz. 2 Chronicles 3:17

Every building that is built has some type of support structure to keep it standing. Most are built with just walls that can support it. A few will have pillars supporting in various positions for aesthetic looks.

Each one is built and established by someone with a dream or a desire of a specific purpose for that building.

Solomon had two pillars made for the temple that he named one Jakin–meaning ‘He establishes’, and the other Boaz–meaning ‘in Him is strength’.

Wealthy people have often established their own businesses to gain more wealth. They find their strength in what they do and have. Having this type of establishment will work for a time but can and will eventually falter and fail in the end. Anything established and supported by the world is only temporary and cannot give one eternal life.

God in His great wisdom and love created man and then later established the way for man to be saved and given eternal life. It is only by the work of Jesus upon the cross that any person can receive eternal life.

Along with establishing man, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to give the believer strength needed to live the life God has called him to live. All this work is begun by God and completed by God. He is the two towers in the life of a believer–the establisher and the strength. The believer must only accept it and use what God has provided.

Living with being established and supported by God will give one strength to live a holy life and live for eternity.

You may have many different supports of strength in your life. However, most of those supports are only temporary and cannot provide true life that will extend into eternity.

In your own power and strength, you will never be able to live the holy life God has called you to live that will bring you into eternity. God has established you as a believer, a child of His with His support and strength. He has provided you abundantly for all that you will need to be holy as He is holy.

Make sure God is the two pillars in your life.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will be established by God for His glory; that you will be strengthened by the Holy Spirit to live a holy life and do His work on the earth; and that you will be the temple of God.