All Hostile to God

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death. (Colossians 1:21–22)

The best news in all the world is that our alienation from God is ended and we are reconciled to the Judge of the universe. God is no longer against us, but for us. Having omnipotent love on our side mightily steels the soul. Life becomes utterly free and daring when the strongest being in the universe is for you.

But Paul’s message of salvation is not good news to those who reject the diagnosis in Colossians 1:21. He says, you “were alienated and hostile in mind.”

How many people do you know who say, “Apart from God’s grace, I am hostile to God in my mind”? People seldom say, “I hate God.” So, what does Paul mean that people are “hostile in mind” to God before they were reconciled by the blood of Christ?

I think he means that the hostility is really there toward the true God, but people do not allow themselves to think about the true God. They imagine God to be the way they would like him to be, which seldom includes any possibility that they might be in really serious trouble with him.

But concerning the God who really exists — a God who is sovereign over all things, including sickness and calamity — we were all hostile to him, Paul says. Deep down, we hated his absolute power and authority.

That any of us is saved is owing to the wonderful truth that the death of Christ obtained the grace by which God conquered our hearts and caused us to love the One we once hated.

Many are still learning not to be hostile to God. It is a good thing that he is gloriously patient.

John Piper 

June 6

Luke 2:1-20

[1] In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. [2] This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. [3] And all went to be registered, each to his own town. [4] And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, [5] to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. [6] And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. [7] And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

[8] And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. [9] And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. [10] And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. [11] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. [12] And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” [13] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

    [14] “Glory to God in the highest,

        and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

    [15] When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” [16] And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. [17] And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. [18] And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. [19] But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. [20] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Ephesians 3:14-21

[14] For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, [15] from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, [16] that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, [18] may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, [19] and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

[20] Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 119:41-48

    [41] Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD,

        your salvation according to your promise; 

    [42] then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me,

        for I trust in your word. 

    [43] And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,

        for my hope is in your rules. 

    [44] I will keep your law continually,

        forever and ever, 

    [45] and I shall walk in a wide place,

        for I have sought your precepts. 

    [46] I will also speak of your testimonies before kings

        and shall not be put to shame, 

    [47] for I find my delight in your commandments,

        which I love. 

    [48] I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,

        and I will meditate on your statutes.

1 Kings 9

[1] As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the king’s house and all that Solomon desired to build, [2] the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. [3] And the LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. [4] And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, [5] then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ [6] But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, [7] then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. [8] And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ [9] Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the LORD has brought all this disaster on them.’”

[10] At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king’s house, [11] and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. [12] But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. [13] Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul to this day. [14] Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

[15] And this is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the LORD and his own house and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer [16] (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife; [17] so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and Lower Beth-horon [18] and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, [19] and all the store cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. [20] All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel—[21] their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction—these Solomon drafted to be slaves, and so they are to this day. [22] But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen.

[23] These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: 550 who had charge of the people who carried on the work.

[24] But Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo.

[25] Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the LORD, making offerings with it before the LORD. So he finished the house.

[26] King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. [27] And Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. [28] And they went to Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.

1 Kings 10

[1] Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions. [2] She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. [3] And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. [4] And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, [5] the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more breath in her.

[6] And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, [7] but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. [8] Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! [9] Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” [10] Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

[11] Moreover, the fleet of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a very great amount of almug wood and precious stones. [12] And the king made of the almug wood supports for the house of the LORD and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen to this day.

[13] And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.

[14] Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, [15] besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land. [16] King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels of gold went into each shield. [17] And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. [18] The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. [19] The throne had six steps, and the throne had a round top, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, [20] while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. [21] All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. [22] For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

[23] Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. [24] And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. [25] Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

[26] And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. [27] And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. [28] And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders received them from Kue at a price. [29] A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king’s traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Are We Training Our Children?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

 

READ THIS

Are we training our children? The word train in the dictionary says this: “to prepare for a contest, to instruct by exercise, to drill, to form to a proper shape, to discipline for use.” Great basketball players do not learn how to play basketball by reading a book. They are trained. They are coached. We have to train and coach our children. We have to pray. We have to teach. We have to plead. We have to show by example.

If we teach our children and that’s all we do, we’ll teach them one thing, but someone else can come along and teach them something else. But when we train them, they get something through the pores of their skin into their very psyche through this training. There’s a difference between teaching and training.

