One Year Bible, July 20

2 CHRONICLES 1:1 - 3:17                                                                                                 
RELAPSE & REFORM: 2 Chronicles covers about 400 years, from the beginning of Solomon's reign to the decree of Cyrus for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. After Solomon, when the kingdom divided, 2 Chronicles concerns itself with the history of Judah, ignoring Israel. The book is primarily a history of the TEMPLE: from its being built, to its destruction. And so the story is of the Kings and their relationship to the Temple. There are five reformations OR revivals documented here.  This Chronicle reminds us that the continued Presence of God is contingent on worship.  Spiritual victory is determined by whether or not we seek after the Lord.   If we say one thing and do another, we will fail as Christians.

SOLOMON: WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE:  Solomon wanted wisdom and knowledge so he could "go out and come in before this people".  This is an allusion to a shepherd's ability to successfully lead sheep. (Sheep are NEVER driven - they are led.)  Wisdom is the ability to function successfully.  The knowledge spoken of is NOT the "knowledge of good and evil", but the knowledge that proceeds from the throne of God, where ultimate reality resides.  If knowledge is power, then wisdom is strength.  Because Solomon's request was so pure, God added RICHES, WEALTH, HONOR, and the promise of LONG LIFE (conditional).

BUILDING THE TEMPLE: The "heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him.."   Hiram, king of Tyre, helped Solomon because he had loved David. TEMPLE LOCATION: Mt. Moriah (where Abraham sacrificed Isaac). Also where the angel's hand was stopped from destroying Jerusalem.  Also called Mt. Zion, the threshing floor of Ornan.  The pattern of the Temple, the size of the furniture, and the worship was ordained by Jehovah. The cedars of Lebanon were regarded as the stateliest of the trees and symbols of strength and power.  They were the most sought-after and highly prized trees in the ancient world.  This timber from Lebanon was floated in rafts by sea to Joppa.  Thousands were conscripted to get the timber to Jerusalem and to hew them and put them into place.  The measurements of the Temple were 90 feet long (60 cubits) X 30 feet wide (20 cubits) X 45 feet high (30 cubits). These linear measures are exactly double those of the Tabernacle of Moses.

JACHIN AND BOAZ:  Two ornately carved brass pillars that stood "before the Temple", 35 cubits tall with 5 cu crowns on each one, totaling 60 feet tall!  Jachin means "He will establish".  Boaz means "In Him is strength."  They were probably fire altars that lit up the front of the Temple at night. The pillars, which were hollow, were broken up and carried to Babylon at the fall of Jerusalem before Nebuchadnezzar.

RESPONSE:  What would I ask God for if He promised to give me whatever I asked?  Hmmm. I don't think I would have asked for wisdom a few years ago. That was back when I thought I either knew everything, or could figure it all out.  Now, of course, when I am over 60, I know that KNOWING something doesn't make it yours - DOING it does.  And we need wisdom to know how to use the knowledge we have!  I am going to be thinking about this though .... whatever I ask for, huh?

ROMANS 6:1-23                                                                                                                     
FREEDOM FROM THE TYRANNY OF SIN: The Holy Spirit lives in us to re-create the image of Jesus in us, and to empower us for the change.  My SELF or soul, is no longer my life source. When I live by the life of my flesh, allowing it to motivate and energize me, then I am a rebel and a fugitive from God.

THE SOLUTION:  We do not suppress sin and temptation.  When we are tempted to sin, we draw near to God and submit to Him, and then deny the flesh the right to rule us.   Our real problem is the "body of sin". (6:5-6) "He that is dead is freed from sin."  To be baptized into Christ's death is to join ourselves to Him in such a way that we acknowledge we were in Him when He died.   All the verbs in Romans 6 are AORIST TENSE - which means it is done, finished, over. It is NOT AN ONGOING PROCESS. The process comes in because we are forming new habits that are consistent with our sanctification.  We don't need more power for that; the flesh already has too much power and it needs to be broken!   We live by the Life of God, Who holds all power.  We actually need more of Jesus, and less of ourselves.   Self-preservation puts us in conflict with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

