Weekly
1 Kings 8
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=11&chapter=8&version=31
John 17
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2017&version=31
Hebrews 7:25
Therefore [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Hello!
This week had been pretty busy for me, and the next several weeks are looking to be just even busier. I will try to get a Weekly during the end of this week, but then I will be gone on ministry related adventures for two weeks and will not be able to write up the Weekly.
I recently started reading through 1 Kings, and the other day I read about the dedication of the Temple (chapter 8). Here’s a brief background up to this point: Solomon has become king in succeeding his father David and has built the Temple for the Ark of God. The temple itself is described in detail in chapter 6 and 7, and man does it sound like a snazzy place. In chapter 8, after the Ark is brought to the temple, Solomon prays to the Lord and dedicates the temple to Him. It’s a pretty amazing prayer, and one that I don’t think half of us would think of praying when dedicating anything to God.
One striking thing about Solomon’s prayer is that he uses a lot of phrases like, “When famine or plague comes on the land…” or, generally, “When bad things happen to your people…” He doesn’t use the phrase “If something bad happens…” Solomon is certain that bad things will come. However, even more striking than that is WHY those bad things happen. Each time that he says “When…” he follows it up with “…because [your people] have sinned…” He knew that bad things would happen because of Israel’s sin, not because God was being unjust or unfair or not paying attention. He understood the sequence of consequences. We reap what we have sown. But if you thought that was good (I do at least), it gets even better.
Following up the “because of sin” terms the king uses, he then intercedes for all of Israel. He prays to the Lord that “when the people confess … and turn from sin,” that the Lord would hear their prayers and restore them and forgive them.
Solomon asks the Lord to forgive the sins that they have not yet committed! He knows that the people of God will sin in the future, that there will be consequence; but when they turn to the Lord in repentance, he prays that God will forgive. He calls on God to be faithful and to be true to His promises even after God’s people were unfaithful. If you’re familiar with the rest of Kings and the rest of the Old Testament in general, then you know that God’s people constantly went back and forth in their faithfulness to God.
Come to think of it, this sounds a lot like what Jesus does for us, doesn’t it? Sounds like those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, yet struggle back and forth with sin yet wanting to bring glory to God? We are going to sin; it isn’t a matter of “if” but a matter of “when.” However, like the Israelites had a king that prayed for them and pleaded with the Lord to forgive them when they repented, we have a heavenly King who prays and intercedes for us to the Father for forgiveness when we confess Jesus as Lord and repent of our sins -- and I don’t just mean the sins of our past, but our current sins. Those things and actions we desire to do or think that are not what God desires for us. The Lord will restore us and teach us to desire holiness in place of wanting to feed our sinful nature.
I pray that each of us would take on Solomon’s example as people who will pray and intercede for one another, understanding that we will all sin. I also pray that we would be forever praising the Lord for Jesus, who intercedes for us and is the reason why we are forgiven of our sins. I ask that we would be taught by the Holy Spirit to seek holiness, and that we would not seek to indulge our sinful cravings. May we be forever grateful for all He has done for us and continually seek to be like Jesus.
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=11&chapter=8&version=31
John 17
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2017&version=31
Hebrews 7:25
Therefore [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Hello!
This week had been pretty busy for me, and the next several weeks are looking to be just even busier. I will try to get a Weekly during the end of this week, but then I will be gone on ministry related adventures for two weeks and will not be able to write up the Weekly.
I recently started reading through 1 Kings, and the other day I read about the dedication of the Temple (chapter 8). Here’s a brief background up to this point: Solomon has become king in succeeding his father David and has built the Temple for the Ark of God. The temple itself is described in detail in chapter 6 and 7, and man does it sound like a snazzy place. In chapter 8, after the Ark is brought to the temple, Solomon prays to the Lord and dedicates the temple to Him. It’s a pretty amazing prayer, and one that I don’t think half of us would think of praying when dedicating anything to God.
One striking thing about Solomon’s prayer is that he uses a lot of phrases like, “When famine or plague comes on the land…” or, generally, “When bad things happen to your people…” He doesn’t use the phrase “If something bad happens…” Solomon is certain that bad things will come. However, even more striking than that is WHY those bad things happen. Each time that he says “When…” he follows it up with “…because [your people] have sinned…” He knew that bad things would happen because of Israel’s sin, not because God was being unjust or unfair or not paying attention. He understood the sequence of consequences. We reap what we have sown. But if you thought that was good (I do at least), it gets even better.
Following up the “because of sin” terms the king uses, he then intercedes for all of Israel. He prays to the Lord that “when the people confess … and turn from sin,” that the Lord would hear their prayers and restore them and forgive them.
Solomon asks the Lord to forgive the sins that they have not yet committed! He knows that the people of God will sin in the future, that there will be consequence; but when they turn to the Lord in repentance, he prays that God will forgive. He calls on God to be faithful and to be true to His promises even after God’s people were unfaithful. If you’re familiar with the rest of Kings and the rest of the Old Testament in general, then you know that God’s people constantly went back and forth in their faithfulness to God.
Come to think of it, this sounds a lot like what Jesus does for us, doesn’t it? Sounds like those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, yet struggle back and forth with sin yet wanting to bring glory to God? We are going to sin; it isn’t a matter of “if” but a matter of “when.” However, like the Israelites had a king that prayed for them and pleaded with the Lord to forgive them when they repented, we have a heavenly King who prays and intercedes for us to the Father for forgiveness when we confess Jesus as Lord and repent of our sins -- and I don’t just mean the sins of our past, but our current sins. Those things and actions we desire to do or think that are not what God desires for us. The Lord will restore us and teach us to desire holiness in place of wanting to feed our sinful nature.
I pray that each of us would take on Solomon’s example as people who will pray and intercede for one another, understanding that we will all sin. I also pray that we would be forever praising the Lord for Jesus, who intercedes for us and is the reason why we are forgiven of our sins. I ask that we would be taught by the Holy Spirit to seek holiness, and that we would not seek to indulge our sinful cravings. May we be forever grateful for all He has done for us and continually seek to be like Jesus.
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne