2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10 + Romans 7:14-8:8 + Psalm 18:1-15 + Proverbs 19:24-25
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Old Testament – Today in Second Chronicles we read about Solomon’s dedication of the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem! Below is “King Solomon praying before the Temple” by Neapolitan painter Giuseppe Bonito, c. 1750:
I meant to do this in yesterday’s posting – show an exterior and interior image below of what’s now often referred to as “Solomon’s Temple.” Even though it was clearly the Temple of the Lord, it’s referred to as Solomon’s Temple based on Solomon building it – and we’ll read about some more Temple’s later on in our readings in the One Year Bible this year, including Ezekiel’s Temple, which is fascinating! Anyhow, below are two images of Solomon’s Temple.
New Testament – Romans chapter 7 today has some amazing teachings about struggling with sin. I imagine that all of us at one point or another have concurred with Paul – and remember this is the apostle Paul writing this! – in verses 15 through 17: “I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. But I can’t help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things.” These verses get at Original Sin in a big way. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Sin can live inside of us and make us do evil things that we hate doing. What do you suppose – or Whom do you suppose – frees us from this bondage to sin? Jesus. Yes, Jesus frees us. How? He paid the penalty on the cross for our sins. And he gives us the free gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit to free us from the bondage of sin. Take a look at these verses again above from Paul. Is sin living inside of you making you do things you hate? Do you want to be free from this slavery to sin? Will you pray to accept Jesus as your savior today and allow him to free you from you bondage to sin? Please do. It’s the best decision you will ever make. Please spend a few minutes prayerfully at this website – https://needhim.org/
Bible.org’s fantastic commentary on today’s readings in Romans titled “The War Within” is at this link.
Psalms – Psalm 18 is an amazing one! We’ll get this Psalm for the next 3 days of readings, which is great. And then comes Psalm 19 which is off the charts awesome! Verse 1 today is so beautiful: “I love you, LORD; you are my strength.” How often do you tell God that you love him? One thing that one of my former pastors does when he prays publicly, which absolutely moves me, is that he closes out just about every prayer with “God we love you. And we pray all of this in the name of your son Jesus.” The last line of course is the powerful line! But, that second to last line… is just beautiful. Just telling God that we love him. I’m not sure I tell God that I love him often enough. God may not “need” to hear it. But I think that I need to say it more often. I love you God!
Proverbs – I hope you don’t relate too well to Proverbs 19 verse 24… but I’ll confess that I have been able to relate to this in my past – “Some people are so lazy that they won’t even lift a finger to feed themselves.” There were days in my past were I was literally this lazy. What a sad state of affairs. It’s hard to say exactly why I was being so lazy – other than one clear reason: I was not in a relationship with Jesus. I was living for myself and myself only. So I thought it was fine to sleep and watch TV 24 x 7. What did it matter? Well… it mattered a lot. Being lazy like this is a scary place to be. I think it allows the Enemy to move into our lives in big ways. So – thankfully – as we know from our recent Romans readings, we can be free from our lazy ways! Being in relationship with Jesus has literally cured me of my laziness. Don’t get me wrong – I still chill out and rest on occasion – we really need to take a Sabbath day of rest once a week…. but let us not live our lives as couch potatoes! Let us get in the game of Life!
Couldn’t resist this cute potato sack race image below… 🙂
These 2 are definitely not lazy couch potatoes!
Worship God: Today’s readings in Romans reminds me of Bebo Norman’s song “Sing of Your Glory:”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3wa89TU3WU
Have you sung of God’s glory? Click here to sing Now!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on two verses of Scripture today: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2 TNIV
Prayer Point: Pray that you are no longer condemned. Pray that you have a saving faith in Jesus. Pray that the Holy Spirit has set you free from sin and death.
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today’s readings? Please post up by clicking on the “Comments” link below!
God bless,
Mike
p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our Bible readings at this link.
p.s. #2 – Download a schedule of our Bible readings for the year in PDF format at this link.
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BLOG READERS HISTORICAL COMMUNITY COMMENTS:
(our Group Bible Study is below! : )
======= Ramona:
II Chronicles 6:12-8:10
32 “And when foreigners hear of you and your mighty miracles, and they come from distant lands to worship your great name and to pray toward this Temple, 33 then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. Then all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built bears your name.
