(1 Kings 8:1-66) Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, that is, Zion. 2 So all the men of Israel assembled themselves before King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, that is, the seventh month. 3 Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were gathered together to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its carrying poles from above. 8 But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 And it happened that when the priests came from the holy place, 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 filled the house of the Lord.
12 Then Solomon said,
“The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.
13 I have truly built You a lofty house,
A place for Your dwelling forever.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
The Lord is so very loving, that He "would dwell in the thick darkness" (some versions say "thick cloud", others say "dark cloud"). But here, what Solomon said, meant that he understood the Lord was present! The Lord is always present, since He is omnipresent! But to have the Lord "dwelling" in our presence, means that we desire to have a personal relationship with Him. And even though we still sin, once we have placed our faith in Him, He brings His light into our lives.
We can understand then, that a church building is not THE Church, but it is the body of believers. It is so very fascinating and amazing to think that there isn't any building that can contain God, and yet, in our salvation, our bodies become a temple of the Lord! So where we are, the Lord is present, because at the moment a person becomes a Christian, we receive His indwelling Holy Spirit. In this way, and in this way only, we are able to stand before Him and serve Him.
Having the Holy Spirit of promise, not only seals us for eternity so that we can never lose our salvation, but He is there to convict and guide our hearts in His will. All we have to do is refrain from quenching God's Spirit, by allowing Him to guide us in His wisdom, strengthen us with His power, and equip us with His love. All we have to be - is willing - to allow Him to work in and through us.
God created us as social beings. First of all, we were given souls, which can only be filled and satisfied by the Lord. And as social beings, we also need each other. This is why God tells us not to neglect going to church. Even though the church building is not THE Church... it is a building where THE Church can come together to praise and worship the Lord. How else can we serve one another? How else can we fellowship together? How else can we encourage one another? Just like embers of a fire, on their own, they will die out, but together, they will burn bright!
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