Today's passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%208,%202%20Chron%205&version=NIV
Promises, Promises
As I high school teacher, I am familiar with broken promises. “Miss Coxe, I promise I’ll be there for tutorials, just please give me another chance.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fallen for it. I bust my tail to get to school an hour early, only to sit in my room alone (and I really don’t like to get up early). I give up lunch with my team and sit in my room waiting. I’ve skipped after school socials to sit and wait…only to be disappointed. Over the years, I’ve learned my lesson. I’ve learned that when a high school student says, “I promise”, I just might be disappointed.
In todays’ passage, we see the word promise a lot. But we don’t read about any broken promises here. Solomon and the Israelites are not disappointed. Solomon makes so many sacrifices that they can’t even keep count. He is truly overwhelmed. In his address to the people he is not just filled with praise and thanksgiving for the promises past, but he also confidently claims the promises that are yet to come. Because God has been faithful, the Israelites can be confident that God will continue to fulfill his promises.
One of my favorite things that I’ve seen as we’ve been reading the Old Testament, is that our God truly is a God who keeps his covenants. The Israelites could depend on him and we can too, because he is the same God. The Great I AM, the Alpha & Omega.
There are so many promises in the Bible, that it would be hard to count them all. Some who have tried have come up with over 3000 promises. There are promises for peace, healing, forgiveness, love, provision, blessings for obedience…the list goes on. We can count on him to fulfill these promises. WE can anchor our hope in him for the ultimate promise…to rest with him in eternity. These promises may not be fulfilled on our timeline, or exactly in the way that we expect, but they will be fulfilled if our hearts are fully committed to the Lord.
Todays post submitted by Kelly Coxe
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The last verse is interesting
ReplyDeleteThen the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, 14 and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.
The Lord is always with us as beleivers in Christ but over the years of walking with the Lord, I've wotmessed several occasions where the manifest presence of God has shown up in a meeting and pretty much had the same effect as this verse. People stop what they are doing ie preaching, singing or worshipping the Lord and they just stand in awe knowing the Lord is here.
Jesus will never leave us or forsake us and is always in us. He sometimes makes a point to our mind and emotions that this is the case.
I've learning this lesson the hard way too. I can have the greatest idea and the best plan but if God doesn't show up to bless the work then I'm spinning my wheels.
ReplyDeleteLike here: God told Soloman to build the temple and he obeyed and God blessed the work.
God is far more interested in me obeying what He has told me to do than to come ask for His blessings on what I'm already determined to do. Help me, Lord is my prayer.