The passage above from the sixth chapter has caused my heart to grieve. How many believers, their lifestyle their comportment, their countenance have drawn men and women to Christ. Have people looked upon us, upon me and declared, “She has been with Jesus? We Christians are suppose to be the light of the earth. Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell in us in such a way that His Light, which is the only True Light, Jesus Christ, shine in us? Or have we shut down in such a way people think we are the tail light and not the head light?
Paul said, Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? (1Co 3:16 NET.)
If the Old Testament is Jesus Christ concealed and the New, Christ revealed, then our bodies, the temple God has chosen to dwell in, should reflect with honor, power, mercy, grace and love the Light of Christ.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. (Mat 5:13 NET.)
I have to question what is going on in my life right now. Am I under attack because I am presenting the Gospel in all its glory, or have I been “thrown out” and the persecution I think I am experiencing is just folks walking on me?
Romans 7:14-8:8
Paul speaks of the internal strife I experience daily, the desire to do good verses the desire of the flesh to do what feels good. When I have that struggle a lot of the time, it seems that I am a spectator of my own struggles for good and evil. I’m outside of myself watching the back and forth battle to decide who will have control over me. When this conflict happens as long as I try to “fight” in my own strength, I fail miserable. When I call out to God and tell Him how weak I am to stand and fight in my own strength, I am empowered by something outside of me, which is the Holy Sprit, to walk away in victory.
I’m jumping the gun somewhat but in this struggle over sin we should never give up because the Victory has already been won by Jesus on the Cross,
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
(Rom 8:31-37 KJV)
Thanks be to God and glory to His Name, I am, “more than a conqueror.” He has made me victorious.
Psalm 18:1-15
Two verses astonished me in David’s Psalm, verses two and three. I continually see within today’s reading the protection, the edifice the victory that is wrought in dwelling in God’s Temple, being His Temple (my body) and living in His Temple.
The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my keen and firm Strength in Whom I will trust and take refuge, my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower. I will call upon the Lord, Who is to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.
(Psa 18:2-3 AMP)
Thanks be to God who always causes me to triumph. (II Corinthians 2:14)
Proverbs 19:24-25
The first time I read the 24th verse I said to myself, “What does this mean.” Proverbs being proverbs I seem to “get it” after I have pondered over the passage for awhile and “awhile” can be several years.
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish, and he will not even bring it back to his mouth!
(Pro 19:24 NET.)
Partial understanding of this came while I sat on a subway several years ago and watched a grown man stick his face into a food container and eat after having thrown on the floor of the car, the knife and fork, plastic though they were. While the sight froze me for a moment in disbelief, I heard in my spirit the words of Proverb 19:24. I didn’t immediately hear it and say, “Why that’s Proverbs 19:24,” but I knew that I was witnessing a partial, and I do mean partial, explanation and or understanding of what it means to be lazy and what it looks like.
Grace and peace,
Ramona
====== Stephanie
i just happened on to this blog today, and the verse Romans 7 just put everything in perspective with me. How come when we try so hard we still sin. I love God so much and i am glad to know he LOVES me too. Even when i do sin.
Stephanie
====== Roslyn:
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,[b] 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death…
… but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man[f] is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace…
Indeed!!! Romans 8 is powerfully straigthforward! If we make God the only center of our lives, then we begin to see the dissipation of the duality or dichotomy in our lives… and we become one in Thee!
Roslyn
====== Ramona:
2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10
Paul stated, Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keepunder my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 KJVR)
I keep thinking about Paul’s comments in regard to Solomon, he forgot the very words he prayed. He was distracted, waylaid in the midst of his race. I am not so focused on Solomon as I am on my own actions, or not actions. If the man God gave the most wisdom to, of course Solomon’s wisdom is nothing compared to the Wisdom of God, Jesus, fails to heed his own words and stumbles at the end of his life—Big Time, what can I learn from Solomon to avoid that mistake?
