Homesick

God with you - A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 84

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2084&version=NIV;ESV

 

Have you ever felt homesick? Feeling homesick is not so much that you miss the home, as you miss the people in the home.

 

After retiring, my parents lived in Florida for a number of years. Following my Dad’s death, I went to help my Mom move. As we left the house for the final time, I placed a single rose on the mantle in memory of my Dad. I never lived there, but it was where he last lived; and it was home.

 

The Temple had that same kind of effect on the writer of this psalm. According to my NIV study notes, the writer was a Levite priest who had been active in the temple services. However, at the time of the writing, it is speculated that he was barred from the temple because Sennacherib, king of Assyria, had invaded Judah.

 

You could say that the author was homesick for the Temple. But, a more accurate description would be to say that he missed the Lord Almighty; the sovereign God.

 

² My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.           NIV

 

His heart ached because he remembered how joyful he felt when singing God’s praises in the Temple; how people would be strengthened by traveling to Jerusalem to be in God’s presence. He wanted to be in the Temple more than anything else, because his Lord was there.

 

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked. NIV

 

The psalmist was homesick because he believed God lived in the Temple. But it’s different for you and I. You don’t have to make a trip to Jerusalem to be in His presence, because Jesus is with you always; and not just with you, but within you.

 

Sometimes you may still feel homesick for the Lord Almighty, but that doesn’t change the truth of the fact that He is with you. You just need to pray and trust in Him.

 

The song by Matt Redman titled, “Better is One Day” communicates in song what I’m saying in words. Click on the link below and see if God doesn’t touch your heart.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4Fj9bbEmVk

 

 

 

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”.

 

 

 

 

Do You Make Everyone Around You Better?

Acts 3:17-26

 

Peyton Manning, at age 39, retired this past week from the National Football League. During his NFL career of 18 years, he set numerous records while winning five league MVP awards and two Super Bowl championships. Following his emotional speech, there was a huge outpouring of tributes from other players.

 

Perhaps the greatest praise of all came from Manning’s rival and friend, Tom Brady, who posted this on his Facebook page. “Congratulations Peyton, on an incredible career. You changed the game forever and made everyone around you better. It’s been an honor.”

 

In the passage today Peter is preaching to a crowd in the temple. No doubt, these are many of the same people who wanted Jesus dead. Listen to his words:

 

^25 “And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ ²⁶ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”                        NIV

 

The initial covenant that God made with Abraham had to do with inheriting land and becoming a great nation with many descendants. But Peter was pointing to a far greater meaning. He was stating that ultimately Israel was blessed because God had given them the message of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.

 

As a result of Peter’s outspoken preaching, Acts 4 tells us that, “the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand”. You might say that Peter was blessed by God, and as a result he was a blessing to others. You could even say, that he made everyone around him better.

 

As a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, you will have opportunities to be a blessing to others. You do that by investing in people’s lives; by ministering to those who are unable to help themselves; by sharing the Gospel in word and deed.

 

I have no idea if Peyton Manning is a Christian, but he embodies God’s promise to Abraham; “You are blessed to be a blessing”. And like Manning, when you do that, “you make everyone around you better”.

 

Do you?