KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus
Through Every Chapter
Date: Sunday,
April 10, 2016
Chapters: 1
Kings 7-9
Message: 1 Kings: In
The Presence Of God

Hello My Friend,

As
born again Christians we have the privilege of having the presence of
God with us at all times. One of the promises that Jesus made before
He left the earth was that He would send us a Comforter, someone to
be with us always until He comes to get us. That Comforter is none
other than the Holy Spirit, He dwells in us, He is alive in us, and
that means God dwells in us. “If ye love
me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;”
- John 14:15,16.

Before God allowed the Holy Spirit to
dwell in all believers permanently He filled men and women as He
needed them. It was not uncommon for people all over the world to
travel to places they knew had a strong presence of God. We first
learned of the structure that Solomon had made for the temple that
would house the presence of God, it was designed just as David
instructed. Now, we get details of what was built to go inside,
everything was built with the same quality materials as the building
itself. Solomon used a man name Hiram to be his contractor.

“And
king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. He was a widow's son
of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker
in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and
cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and
wrought all his work. And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and
the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made
king Solomon for the house of the LORD: And Solomon made all the
vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold,
and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was, And the
candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the
left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the
tongs of gold, And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and
the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold,
both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for
the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple. So was ended all the
work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon
brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the
silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures
of the house of the LORD.” - 1 Kings
7:13,14,40,48-51.

“which David his
father had dedicated;” Dedicate, To set apart and consecrate
to God. When a person first receives Christ as their Saviour it is as
if the weight of every sin committed has been lifted off and removed,
they are empty and clean. Since God dwells in us, He wants us to
dedicate our mind, body, and spirit to Him, the only way we can do
that is by feeding ourselves with things that are pleasing to Him. I
recently began a gluten free, low carb diet and for the first time in
years I felt light and energetic, but yesterday I ate some pizza and
now I feel weighed down and miserable. Building our house for God
means eliminating things from our mental, physical, and spiritual
diets that weigh us down and make us miserable. We are never going to
be perfect, but we can learn from our mistakes and make less if we
dedicate everything we put in our bodies to God. “But
know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the
LORD will hear when I call unto him. Stand in awe, and sin not:
commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.”
- Psalms 4:3,4.

To the world and those who follow false
religion the presence of God is dependent upon a building, billions
of dollars are spent on worship centers geared to bring people to
Him. Sadly, they are either too blind or deceiving the lost into
believing that God is in that building. I will never forget my
ex-boyfriend, who was supposed to be a Christian, telling me not to
fill his family with my religion when I mentioned to them that God is
not in a building. The world likes the appearance of a godlike being
to go to, but they do not want Him dwelling in their lives. Now, the
temple was built and everything was ready for God to make His
presence. Solomon gathered all the people together to join in on the
celebration, he knelt down, lifted his hands up in the air and began
to pray.

“And it came to pass,
when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud
filled the house of the LORD, So that the priests could not stand to
minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled
the house of the LORD. Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he
would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house
to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever. What
prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy
people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own
heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: Then hear thou
in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every
man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even
thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;) That they
may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou
gavest unto our fathers. And let these my words, wherewith I have
made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day
and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause
of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:”
- 1 Kings 8:10-13,38-40,59.

“The
LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.” One
amazing thing about God is that even in the darkness He is with us?
My phone has a power saver on it that dims the light during the
night, if I get up in the middle of the night I can see the display
perfectly, but if I turn the lights on I can barely see it. While
God’s presence is always with us, day or night, it is often in our
darkest hour that we see Him. Why? It is much easier to see God we
are suffering because we are spending more time with Him. Think about
it, how often, apart from praying for meals, upon waking up, or
before bed, do we communicate with God as though He is right there
with us? If we stop to think about it, we can go days without talking
to Him. Dark days are given to us so that we are reminded that He is
always with us. “But the God of all grace,
who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that
ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen,
settle you.” - 1 Peter 5:10.

Knowing you are in
the presence of God comes easier when we are obedient to Him. We can
say a thousand word prayer, but unless we truly mean what we say, all
we are doing is talking to the air. Solomon spoke the largest prayer
recorded in history, and God heard Him, He came to him in another
dream, this time assuring him that He heard his prayer, but He also
had a warning. “And the LORD said unto him, I
have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made
before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put
my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there
perpetually. And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father
walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to
all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my
judgments: Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon
Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There
shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall
at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep
my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go
and serve other gods, and worship them: Then will I cut off Israel
out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have
hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall
be a proverb and a byword among all people:” - 1 Kings
9:3-7.

“and this house, which I
have hallowed for my name,” Hallowed, To make holy; to
consecrate; to set apart for holy or religious use. There is that
phrase again, to set apart, every house that God dwells in is
hallowed, that means that every soul He dwells in is set apart for
God’s use. What about the rest of the body? That is determined on
how well we take care of His house if we are saved. God will not
hesitate to remove a soul from a body that abhors or mocks Him, if
they choose to live a life that even the world detests He will cast
them out of His sight, and sadly they will die in their sin. “Know
ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be
not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall
inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are
washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. What? know ye not that
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye
have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are
God's.” - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11,19,20.

Jesus
Christ Revealed: Today Jesus is revealed through the
temple. Jesus is the temple, who dwells in all believers through the
Holy Spirit. “Jesus answered and said unto
them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then
said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and
wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his
body.” - John 2:19-21.

Today's
Prayer: God, There is no better feeling than having Your
presence known to me, it is as if I can feel You right there with me.
I admit that when I get discouraged or busy with life it causes me to
talk to You less and lose the sense of Your presence. I find myself
burning the candle at both ends and getting no where, and that is
when I need to remind myself that I am not alone, You are with me,
and You will help me. Lord, walk with me, lead me and guide me, clean
my head, body, and spirit from all the bad things that are weighing
me down, and replenish them with Your wisdom, guidance,
understanding, mercy, and grace. I want to be a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to You, and to take care of the temple that You
dwell in. I ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

God
Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

Are
You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?:
https://godsprice.com/
Receive
The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email:
https://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed
A Message: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Visit
I'm Following Jesus:
https://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
Like
I'm Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright
© 2016 I'm Following Jesus, All rights reserved.