THE CHALLENGE:  When Adam sinned, taking the whole human race with him, we became self-aware, self-conscious, self-serving and self-defensive.  From then on, man has viewed everything with a man-centered view, to glorify man.  I must "lose" my life - separate it away from me for destruction - through obedience to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.   Sin comes through the flesh.  BELIEVERS SIN BECAUSE THEY WANT TO.   It is a challenge to "live unto God" because of the mixture that's in us.   The root of all sin is HUMAN LUST, the demands of the flesh.

THE WEAKNESS OF THE LAW:  Being under the Law causes sin to have dominion over us because the Law does not deal with the heart condition.  It only deals with externals. Deliverance from the Law is necessary to be free from sin and sinning.   In the flesh, we are truly impotent.  This discovery is made with the help of the Law!   GRACE, God's answer, is God's supernatural enablement to obey. Grace is God's strength, His power, and His sufficiency.  The only way to free ourselves from being self-destructive is to SUBMIT TO GOD. Not being "under law, but under grace" does NOT means that we are without law or that we are not subject to the Old Testament!!!!   Believers in Jesus obey the Law because they WANT to and because they are full of God (who can't sin).

THE RESULTS: The fruit of submission to God in the obedience of faith is holiness and the Life of God being seen in us. The fruit of disobedience (sin) is premature death because we become slaves to the devil's rival system of death. Obedience is the final test of faith.

RESPONSE:   Whenever I say something I shouldn't, or think thoughts that are contrary to the Word of God, I tell myself that I only sin because my FLESH WANTS TO!!  When I deny my flesh the right to act, it gets disappointed. T he way I deal with the "WANT TO" is with praise and thanksgiving to God for His goodness and greatness - it takes me right into His Presence.  That is "presenting myself to God".

PSALM 16:1-11                                                                                                                 
Another Psalm describing the "Man of the Spirit".  Here we learn that we find total satisfaction in Jesus and no other. There is nothing good apart from Him.  Multiplied sorrows and pains and vexations are to them who chase after substitutes.  I "set the Lord always before me" by speaking to Him always, making Him the center of my life, living as if I am in His Presence.   That is where I find "fullness of joy" or complete satisfaction - because Jesus alone can be trusted wholly.

PROVERBS 19:20-21                                                                                                      
Wisdom, the ability to function successfully, is aided by advice and instruction. The best teacher is not experience; the best teacher is someone else's experience! I shouldn't have to experience everything to learn the truth of it!

God's purposes prevail. We know that is true, but sometimes we think we can plan things without consulting God. Eph 1:11 says, "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.."  And I like this one: "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." (Psa 115:3)

RESPONSE:   "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:" (1 Pet 1:8)  If we do NOT have that kind of joy, SOMETHING IS WRONG!  When I was younger, I didn't know that I could expect joy in my life!  That's because I was never happy.  I was always complaining, always depressed, always feeling that someone owed me.  Now I know that happiness is a CHOICE!   I can choose to be happy.  I can refuse to dwell on thoughts that are MAD, SAD OR BAD.  I want to be the kind of person who doesn't get mad, who doesn't ever feel sorry for themselves.  THAT IS MY CHOICE. And I have chosen it.

"Fullness of joy" is found ONLY in God's Presence. So, my next step was to "practice the Presence of God", by speaking to Him often - at least 2-3 times in every hour.   By centering my mind on His goodness and greatness.   I drew Him to me because I was drawing near to Him! (James 4:8)   As I began to experience satisfaction from Him, my heart lightened up. Another thing I did was to express my thanks and appreciation for EVERYTHING, like it says in 1 Thess 5:18.   This caused my mind to turn the corner - away from negativism and into hope.  Someone is the recipient of my appreciation regularly.  Not just God. These are habits that conform to our sanctification.  The power to make new habits comes from God intermingling Himself with the new me, and death working in my flesh.