There is a children’s story that I have for sometime considered it really an adult’s story, The Emperor New Clothes. While Solomon was going about running amok, not taking heed to the commands of the Lord, who was the child crying out, The Emperor has no clothes?” Pomp, circumstance, the glitter of gold, silver and bronze can give the appearance of something that it really isn’t. Let us not be blinded by the gold, let us be blinded by the One who created the gold and placed it in the earth.
When you enter the land that GOD, your God, is giving you and take it over and settle down, and then say, “I’m going to get me a king, a king like all the nations around me,” make sure you get yourself a king whom GOD, your God, chooses. Choose your king from among your kinsmen; don’t take a foreigner–only a kinsman. And make sure he doesn’t build up a war machine, amassing military horses and chariots. He must not send people to Egypt to get more horses, because GOD told you, “You’ll never go back there again!” And make sure he doesn’t build up a harem, collecting wives who will divert him from the straight and narrow. And make sure he doesn’t pile up a lot of silver and gold. This is what must be done: When he sits down on the throne of his kingdom, the first thing he must do is make himself a copy of this Revelation on a scroll, copied under the supervision of the Levitical priests. That scroll is to remain at his side at all times; he is to study it every day so that he may learn what it means to fear his GOD, living in reverent obedience before these rules and regulations by following them. He must not become proud and arrogant, changing the commands at whim to suit himself or making up his own versions. If he reads and learns, he will have a long reign as king in Israel, he and his sons. (Deuteronomy 17:14-20 MSG)
The promise God gave Solomon at the Temple Dedication was not really because of all the offerings that were burnt on the alter; but a repeating of what had been Promised by God to Moses. Yet Solomon did not adhere to the commands of God. God hears our prayers, and desires to bless us; we receive the promise and the blessing than we go off the beaten path. Why? We go from nothing to something not because of anything within us; and when we become something because of what God did, we think we are better than everyone else, as if we became something by pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We are deceived. It’s all about God; It all comes from God and it all belongs to God.
Grace and peace,
Ramona
======= Andrew:
“For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:3-4 (NIV))
Paul manages to pack a whole lot into two sentences. There is the whole history of God’s relationship with his people through the OT, the reason and effect of Jesus coming, and our new life in the Spirit, all packed in here.
Amazing,
Andrew B
====== Sue:
Romans Chapter 7 – Struggling with sin, Psalms :18 – telling God that you love him every day and Proverbs :19 v. 24 – Laziness.
This is so awesome that I found this because I am guilty as charged of all three and I want to correct this. I cannot believe this site, it is just like I am being spoken to directly by the Lord.
I am in sincere hopes of being able to keep a record here on line of what I learn every day from the Lord. I want my life back as his child.
Sue
====== Susanne:
Sue, i second that!
Our God is an AWESOME GOD…
and i pray for us, that He keep His Hand
upon us: US CHRISTIANS
changing us from the INSIDE, not just for
“getting a ticket to Heaven”, but so that
the Purpose He designed is fulfilled.
idk what it is, but i know i need
to seek & submit/obey, with His grace to
do so.
He is HOLY and i just don’t understand
be ye holy… cuz i have no way to be,
but it must be by His Grace
and Mercy and Lovingkindness that He
will show me “line by line” the Way.
And the looking within myself (ughhh!)
seems to be what my Lord is working on.
Even tho the world about me, seeing what’s
going on & sure i’ve chosen what’s not for me-
but yet i cannot stand out & “preach”, when
sin within me is no different than theirs.
We in the world categorize sin- but i believe w/
God- a unkind word from my mouth is the SAME
as all the other’s sins i would point my finger at.
We’re all in the same “boat”.
May God have mercy on us.
And i thank You Lord, that you Love us to even
consider us who fall so far short of Your Holiness.
Susanne
====== Jenny:
Romans 7:14-25 is great! i’m sure we all experience this! But the fact we long to do the right thing is a good sign! Romans 8:1 is perhaps my favorite verse! not that its a leeway to do whatever we want, but shows the incredible grace and mercy! Amazing! NO condemnation for those sealed in Christ.vs. 6-7 are very heavy too! I love this book!
