King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Thursday, June 13, 2024
Chapters: II CHRONICLES 5, I KINGS 8
Message: Dedicated to God
Hello My Friend,
I do not know why, but this has been such a long dragged out week, maybe it is the heat or that I have not been sleeping too well, but regardless Saturday cannot seem to come soon enough. Saturday, is my rest day as it is the only day that I do not need to get out of bed super early, although I try not to stay in bed too long or else I would get distracted from my time with God. I suppose this is why this verse comes to mind, [Proverbs 20:13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.]
Of course, we do need sleep as without it we would truly be useless, but what the verse is referring to is those whom seem to be sleeping their way through life waiting for something amazing to happen without actually making an effort. I have been guilty of this, even working my tail off trying to make ends meet, which also brings something else to mind, [Judges 6:13-14 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?]
Wow! I do not know where God is leading me with this, but I am sure that He is telling me that I have His work to do. As we continue in the reading of I Kings and II Chronicles, we learned that the first Temple dedicated to God was finished and it was time to bring in all the vessels that were in the Tabernacle.
[2 Chronicles 5:1-2 Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God. 2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.]
[Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated;] Since everything we have belongs to God in the first place it does not hurt for us to have some that are solely dedicated for Him, [2 Timothy 2:20-21 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.]
I believe that the most important offering that we ought to dedicate to God is ourselves as we cannot go wrong when we dedicate our lives to Him, [Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.]
It is really not that unreasonable to present our bodies as a living sacrifice and do not think that that means that we are to stop living, it means that we are to dedicate our lives over to Him and make ourselves useful for Him. Now, with all the people standing in front of the Temple, they eagerly watched as the Ark of the Covenant is brought into the Temple. Then the Levites placed it on its new resting place.
[1 Kings 8:2-4,6 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4 And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. 6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.]
[at the feast in the month Ethanim,] They were about to observe the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths). The Feast of Tabernacles was seven days of their dwelling in tents as a reminder of the forty years that they dwelt in tents on their way to the promised land. So, as soon as the priests walked out of the presence of the Ark and went behind the veil that is when a cloud appeared.
[2 Chronicles 5:11-14 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course: 12 Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:) 13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; 14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.]
[that then the house was filled with a cloud,] It was when they had been praising and worshiping God that the cloud appeared. This is a picture of that the Holy Spirit does whenever a person accepts Christ as their Saviour, He literally comes into our soul and fills it with the glory of the LORD, [Acts 2:2-4 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.]
Now, do not expect little drops of fire to come down on you the second that you receive Christ as your Saviour, but do expect that His Light will fill your soul and body and you will start thinking a little differently. I will never forget the day that I got baptized, it was by far the bravest thing I did apart from accepting Christ as my Saviour as it was the day that I dedicated my life to Him. I was so eager and excited for what God was doing in my life that I wanted all the world to know. Well, I do not know if Solomon saw the glory of the LORD coming from the building, but he sure saw the need to remind the people that God fulfilled His promise.
[1 Kings 8:12-13,20-22 Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. 13 I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever. 20 And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. 21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:]
[The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.] God, is everywhere, especially in the darkest shadows of the most trying times in our lives. One way that we lose dedication to God is when we feel like we are in the dark. However, it is often when it is so dark that we cannot see Him that we need to understand that He is right there. He is literally in [a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.] within you through the Holy Spirit, and He abides with us until our soul leaves this earth, [John 14:15-17 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.]
If we are struggling with our dedication to God, and cannot see Him then we need to communicate with Him more, learn His ways, confess and repent of any sin, trust Him, and never lean on our own understanding. No matter how dark it gets we need cry out to Jesus for He is our Light. Then Solomon, in complete awe, literally gets down on his knees, raises his hands up to heaven and starts to pray.
[1 Kings 8:27-30 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? 28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: 29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. 30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.]
[Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant,] By our asking God to respect our prayer we are actually showing Him that what we are saying is from our heart. Believe it or not, God loves to prove to us that what He says He will do. Why? He gets the glory. When we prove God it increases our faith in Him, we become more obedient to Him, it draws us closer to Him, and we are more likely to tell everyone about Him. As Solomon continues his prayer, He acknowledges that God had given Israel everything He has promised, He also pleads with God to be forgiving to all.
[1 Kings 8:33,35,37,39 When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: 35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: 37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; 39 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;)]
[if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name,] Most saved, born again Christians learn from their falls and getting back up, this is why we are to confess our sins daily, [1 John 1:9-10 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.]
[which shall know every man the plague of his own heart,] Even faithful Christians can become plagued in their heart, which is how their dedication to Him starts to diminish, which leads them to sin. The deceivers do not learn from their falls, in fact they get worse as they go. Now, Solomon continues his prayer you find some incredible prophecies.
[1 Kings 8:46-49 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; 47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; 48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: 49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,]
[Then hear thou their prayer…and maintain their cause,] Do you think that Jesus prays something like this? I think He may, [John 17:20-22 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:]
Well, He did not pray exactly like this, but He does maintain the souls of every person who receives Him as they become one with Him. Nevertheless, we like to think that we are strong enough to resist temptation or that we would never subject ourselves to situations that would bring us to sin. The truth is we have no idea what people are going through to bring them to the point that they fall into sin. They may not necessarily have fallen into temptation, rather subjected themselves to situations that brought them into it. I have come to learn the very hard lesson that if your heart is not right, that is when you fall. Now, after Solomon prays, he shouts out to the entire congregation to make sure their heart was right.
[1 Kings 8:57-61 The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: 58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. 59 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: 60 That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else. 61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.]
[That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God,] This is why we dedicate our lives to Christ, to be the example for others to follow. Are we always going to do everything right? No. Dedicating our lives to Christ is not about doing everything right, it is about walking with Him and allowing Him to perfect us as He purges out our fleshly desires and replaces them with spiritual desires. This does not happen overnight and let me tell you, we will fall more times than we care to count, and what that proves is just how much we need Christ all the time, [Galatians 5:19-24 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [1 Kings 8:10-11 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11 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.]
Today’s Prayer: God, You have given me much more than salvation the second I received Your Son as my Saviour. Thank You, God, for Your mercies, grace, forgiveness, loving me, and keeping Your promises. Lord, Lead me and guide me, open my heart, remove any doubts, fears, or pride that keeps me from trusting You completely. Give me wisdom, compassion, understanding, and revive Your Spirit in me so that He might shine through the darkness and allow me to complete the work You have for me. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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