Author: admin

Talk is cheap. Just listen to a politician! Their mouths are filled with promises that they either cannot or will not fulfill. Some deliberately make false promises. Others tell people what they want to hear, even though they are unable to follow through on their commitments. The key to people is not what they say, but what they do.

When God made a promise to David with His mouth, He backed it up with actions by His hands. That is a beautiful picture of integrity. Integrity is when your hands match your mouth!

Sometimes the key is to avoid promising more things than your hands can deliver. At times our mouth may be sincere, but our hands are too weak or over-committed. It is not that we do not want to do what our mouth promised, it is just that our hands are unable to back up what our mouth keeps saying!

True integrity is when your hands match your mouth! Don’t say things you don’t intend, or are unable, to back up with your actions. Every time your mouth fails to match your hands, you lose credibility with people. In time, they will fail to take anything you say seriously. How seriously do people take your words now?

King David lived his life for a legacy. His never lived merely for temporary pleasures or fleeting acclaim. He always held a long view of life.

David managed to capture the city of Jerusalem and establish the City of David. It remains thousands of years later. Through David’s descendants, a Messiah would come who would bring deliverance to all humanity. That Messiah continues His glorious reign to this day.

David also had a heart to build a magnificent temple for the Lord, upon Mount Moriah, overlooking the City of David. Though God would not allow David to construct it, David collected treasures and building materials so those who followed him would be well supplied. And, when the temple was complete, treasures, collected by David,were brought into the temple coffers. How marvelous that even after David had died, treasures were coming to God’s work through his earlier efforts! That is legacy. When people continue to be blessed by your life, long after you are gone.

Few words bring more joy to a leader’s heart than the word “finished!” It signifies that the effort, persistence, and energy expended have finally come to fruition. It means the toil and sweat has finally come to an end. It indicates the vision that compelled your life and efforts has become a reality.

Some people have difficulty finishing what they begin. They are initially filled with dreams and visions of what could be. They can excitedly brainstorm with friends and colleagues about the plethora of possibilities, but nothing ever comes to fruition. They are dreamers but not doers.

The key to a person’s success may not be how many projects they began, but how many they completed. The prerequisite to finishing is perseverance. Not everyone has it. When difficulties come, criticisms are leveled, and supporters desert you, perseverance may be the only character trait that prevents you from quitting as well.

What projects has God given you that you have not yet been able to declare “finished!”? Persevere!

Huram may have wondered during his younger days what the purpose for his life was. His mother was a Jewish widow from Naphtali. His father was a bronze worker from Tyre, a Gentile city. Such an unusual heritage might have raised many questions in Huram’s as well as other’s minds. Bronze work was a special skill and in short supply in Israel. While other young men entered the priesthood or into traditional professions, Huram might have wondered why God had not “called” him to a divine purpose for his life.

Then one day it was announced that King Solomon was going to construct a magnificent temple to the true God. It would be unlike any structure built for a deity before. There would be plentiful gold and also much . . . bronze. For such work, a craftsman of unique skills was required. Suddenly, all of Huram’s childhood upbringing and unique business skills came into focus. He suddenly recognized that his entire life had been preparation for the greatest assignment of his life.

Likewise God equipped Huram for his singular task. Interestingly, God granted him skill in working with “all things bronze,” which we would expect, but God also granted him “wisdom and understanding” which means he could not only work with his hands, but he could also think. The breathtaking temple would stand for centuries in honor of God. And Huram, a man skilled at working with bronze, would invest his life in one of the greatest accomplishments in his nation’s history.

The natural result of encountering God’s glory is divine blessing. Once God’s glory fell on the temple, the king spontaneously blessed the people.

Focusing on God is never a diversion from ministering to people. Once we have clearly seen the Lord, we are never in a better position to meet the needs of others. After our heart has been purged from its dross, we can then give ourselves away to others.

Some have mistakenly viewed times of worship as a distraction from “getting the work done.” But only those who have truly worshiped can truly serve. When we try to bless others apart from our own encounter with our Lord, we tend to minister to others out of improper motives or with hearts that are impure. We can get our feelings hurt or pride can creep in even as we serve in the name of the Lord.

However, once we have met with God, our spontaneous desire is to be a servant of God to bless others. We want to share the good news of God’s salvation and goodness. We cannot encounter God and yet remain silent or inactive! Who is currently being blessed because you encountered the Lord?

The glory of the Lord. We often speak of it and long for it, but few understand it. God’s glory is what we experience when God removes the spiritual veil from our eyes and we see Him as He is. We generally have our spiritual vision blurred by sin and self-centeredness. We often are around God, but we do not see Him clearly.

We can attend a church service yet not encounter God. We can read our Bibles or say our prayers and yet be oblivious to God’s presence. Yet there are times when God is pleased to let us experience the reality of His being with us. Suddenly we know that God is not merely a theological doctrine, but a living and awesome Creator.

When God chose to manifest His presence in the temple, the priests could not continue their work, God’s glory was too overpowering. Oh that we would experience God’s glory to the extent that we could no longer continue business as usual!

The world is littered with holy places that are lifeless. The spires reach upward to the heavens. The stained glass is breathtaking. The columns and arches are magnificent. The Gothic ceilings are breathtaking. Yet one comes away impressed with a building and not with God.

Despite all that Israel’s wealthiest king invested into the construction of the temple, it would have been meaningless had it not been that God chose to place His tangible presence in the Holy Place.

The reality is that we cannot manipulate or control God’s presence in our life or ministry. We can only prepare a place. Once the temple is built and the Holy Place consecrated, sovereign God chooses where He will manifest Himself.

Just as the cloud filled the temple, so we ought never to be satisfied apart from a complete filling of our own lives by the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit’s filling, we are but white washed tombs. With His filling, we have the awesome power of God working in and through us.

Until the ark of the covenant was placed inside the holy of holies, the temple was merely an elaborate building. But once the most holy piece of furniture in Israel’s history was installed, the house of worship became a dynamic venue for meeting with almighty God.

The ark of the covenant symbolized the presence of God among His people. However, throughout the Old Testament era, it rested in the inner sanctuary of the temple under the wings of the massive golden cherubim. No one but the high priest was able to gaze upon it. People knew it rested in the holy place, but most people had no hope of seeing it in their lifetime.

The ark eventually was lost to history. The temple was looted and razed more than once, and at some point, the ark was lost. Scripture never reveals what happened to it, but everyone knew it was gone. While king Herod would eventually build a dazzling temple upon the sacred mount, the holy of holies was vacant. Though a veil was constructed to prevent people from seeing in, the reality was that the holy place was empty. We can erect an elaborate facade to impress others with our spirituality within, but we, and eventually others, will know if we are empty inside.

The temple Solomon built for God was impressive. People came from all over the known world to see it and to worship within it. The magnificent structure towered about the city skyline. So elaborate was it that it took seven years of intense labor by an army of builders to complete the glorious structure. Yet the king took thirteen years to build his own house.

Perhaps nothing should be seen in this. Solomon did build God’s house first. Kings require numerous rooms and apartments to house their royal retinue and harem that God does not. Nevertheless, more effort was placed on his own comfort and prestige than in the effort Solomon made on behalf of God.

At times it is what we put our money in to that reflects where our heart is. Perhaps the growing preoccupation with his own opulence and grandeur ultimately led Solomon to neglect the God who had given him his kingdom in the first place. Perhaps having built God a magnificent house, the king now felt he could turn his attention elsewhere. Could it be that you once gave God your full loyalty and attention, but of late, your focus has been on other things? Have you been neglecting your relationship with God while you attended to other matters?

For a people making their living farming, shepherding, and fishing, going to the temple must truly have been an awe-inspiring experience! Gold was used so generously that even the floor of the outer sanctuary was covered with it! As Israelite worshipers traveled from their farms and villages from across the land to the temple in Jerusalem, the people must have been amazed at the awesome sight. The temple upon Mount Moriah, rising above the city walls, could be seen in the distance as the pilgrims approached. The gold shone brightly off the temple in its dazzling brilliance. Then, entering the temple to worship, and walking upon a golden floor would have been the most amazing experience in many of these humble peasant’s lives.

Yet we also know that the gold of the temple would eventually be seized, either by desperate Israelite kings needing to pay tribute to their enemies, or from pillagers as they destroyed the holy place. The temple of Solomon, once a wonder of the world, would eventually lie in ruins. An edifice built to the glory of God would be crudely cast down and stripped of anything of value.

That is because God is not confined to a place, no matter how beautiful. No structure is august enough to adequately house the almighty. As much as we would like to construct a building magnificent enough for God to choose to reside within it, it is impossible.

Our aim ought to be to prepare our hearts to receive and house our Lord. It is not gold and silver that please our Creator, but a pure and humble heart. We tend to want things to be grandiose. God looks for that which is pure.