Foundations Week 19, Day 5

Scripture Read: 1 Kings 8; 9:1-9
Title: The Dedication of the Temple
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H.E.A.R. Entry
(H) Highlight verse:  "But will God indeed dwell on earth?  Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house I have built!"  1 Kings 8:27

(E) Explain:  God gives Solomon wisdom and in doing so he is blessed beyond all kings before or after him.  With his wisdom and wealth comes the ability and the calling to finally build the Temple of God that his father envisioned.  In his fourth year as king, Solomon begins building the house of the Lord.  David has the initial idea to build a temple or a house for God and as delighted as the Lord was He forbids David to build it because he was a man of war.  God told David to collect all the materials and to cast a vision for building a  temple and then God would  commission Solomon to implement his father’s vision.  David was the visioneer and Solomon made it a reality.  When the temple was complete Solomon brought in the things that his father had dedicated and he also stored the silver, gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of God.  He then assembles the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the father’s houses of the people of Israel to bring in the Ark of the Covenant.
Solomon then blesses the house of the Lord and then prays a prayer of dedication of the Temple and offered a sacrifice to the Lord... 22,000 Oxen and 120,000 sheep and held a seven day feast for all of Israel.   He held nothing back for his God and for His people.     

(A) Application: We must always be aware of what God is doing in our midst and we should be aware of what he is asking or directing us to do.  Being a Christian is not intended to be something you do, it’s something you are.  And as we have read in today's passage (and so many others)that our call from God is a call to obedience to Him and His Word.  We must be obedient to Him,  seek his counsel and determine what he is up to so we may be available for Him to use us for His glory.  We can and should dream about what God can and will do through us, however our job is not just to dream about what God can do, we need to find out what He is doing and then get on board with him so the dream can become a reality by the power of His Spirit. 

(R) Respond: Solomon was a man whose dream or a vision became a reality because of God  faithfully fulfilled His promise to him.  God has placed God-honoring dreams in my life and pray that those dreams would be fulfilled through the power of God and with His Spirit.