Face Time with God

2 Chronicles 7:11-22

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Chronicles%207%3A11-22&version=NIV;NLT

 

 



Without even trying to remember, can you quote a line from a movie you’ve seen before? See if you can remember any of the lines below without looking at the answers at the bottom of the screen.

 

     “I’ll be back.”

     “You can't handle the truth!”

     “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

 

The people of Israel were notorious for forgetting, not a line from a movie, but the Lord. Time and again, the Lord sent judges, prophets and kings to lead His people back to Him. That was the background of 2 Chronicles. After completing the construction of the Temple, the Lord spoke to Solomon.

 

¹² Then one night the Lord appeared to Solomon and said, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices… ¹⁴ Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will

forgive their sins and restore their land.            NLT

 

Building the Temple was a big deal because it was believed to be the house of God, not just in a metaphorical sense, but in a literal sense. When the Lord told Solomon he had chosen his Temple, he was saying that he would reside in the Temple where people could come into his presence and worship him.

 

For us, Solomon’s Temple is an object lesson. When we have faith in Christ and follow him, our bodies are his temple where he lives. The question is, will we remember or forget to humble ourselves before the Lord; to seek His face; to turn from our sin?

 

It’s ironic that I can remember a line from a movie from twenty, thirty or even fifty years ago; but too often, I forget to turn to the Lord and seek His face. That’s why it’s important for me to go to the “Temple” to spend some face time with God.

 

Here's a link for Luke 10:38-42.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+10%3A38-42&version=NIV;NLT

 

 

Answers for movie lines above:

Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1984 “Terminator”

Jack Nicholson in the 1992 movie “A Few Good Men”.

Clark Gable in the 1939 movie “Gone with the Wind”.

 

 

 

 

February 14, 2018

Psalm 19:1-4

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2019%3A1-4&version=NIV;NLT

 

 

Valentine’s Day is traditionally a day to show how much you love your spouse, your children, or your significant other. Children exchange Valentine’s Day cards at school. Couples go out for dinner. Gifts are given like flowers, candy or jewelry. But this year was different.

 

On February 14, 2018, at about 2:00pm a young man walked into a Florida high school and began shooting. By the time he was done, seventeen people were dead! Where is God in this? How is God revealed through something as senseless as this?

 

David endured much tragedy in his life. He first came on the scene by killing Goliath with his sling shot. He led the armies of the nation of Israel in battle and killed his “tens of thousands”. He became a legend which eventually lead to King Saul trying to kill him by sending his army chasing David around the countryside.

 

Yes, David knew what death and destruction was like. I’m sure he personally knew men who were killed in battle; whose families mourned the loss of their loved ones. After all, war is hell. Yet in Psalm 19 he wrote about the Glory of God and how God is revealed in our world.

 

¹ The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
    The skies display his craftsmanship.
² Day after day they continue to speak;
    night after night they make him known.
³ They speak without a sound or word;
    their voice is never heard
⁴ Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
    and their words to all the world.          NLT

 

So how do we respond after the Valentine’s Day massacre of 2018? Do we put our hands up in the air and cry “Woe is me”? Is it hopeless? Or, like David, do we turn to our Creator and look for how He is revealed in our world?

 

Besides this past Wednesday being Valentine’s Day, it was also Ash Wednesday; the beginning of Lent. Lent quickly takes us to Good Friday and Easter. God showed His love for you and for me by sending His one and only son to die for us. He revealed Himself to us through His son.

 

Death does not have the final word. God does.

 

 

 

Don't Try to be a Quarterback

1 Corinthians 12:1-12

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2012%3A1-12&version=NIV;NLT

  

Last Sunday was Super Bowl LII in all its pageantry. TV, newspapers, radio, social media and the Internet were filled with hype during the two weeks leading up to the game. All of this, culminating in pre-game shows that lasted all day long.

 

The star of the game was the MVP – Nick Foles. He is the back-up quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles who stepped in for the injured starter late in the season. But as good as he played, he couldn’t have done it by himself.

 

What would have happened if everyone played quarterback? Wouldn’t that be silly! There would be nobody to block, nobody to run, nobody to receive passes. Instead, each player used his skills to help the Eagles achieve an improbable victory.

 

The same is true for the body of Christ. We all have our own God given gifts.

 

⁴ There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. ⁶ God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. ⁷ A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.      NLT

 

Everyone wants to be a star. Maybe not in the traditional sense of an athlete or an entertainer. But in the sense that we all want to do something significant; something that makes a difference; something that we do well because we’re gifted at doing it. God wants you to be a star in the very best sense of the word.

 

He created you with certain gifts and abilities to accomplish this.

 

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful, I know that full well.     Psalm 139 NIV

 

He created you with a plan for your life.

 

¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2 NIV

 

So don’t try to be a quarterback when you’re a lineman. Learn what gifts God has given you, and then faithfully use them in His service. And then, like Nick Foles, persevere because who knows, maybe someday you’ll be in the Super Bowl.

 

 

Victory in a Broken World!

Revelation 19:1-8

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2019%3A1-8&version=NIV;NLT

 

We live in a broken world!

·         In 2017 Columbus had a record setting number of homicides of 143.

·         Opioid addiction has become an epidemic in the United States.

·         Virtually every day in the news there’s a new revelation about a sex scandal. Most recently, it involved a world renowned doctor who sexually abused young girls.

 

This is a very short list of headliner examples of our broken world. Sometimes we don’t even need to go any further than our front door for an example. Is the world any worse today than the first century when women and children were considered property, temple prostitutes were common place and Christians were martyred?

 

John wrote Revelation from the island of Patmos, a Roman penal colony. While there God spoke to him through an angel in a highly symbolic style.

 

“Praise the Lord!
    Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.
² His judgments are true and just.
    He has punished the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her immorality.
    He has avenged the murder of his servants.”           NLT

 

The “great prostitute” that John refers to is symbolic for Babylon which was the political, commercial and religious center of its day. It was also the center of moral decay and decadence. Today, we have our own version of the Great Prostitute still seducing people to do evil.

 

“Hallelujah!” which means “Praise the Lord”, is written four times in these eight verses. Why? Into this broken world, God sent His only son as an innocent baby. How ironic. His son brought the Good News. He brought hope and a future. He brought forgiveness and redemption. Therefore, let us…

 

⁶ …”Praise the Lord!
    For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. NLT

Hallelujah! The Almighty reigns!

(This link will take you to the song Hallelujah by Cloverton.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbdG-62PE3I