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1 Chronicles 18:20 “Be strong and courageous and do the
work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the Lord thy
God is with you. He will not fail You or forsake you. He will see to it that
all the work related to the temple of the Lord is finished correctly.” That is
a big chunk of meat to chew on today. It’s like a big ole juicy steak! Yum!
We can do this! I love encouraging people with those four
simple words. We can do this. People encourage me when they say things like, “Wendi,
you can do this. God has equipped you with strength and courage so you can do
your work today emotionally, financially, physically, mentally, spiritually,
relationally, and in your character. God is never failing and is working for
you to make sure your temple (everything I am) is finished completely and
correctly.
I like to relate the principles in the Old Testament and New
Testament to areas in our lives. The following verses I am writing about are
not completely written out, would you look them up and enjoy them with me? Do
you see how the temple talked about in the Old Testament can so relate to our
lives?
21 Leaders, priest and others with special skills of every
kind will come and help serve the Lord by ministering to our broken
vessels/temples to bring honor to His name. God is sending us help through all
types of mediums, means, and people. Though we may be young, inexperienced and
the work ahead of us is enormous we are still called to build, construct, tend,
guard, etc. the temple foundations, floors, ceilings, rooms and more.
We all have work that needs to be done in most of the areas
of our lives so we could say we are living
in the construction zone. Now, that often brings less than favorable thoughts
of construction zones. This I know for sure, God is calling us to construct,
build, tear out, gut, refurbish, refurnish many areas of our lives and it may
often look like a construction zone. It also may take a long time for the
project to be complete. I can relate and often resemble this statement.
This vessel or temple we live in is not just another temple
or building, it is for God Himself. 29:2 We have every resource available
through God and His fantastic plan for our lives. So many times though we don’t
want to start/continue/finish the construction/deconstruction/refurnishing/refurnishing
because we are waiting for the same provisions God has given others in our
situation. We are all unique vessels. Sure God can use the same provisions and
tools to accomplish His purposes in many people’s lives. The key is to listen,
hear, obey and do what He has called us to do, the way He wants us to do it. If
we should happen to stumble and fall or even completely turn in the opposite
direction of His leading then we simply turn ourselves around/pick ourselves up
through repentance and seek His help again for sure footing. The way sister Sami
and brother Bubba accomplished the will of the Lord for their lives may not
necessarily be the complete and perfect will of the Lord for our lives. Yes,
dear ones, we can and should glean from sister Sami and brother Bubba’s
examples, but ultimately we are to look around our lives and use the equipment,
plans, ideas, supplies, and resources HE has already gathered and placed in our
treasuries-heart, mind, body, emotions, spirit, character, finances, drive,
will and more. Instead of the next ‘get rich quick, lose 10 pounds in 3 days,
this drug will cure your every ache and pain scheme or plan’ let’s determine to
utilize the resources God has already given us and begin the necessary changes
or construction to our temple/body/mind/spirit/finances/emotions/character/etc.
– all of us.
God has supplied ENOUGH for us to begin our journey, stay
the course of the journey and complete the journey. Enough. (vs.6)
Let us also consider giving willingly to others by
contributing precious and vast quantities of wisdom/knowledge/gifts/ears to
hear/etc. Some may need these items to begin, continue, or complete their
journey. What we generally tend to think about giving is our money. This isn’t
my specific point. We need to be open and willing to give away anything God
puts His finger on and says, they need _______. Let’s think of ways we can give
from the wisdom He has given us and invest it into their lives. Here’s an idea:
what kind of words are we able to give to those around us that will aid them
along the way to better health emotionally, financially, mentally, physically,
spiritually, relationally and in their character? What gift of time, talent, resources, or money can we give today that
will be a specific source of comfort or encouragement to those strategically
placed in our lives? (Change Your Life
Daily, Emotional page, Becky Tirabassi) Let us give freely and
wholeheartedly all the materials, ideas, talents, etc. we have for these gifts
have come directly from Father to us and not just for US but others as well. (vs.
16) May the materials we have gathered and been given from Father be used for
the building/edifying/beautifying of these temples He loves to operate in and
through in order to bring honor to His holy name.
(vs. 17) When He examines our hearts I pray He finds
integrity, good motives and that we have given our gifts willingly and joyously
to Him, others, and ourselves. If we are not doing this then I pray we would be
quick to repent, return, rely and recover. (vs. 18) May we always be willing to
obey Him and may our love for Him never change in any way except to grow deeper
daily. (vs. 19) May we wholeheartedly desire to obey and follow all His
commands/directions/decrees/principles and commit to building our temples for
Him and through Him. Through Him, all preparations have been made.
(vs. 22) Today let us choose to crown Him King in every area
of our lives. Let us also allow Him (23) to take the throne in every area
emotionally, financially, physically, mentally, spiritually, relationally and
in our character thus allowing Him to prosper Himself greatly in and through
us. Let’s once again pledge our loyalty to Him in our ways exalting Him over
anger, bitterness, disappointment, hate, dislike, scorn, fear, debt,
selfishness, stubbornness, rebellion, as well as refusal to do His will, greed,
gossip, slander, false accusations, lust, pride, gluttony and more.
God has so much stored up for us and at our disposal, but we
must keep this in mind: what He has stored up for us may not be like what He
has stored up for others. One treasure may not seem like treasure to someone
else. The treasure He has for us may not necessarily be the kind of treasure we
want or even THINK we NEED.
Romans 5:6 Jesus came for us. He knew we would need Him. He
also left Holy Spirit here to help us through good times and bad. Jesus came
for us even though He knew we would continuously choose to do our own thing and
prefer our will to His will. Jesus makes us right before God though and that is
something worth shouting about.
Psalm 15:1-5 Today let’s choose to lead blameless lives and
do what is right, speaking the truth from a sincere heart. Let us refuse to
slander others or harm our neighbors/family/friends and refuse to speak evil of
their friends. Let’s choose to honor faithful followers of the Lord and keep
our promises even when it hurts.
‘Let us’ benefits (name a few on the lines below)…
1.
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2.
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3.
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Lettuce (Let us-get it?) benefits (name a few on the lines
below)…
1.
_____________________
2.
_____________________
3.
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