Day 54: II Chronicles 5-7 Prayers and promise

II Chronicles 5-7

Picture this glorious moment, the moment that the glory of the Lord fills the temple. This was a marvelous sign to the people of Israel, that God is with them. God is with his people. The confidence, the security, the hopefulness, the mercy that this would invoke for Israel is hard to comprehend. Perhaps you’ve heard a joke at a Steelers game about whose side God is on, but imagine if God were really on your side. How might this change your life? How might this change your way of thinking? In II Chronicles 6:18 we hear Solomon say, “But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!” Solomon got it, the magnitude of what was happening, but do we understand this today? Do we comprehend that that same glory that dwelt in the temple dwells in the temple of the body of Christ, his church? That same Spirit of fire landed on the disciples in Acts 2, and continues to carry his people throughout the ages. How much more. How much more does God dwell with his people now? How much more ought our union with Jesus affect our lives today?  And yet, Solomon knows this people will sin. In chapter 7, we read several intercessions, giving God’s people assurance that if they pray, God will forgive them. There is a verse that is repeated twice in these chapters, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Remaining faithful to God is believing that God is good, and that his steadfast love endures forever. We will be like those who abandon the Lord when we begin to doubt his goodness, his steadfastness. Pestilence, plague, difficulty, and sin will come, but our God will remain forever. 

Reflect: Do you believe that you are closer today to the Lord than the Israelites? Do you believe that we have a degree of intimacy with God through Christ that king Solomon couldn’t imagine? If you believe this, how does it change the way you live? How does it change the way you work, love your spouse, or engage in society? Take some time in prayer to both confess your shortcomings and to give thanks that you have a God who is good, whose steadfast love endures forever.

Connect- In Acts 2 we read about another time that God comes to dwell with his people. That day he gave to them his very Spirit, which continues to dwell in his people today. This Holy Spirit ought to guide every aspect of the Christians life. 

Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested[a] on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

-Rev Joseph Bianco