Tue.’s Devo - The Presence of the Lord

Read: 1 Kings 8:1-66; Acts 7:51-8:13; Psalm 129:1-8; Proverbs 17:1 The Ark of the Covenant was brought to the Temple at the Festival of Shelters or Tabernacles in the month of Tishri or Ethanim. All the furniture that had been in the Tabernacle in Zion was brought and put in the Temple of Solomon. *** Solomon and the people offered so many sacrifices it was impossible to keep count. The Ark was carried by the priests on poles and placed under the mercy seat with the cherubim. When the priests came out of the Holy Place a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord and the priests could not continue their service because of the presence of the Lord. *** Solomon stood and addressed the people. He told them how this had always been the dream of his father, David, to build a Temple for the Lord. Solomon was honored to carry out his request. Solomon praised the Lord with all his heart. He knew that this Temple couldn’t contain God but he prayed that He would watch over the Temple and hear the prayers of his people when they prayed toward this place. He asked God to be their judge and forgive them when they had sinned. *** If they sinned against him and brought righteous judgement against themselves then they could repent and pray from this place and be heard. God’s judgments for turning from him were: defeat by their enemies, famine, draught, and plague. All of these could be forgiven and then God would act on their behalf if they repented and prayed toward this place. Foreigners would hear of their God and his power, and come to learn of him and accept him as their God. *** If Israel was ever taken captive to another nation and they repented and petitioned heaven for their cause, God would forgive them and make their captors show mercy to them. *** Last of all, Solomon prayed that God’s presence would never leave them or abandon him. He asked God to give them the desire to do his will in everything they did and that they would always obey all his laws. And, may he give them justice every day. He prayed that the people would be faithful to do his will. *** Then they offered more sacrifices and peace offerings and they dedicated the Temple of the Lord. This celebration went on for 14 days - seven days for the dedication of the altar and seven for the Feast of Tabernacles. Then the people went home blessing the king and full of joy. *** In Acts, Stephen had gotten to the end of his speech where he began preaching to the leaders. He called them a stubborn people, heathens, and deaf to the truth. He asked them if they were always going to resist the Holy Spirit like their ancestors who had persecuted every prophet God sent to them. *** The Jewish leaders didn’t take to this well. They shook their fists at him in anger. But Stephen gazed into the heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand. He told them what he was looking at and they put their hands over their ears. They dragged him out of the city and began stoning him. They took their coats off to throw their stones and laid their coats at the feet of Saul. 
 *** As Stephen was dying, he asked the Lord to receive his spirt but not to charge them for the sin of killing him. Then he died. *** Saul approved of the death of Stephen and began persecuting Christians everywhere to destroy the church. Saul went from house to house dragging Christians out of their homes and throwing the into prison. But the Christians continued to spread the Good News of Jesus the Messiah. Philip went to Samaria and preached to them and saw many miracles happen as he prayed. *** A man called Simon who had been a sorcerer for many years had claimed to be the Great One - the Power of God, because of his magic. When Philip came to his town and began baptizing in the name of Jesus Christ, many believed what he said. Simon was one of them. He was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip did. *** Lord, may you grant us a heart to want to do your will and follow you in all we do. Thank you for your presence that goes with us everywhere. May we be the ones to follow after you.