Week 21 Devotions

May 21 - - When the Israelites first left Egypt, God commanded Moses to build a large structure, called the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:1-7). The Tabernacle would be like a huge tent that could be taken down and moved as the people traveled, and then built again when the people stopped. God gave very specific instructions as to how the Tabernacle was to be built, what furnishings would be inside, what the purpose would be for those furnishings, the appointment of priests to minister in the Tabernacle, what the priests would wear, etc. (Exodus 25:8-31:11). Moses did exactly as God commanded (Exodus 35:4-40:33). Whereas, God first appeared to the Israelites when He descended on Mount Sinai in the form of fire, covering the mountain with smoke and causing an earthquake to shake the mountain (Exodus 19), God now filled this Tabernacle in the form of a cloud. And whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle and moved, the people of Israel followed it until such time that the cloud stopped. They would then erect the Tabernacle again. God would fill the Tabernacle as a cloud during the day and at night there was a fire in the cloud so all the people of Israel could see it (Exodus 40:34-38). While David had wanted to build a permanent structure that God could dwell in, called the Temple, God insisted the task be given to David’s son, Solomon. Solomon enlisted 30,000 Israelites to go to Lebanon in shifts to gather the wood for the Temple (I Kings 5:13) and 153,600 foreign men living in the land of Israel to actually build the Temple (I Kings 5:15-18; II Chronicles 2:17&18). The task of building the Temple took Solomon 7 full years (I Kings 6:38). The Temple itself was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high (I Kings 6:2; II Chron.3:3). The walls were overlaid with gold, as were many of the furnishings. The Temple would be a permanent facility that God’s presence could appear in. It was a magnificently beautiful structure paid for by the willing offerings of the people of Israel. But, in truth, God’s presence inhabits the entire Universe and no building made by human hands can fully contain the Lord (II Chron.2:6; 6:18; I Kings 8:27; Acts 7:48&49; Psalm 139:7-16). We are then told that under God’s New Covenant with His people, a covenant sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s presence fills the body of EVERY person who believes that Jesus is the Messiah sent by God to redeem us, and who places their trust entirely in his sacrificed blood to forgive us and reconcile us to God (I Corinthians 6:19&20). That truth means we no longer belong to ourselves to do as we please (Romans 14:7&8; Galatians 2:20). Our bodies are to be instruments of God, doing what God wants us to do, and going where God wants us to go. If the Temple housing the presence of God under the Old Covenant was valuable and expensive to build, what does that say about the Temples God now resides in under the New Covenant? As Paul said, “You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you MUST honor God with your body” (I Cor.6:19&20). God no longer desires the sacrifice of dead animals as He did under the Old Covenant. God desires that we be living sacrifices, honoring and glorifying Him in these earthly Temples He has redeemed (Romans 12:1&2). May 24 - - “I don’t want to do that!” How many times have we heard our children use that phrase when we asked them to do something? For that matter, how many times have we, as adults, said the same thing when we were asked to do something at work, at church, or elsewhere, that we didn’t want to? Now, sometimes the things we are being asked to do are things we really don’t want to do. And at other times, they are things we know we should do, but can’t will ourselves to do. Though we don’t know the specific issue Paul was referring to, there was something in his life he had the same spiritual battle that we do in making the right decision. He wrote, “I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. But I can’t help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these things.....No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself do right. I want to, but I can’t. When I want to do good, I don’t. And when I try not to do the wrong, I do it anyway.....It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.....Oh, what a miserable person I am!” (Romans 7:15-24). Do you ever feel like that? James reminds us, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it” (4:17). Many of us pray that God would help us to do the right thing, and we should. We are, in effect, asking God to help us do what we already know we should do. But, there are other times when we must first have the will to do what we need to do. Interestingly enough, Paul says that God will help us with both areas; possessing the will to do the right thing and, actually doing the right thing. “For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him” (Philippians 2:13). There are times when what we need to be praying first, is that God would place within us the will to do what we know we should do, or what He wants us to do. Solomon said, “May He (God) give us the desire to do His will in everything, and to obey all the commands, laws, and regulations that He gave our ancestors” (I Kings 8:58). And God affirmed, “I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me” (Jeremiah 32:40; Psalm 51:12). Our prayers should oftentimes then, be twofold: “Lord, place the will (or desire) in me to do the right thing, and then grant me the power to do what I know you want me to do.” May that be our prayer as we seek to do God’s will in our lives.