Jenny
====== Frederick:
2 Chronicles 6:18
18 “But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
God is ‘big’ and glorious. Even the highest heaven cannot contain Him. But David and Solomon wanted to build a place for God to dwell on earth. God has to ‘bend down’ in order to dwell in Solomon’s Temple. I can see that God was responsive to David and Solomon’s wish. In fact, if God is not love, He will not allow them to build Him a temple as even the greatest temple cannot contain Him. The way I see it is that God is love. He is eager to have a relationship with man. So, in order to suit the ‘thinking’ of man, He allowed David and Solomon to build Him a temple to dwell in, just to provide a ‘humanly’ way for man to approach Him.
Closely related to this, our hearts are also a temple of God. Do we pay the same respect of David and Solomon to ‘decorate’ our hearts for God? Do we treasure the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts?
Frederick
====== Jane:
Proverbs 19:25b means what? I thought you would elaborated on that!
There is no condemnation in those who are in Jesus Christ. Seems we condrmn Ourselves!! We carry around slot if guilt trying to live up to expectation the world and God and the bible has for us. It’s a difficult thing being a Christian! Not easy, because we will never measure up. God loves us unconditionally!
Greetings
1 Chronicles 7:11+12
11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said:
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices
The very fact that, God himself, shows up AT NIGHT to Solomon. In a very personal way and tells him He’s heard his prayer. It makes me think about how Solomon had the visual example in his dad David. First hand on how to have a tangible relationship with God. David knew God intimately. It shows in Solomon…
Peace
Imja
====== Dee:
Reading the comme tary up there and seeing the author’s and Neopolitan’s artwork..do you think those pinks and Browns and cream is where they got the ice cream flavor from 😆 🤣 just a thought. I love seeing Solomon building the temple and all the different Jon’s and helpers that went into it. It’s neat.
Romans..th thing I want to do I don’t and what I don’t want to do I do..carnal sin and trying to avoid temptation and being played is the hardest thing and surprisingly two little letters N-O is just as hard to say to people..that is something I have to get better at
David sang this out to God protecting me from my enemies..death stared at me but didn’t defeat me. God saved and protected Mr.
It’s sad to be so slothful to not even feed yourself because of laziness. I have been so tired sleep called me over food but yes it’s important to take care of this vessel the lord gave amen
Dee
====== John
Romans 7
If there is a choice, I would rather you read Bob Deffingbaugh’s commentary on this section than anything I write. If you do not have much time – at least read the Conclusions. It is a powerful commentary.
http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=2304
Paul has talked about Christians not going back to obey the Law – “shackles” to a saved soul. And that the Law is good, it is sin that is evil and our “flesh” that is weak.
Romans 7:14-25
Struggling With Sin (The War within a Saved Soul)
Boy, this chapter has been tough. It has been hard to focus, and did not want to write – because of this section.
Earlier Paul talked about Salvation, and how when saved we are no longer at war with God. But one war seems to have been exchanged for another. Now within the Christian is a war with sin.
The “I DO” Verses
So tough to read. I can understand each sentence individually, but when read in toto (vs. 14-20), I find it hard to maintain the thread of thought. (Plan on re-reading it each day for awhile, until it flows.) Paul (and we as Christians) want to do good, but keep(s) on sinning. Huh? I thought we had the “new man”. What is Paul talking about?
Nestled in the middle of the paragraph, are the two truths that devastate me. I knew of one, then just realized the second tonight.
Vs. 18
“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” NIV
1) There is no good in my old nature (“flesh”).
2) There is no power in my new nature.
I knew the first, sin has a “base of operations” in my “flesh” (old nature), and it is working overtime. Satan would like nothing better than to discredit a Christian. He may have lost that soul, but by discrediting the Christian, he believes he can stop the geometric spread of Christianity. Sin is Satan’s WMD.
Andrew B.- the second reminded me of your question awhile back. We have the new nature – the “new mind”, but why isn’t Paul experiancing the “abundant blessings of the Holy Spirit? Why all this failure? At this point, it seems it is because of the “I”‘s.
“..but I cannot carry it out”
I (you) cannot do it. The “new man” is like a bomb, it has to be “armed” before it can be utilized. The “believer” is not qualified to do this, it must be “armed” by another. We can sit there all day long atop an “inert bomb” and we will be trampled by sin. We are not only not qualified to “arm” it, we are not qualified to “utilize” the bomb. We must depend on another.
“Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (sin and the old nature).
[“When Paul describes this body of death, some commentators see a reference to ancient kings who tormented their prisoners by shackling them to decomposing corpses. Paul longs to be cut free from the wretched body of death clinging to him.” – David Guzik]
The answer: “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
and on to the next chapter….. 🙂
John
====== John:
Romans 8:1-8
The Power of the Holy Spirit
“‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).
“God’s work is never accomplished by human effort but only by divine enablement. It has always been this way.” – Bob Deffingbaugh
======================================================
One of the Great Truths
vs. 1a
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,..” NIV
“Since the Father does not condemn Jesus, neither can He condemn those are in Him. They are not condemned, they will not be condemned, and they cannot be condemned.” – David Guzik
Jesus’s death on the cross meant that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met “in us”.
[Paul was very careful, not “by us” – as we can do nothing to become righteous on our own. But “in us” – requirements fulfilled through Christ.]
Through Jesus’ ressurection we receive new life (new man) and the Power of the Holy Spirit.
Vs.8
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” NIV
“Paul gives an easy way for us to determine if we walk in the Spirit or walk in the flesh – to simply see where our mind is set. The mind is the strategic battleground where the flesh and the Spirit fight.” – David Guzik
The mind controlled by the Spirit is “life and peace”. Sounds good! Much better than last chapter.
John
====== Vance:
This comment is in response to this question:
“ Will you pray to accept Jesus as your savior today and allow him to free you from you bondage to sin? ”
The part…”allow Him to free you from sin” is not a ONE-TIME event. We are certainly MADE FREE FROM SIN by what Jesus did on the Cross… yet, do we live in freedom from bondage of sin?
We have to ALWAYS CHOOSE to trust God.. not ourselves.
I know we have not come to Romans 8 yet – but I can’t wait !
Realize the provision of GLORY God / Jesus has placed within us! As I meditate on these verses to come in Romans 8, I think of what I read this morning in “Shemos – Jewish Torah name for Exodus” in reference to Exodus 16 where the glory of God appeared to Moses, Aaron, and the people. This is where Yahweh provided quail and manna for the people.
In “Shemos – Exodus”, this is how Exodus 16:9 reads in that translation:
“…the glory of HASHEM appeared in a cloud.”
HASHEM is the word the
Torah uses for “the God of
Mercy”—the quintessential
name for God.
The definition of glory in the cloud– in the “Shemos” is excellent:
“the dwelling place of the Presence”.
ROMANS 8
1
THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.(A)
2
For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.
3
For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [[a]the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [[b]subdued, overcame, [c]deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],(B)
==> Romans 8, Verse 2
The law of the Spirit of Life is the law of our new being – created by the Lord Himself through Jesus on the cross.
This makes me think of I John 3:9 (Amplified) which reads:
No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and [h]habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him
Yet, we have to CHOOSE to walk—to yield to—what God has placed within me. WOW!
==> Romans 8, Verse 3
God sent His own Son in the disguise of sinful man—yet as a TRUE MAN – who overcame
As the TRUEST MAN, Jesus was TRULY human. This means he also was dependent on the Father and the Spirit just as we are. AS SUCH,
He overcame the temptations which Adam and Eve failed when they were tempted by the devil. When they sinned and chose to yield to him, they gave their authority over earth to the evil one. Thus, the devil became “the god of this world.”
Jesus had to come as a man, and as a man He came to take back authority over earth—and give it back to redeemed men and women who trust in Jesus. Thus, we can live LIKE JESUS on this earth – and can obey the Lord to spread the Gospel over the earth. That is WHY we are here.
EPHESIANS 1 (Amplified)
22
And He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him the universal and supreme Head of the church [a headship exercised throughout the church],(A)
23
Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself].
==> Romans 8, Verse 3
Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] … [[b]subdued, overcame, [c]deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],(B)
So..
In our weakness, is His strength. Yet, we must CONTINUALLY choose Him. Jesus’ IRON PILLARED DETERMINATION to trust God and the Father’s power are demonstrated in His victory over the world, flesh, and devil.
