Page 17 - Florida Sentinel 3-16-18

Being Thankful And
ative consequences in your life as well as others?
Sacrifice and
Celebrations
(2 Chronicles 7:4–9)
A “great congregation” gathered to celebrate the dedication of the Temple. Many people brought sacri- fices, and Solomon himself provided 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. The bronze altar could not fit
so many sacrifices, so King Solomon had to consecrate the courtyard to be used for sacrificial offerings.
God’s faithfulness to us is endless and unparalleled. He does not judge us by the size of our offerings, but the motivation of our hearts. Our most significant worship comes from heartfelt obedi- ence, which pleases the Lord (Psalm 51:16–17; Micah
6:6–8). Give from your heart and God will always be honored by your gift.
How will you respond to His constant faithfulness and presence in your life?
A few suggestions:
Be thankful and worship
God; ASPIRE to worship Him in both simple and grand ways; and PLAN a cel- ebratory worship service to celebrate God’s promises.
Worshipping God At All Times 2 Chronicles 7:1-9
The Scripture reads:
1 day giving thanks, but 2
weeks.
God’s Glory Fills the Temple (2 Chronicles 7:1-2)
King Solomon has com- pleted the prayer he began in the previous chapter (2 Chronicles 6:12–42). As a sign of divine approval for the built Temple, and also for Solomon’s prayer, God sent fire down from heaven to consume the sacrifice that Solomon had placed on the altar (2 Chronicles 7:1).
While we no longer pre- sent animal sacrifices to God, we are to present our- selves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). Our bodies are now the temple which God fills with His glorious presence (2 Corinthians 6:16). As we present our lives to God, He will fill us with His Spirit so that we manifest the attributes of His presence (Galatians 5:18– 26).
The People Worship God (2 Chronicles 7:3)
When the people saw that God’s presence had filled the Temple, they bowed down and worshiped Him. They shouted praises, “For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”
Here we are shown the perfect response to God’s presence—worship!
Worship takes on many forms in believers’ lives. In the physical sense, worship may include standing, kneel- ing, bowing down, or lifting hands in reverence. In a deeper sense, worship is liv- ing in obedience to God’s Word.
When God’s presence has consumed us, our hearts will be in a continual state of worship and we will be will- ing to obey Him in every area of our lives. How has disobe- dience to God produced neg-
(1) When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacri- fices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. (2) The priests could not enter the tem- ple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. (3) When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pave- ment with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; his love endures forever.” (4) Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. (5) And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thou- sand head of cattle and a hun- dred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. (6) The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord’s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, “His love endures forever.” Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing. (7) Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offer- ings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offer- ings and the fat portions. (8) So Solomon observed the festi- val at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. (9) On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had cele- brated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the fes- tival for seven days more.
This lesson teaches us that God faithfully answers prayer, that we should dedi- cate and regard our bodies as His temple, and that the cor- rect response to God’s pre- sence in our lives is worship.
The nation of Israel ob- served that fact during the dedication of the Temple built by its king, Solomon. The nation did not spend just
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