And His IRON-PILLARED WILL AND DETERMINATION are inside of US… who trust in Jesus!
Vance
====== Vance:
2 Chronicles 6 (NKJV)
14
and he said: “LORD God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.
15
You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
18
“But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple [LITERALLY HOUSE] which I have built!
19
Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You:
20
THAT YOUR EYES MAY BE OPEN TOWARD THIS TEMPLE [Literally House] DAY AND NIGHT, TOWARD THE PLACE WHERE YOU SAID YOU WOULD PUT YOUR NAME, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.
30
THEN HEAR FROM HEAVEN YOUR DWELLING PLACE, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men),
NOTE:
How matchless is the only true and living God!
I echo the question that the Holy Spirit spoke through Solomon: “But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth?”
Will God—who is the Most High and above all—indeed dwell with men on earth?
Note that God’s dwelling place is in heaven, yet He has put His Name in the Temple (literally HOUSE) that Solomon built.
The Temple (literally HOUSE) of God was the first step in preparing you and I for the truth that the Holy Spirit later revealed through the Lord Jesus:
man’s spirit and being is designed to be the “house” of the Spirit of the Most High through GRACE.
First, Jesus came in John 1 (Amplified Bible)
14
And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and TABERNACLED (FIXED HIS TENT OF FLESH, LIVED AWHILE) AMONG US; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.
Then, later through the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus—we can now become the houses of God.
Romans 8 (Amplified Bible)
10
But if Christ lives in you, [then although] your [natural] body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, the spirit is alive because of [the] righteousness [that He imputes to you].
~~~
May I—and may we—really ponder and meditate on the wonder of the Presence of God within us.
Once we really come to grasp and know clearly and with certainty the reality of God’s Presence in us as the Spirit teaches and convinces us—then our lives will never be the same.
We will bring glory to the One who honors us with His very Presence!
2 Chronicles 7 (NKJV)
3
When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the LORD, saying: “For He is good, for His mercy endures forever.” [Compare Psalm 106:1]
6
And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the LORD, which King David had made to praise the LORD, saying, “For His mercy endures forever,” [Compare Psalm 106:1] whenever David offered praise by their ministry. The priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood.
NOTE:
It is obvious from the first three (3) verses in 2 Chronicles 7 how eager God is to demonstrate the Glory of His Presence and His Love to man.
It is also obvious that God’s Name is His Presence! His Presence is Glorious!
May these truths be lodged deep within you and I as we meditate on Colossians 1:27
“Christ in you—Who is the certain, guaranteed hope of Glory!”
May God’s manifest Glory be demonstrated more and more in our lives as we pray, meditate, surrender, and have deep and intimate fellowship with the Lord. Then, the will of the Lord Jesus will be fulfilled:
John 7 (NKJV)
38
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, OUT OF HIS HEART WILL FLOW RIVERS OF LIVING WATER.”
John 14 (NKJV)
21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. AND HE WHO LOVES ME WILL BE LOVED BY MY FATHER, AND I WILL LOVE HIM AND MANIFEST MYSELF TO HIM.”
~~~
Romans 7 (NKJV)
20
Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21
I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22
For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
NOTE:
I like these jewels of truth – my paraphrase:
a. Because I do what I do not want to do, I no longer sin—but SIN DWELLING IN ME
b. I do not mean I am not responsible for sin I commit
c. I see two (2) unchanging laws within me at the same time:
* Law of God’s Overcoming Righteousness:
I am righteous in my inner man and delight to do God’s will.
* Law of sin and death in my members
I am called to the process of surrender and doing God’s will, so my whole being and all my members are trained in righteousness through Holy Spirit
Yes… we have to practice righteousness, and yes we have to choose to participate in being set apart and sanctified. Yes, we always have to resist sin in the power of the Spirit.
Yet, may we never forget WHO WE ALREADY ARE in Christ. We are not “helpless victims” as we resist sin and the sin in our members.
We are already spiritual victors through Christ, and He—only by His matchless grace—has imparted to us His victory!
I thoroughly enjoy these rich verses in Romans 8 (Amplified).
1
THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.
2
For THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE [which is] in Christ Jesus
** [THE LAW OF OUR NEW BEING]
Has Freed Me From The Law Of Sin And Of Death.
3
For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. SENDING HIS OWN SON IN THE GUISE OF SINFUL FLESH AND AS AN OFFERING FOR SIN, [GOD] CONDEMNED SIN IN THE FLESH
** [Subdued, Overcame, Deprived It Of Its Power Over All Who Accept That Sacrifice],
4
So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh BUT IN THE WAYS OF THE SPIRIT [OUR LIVES GOVERNED NOT BY THE STANDARDS AND ACCORDING TO THE DICTATES OF THE FLESH,
** But Controlled By The Holy Spirit].
~~~
May we really realize who we already ARE in Christ! Did you catch that the Law of the Spirit of Life IS THE LAW OF OUR NEW BEING!
We are alive in our spirits because of God’s righteousness! So before Satan deliberately focuses attacks on us through sin in our members, MAY WE DELIBERATELY SET OUR MINDS on Christ and His Overcoming Life.
Then, we will be prepared! Prepared not just to “survive”, but prepared to OVERCOME and to win many for the Lord Jesus!
So, may we put our highest priority on fellowship and intimacy with the Holy Spirit. His Life is in us!
We are in Christ and Christ is in us!
Then, may we take the next stept and fulfill the Holy Spirit’s joy of unity TOGETHER as expressions of the Body of Christ all over the world:
Philippians 2 (NKJV)
2
fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
THEN, as we do that, then the victory of Christ—we are in Christ and He is in us—will be MORE manifest so all people in the world WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MISS THE REALITY, PRESENCE, AND GLORY OF JESUS in us!
This is the will of Jesus:
John 17 (NKJV)
21
that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22
And The Glory Which You Gave Me I Have Given Them, That They May Be One Just As We Are One:
23
I IN THEM, AND YOU IN ME; THAT THEY MAY BE MADE PERFECT IN ONE, AND THAT THE WORLD MAY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE SENT ME, AND HAVE LOVED THEM AS YOU HAVE LOVED ME.
~~~
Proverbs 19 (NKJV)
24
A lazy man buries his hand in the bowl,
[Septuagint and Syriac read bosom; Targum and Vulgate read ARMPIT] and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
25
Strike a scoffer, and the simple will become wary; rebuke one who has understanding, and he will discern knowledge.
NOTE:
Please notice the note in the New King James Version I have included after the phrase “A lazy man buries his hand in the bowl”. One possible alternate meaning of “bowl” is “armpit”.
Then a comical picture came to mind: I chuckled to myself when I read this. I thought of a lazy man who had one hand in his armpit (I HOPE HE SHOWERED!!)—while he was sucking the thumb of his other hand!
~~~
Proverbs 19: 24 really speaks volumes. But, in one way, this verse appears to have nothing to do with American society, as Americans are moving at a faster and frenzied pace than ever.
Yet, in another way, verse 24 precisely speaks to our fast paced and frenzied American culture. For, though we are busy and very active, the business of “busy-ness” can be a huge distraction to keep us from doing what we are called to do.
So, we can be extremely busy at the wrong thing, and yet be lazy at doing the right thing.
Mike had written this as one of his comments on Proverbs
“So – thankfully – as we know from our recent Romans readings, we can be free from our lazy ways! Being in relationship with Jesus has literally cured me of my laziness.”
My question is this? Mike mentioned: “as we know from our recent Romans readings, we can be free from our lazy ways!”
Which recent Romans readings pertain to laziness? Maybe I was so lazy, I missed it! (Ha!)
I am extremely glad that being in relationship with the Lord Jesus has cured Mike of laziness. In Jesus’ Matchless Name—I receive some of that zeal with wisdom!
I pray for “zeal with wisdom” for I find myself going fast—but sometimes I feel like a laboratory rat continually running around in an enclosed maze in the laboratory. I do not just want to be “doing” things—I want to be wise and find out what the Lord’s will is—and do that.
As Jesus said, “I only do those things I see my Father doing.” May we emulate the best example in the world, that of the Lord Jesus—the Perfect Man Who always resisted sin and distraction—as He prayed and then followed His Father.
Vance
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