CONSIDER THIS

If you have children, have you made a pattern of training them, or have you simply taught them without example? Explain.

Where have you found it most valuable to be trained in something and not only taught?

DO THIS

Take time this week to train someone else—whether a child or another person close to you—in a practice of the Christian life.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Dependable in the Mundane

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

One of the most powerful testimonies to the all-sufficiency of God’s future grace is the “faith principle” that has governed the lives of so many missionaries, notably those of Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF).

Without condemning those who follow a different pattern, it has been the practice of those who follow in the steps of Hudson Taylor and George Mueller to move the hearts of supporters to give by directing their requests to God and not to people.

James H. Taylor, the great-grandson of the founder of OMF, explains how this faith in future grace, rooted in demonstrations of bygone grace, honors God.

We . . . begin from a position of faith. We believe God does exist. We have become convinced of this in a variety of ways, but all of us have experienced the grace of God in bringing us to know Himself through Jesus Christ and through rebirth by His Spirit. We believe we have good grounds for believing in Him through the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: we believe that someone who said He would die and rise again, and did it, is credible in every other way. Therefore we are prepared to trust Him, not only for the eternal salvation of our souls, but also for the practical provision of our daily bread and financial support.

OMF publishes testimonies of God’s amazing faithfulness to demonstrate the glory of his all-supplying future grace. “We want to demonstrate that God can be trusted to do all that He says He will do, by sharing how He has provided for such mundane needs as plane tickets, meals, medical expenses, and the regular support of a whole group of Christian people for well over a hundred years.”

What OMF is devoted to is glorifying the dependability of God — in their message and in their method. Hudson Taylor put it this way: “There is a living God. He has spoken in the Bible. He means what He says and will do all that He has promised.”

Lives of faith are the great mirror of the dependability of God.

John Piper 

June 5

Luke 1:67-80

[67] And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

    [68] “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

        for he has visited and redeemed his people 

    [69] and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

        in the house of his servant David, 

    [70] as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 

    [71] that we should be saved from our enemies

        and from the hand of all who hate us; 

    [72] to show the mercy promised to our fathers

        and to remember his holy covenant, 

    [73] the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us 

    [74]     that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

    might serve him without fear, 

    [75]     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 

    [76] And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

        for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 

    [77] to give knowledge of salvation to his people

        in the forgiveness of their sins, 

    [78] because of the tender mercy of our God,

        whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 

    [79] to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

        to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

    [80] And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Ephesians 3:1-13

[1] For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—[2] assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, [3] how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. [4] When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, [5] which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. [6] This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

[7] Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. [8] To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, [9] and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, [10] so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. [11] This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, [12] in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. [13] So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

Psalm 119:33-40

    [33] Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;

        and I will keep it to the end. 

    [34] Give me understanding, that I may keep your law

        and observe it with my whole heart. 

    [35] Lead me in the path of your commandments,

        for I delight in it. 

    [36] Incline my heart to your testimonies,

        and not to selfish gain! 

    [37] Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;

        and give me life in your ways. 

    [38] Confirm to your servant your promise,

        that you may be feared. 

    [39] Turn away the reproach that I dread,

        for your rules are good. 

    [40] Behold, I long for your precepts;

        in your righteousness give me life!

1 Kings 8

[1] Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. [2] And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. [3] And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. [4] And they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. [5] And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. [6] Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. [7] For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. [8] And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. [9] There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. [10] And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, [11] so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

[12] Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. [13] I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” [14] Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. [15] And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, [16] ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ [17] Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. [18] But the LORD said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. [19] Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ [20] Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. [21] And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

[22] Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, [23] and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; [24] you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. [25] Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ [26] Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.

[27] “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! [28] Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, [29] that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. [30] And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

[31] “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, [32] then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

[33] “When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, [34] then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.

[35] “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, [36] then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

[37] “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, [38] whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, [39] then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), [40] that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

[41] “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake [42] (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, [43] hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

[44] “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, [45] then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

[46] “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, [47] yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ [48] if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, [49] then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause [50] and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them [51] (for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). [52] Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. [53] For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.”

[54] Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. [55] And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, [56] “Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. [57] The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, [58] that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. [59] Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, [60] that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. [61] Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”

[62] Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD. [63] Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. [64] The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings.

[65] So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days. [66] On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.

Children Who Honor Their Parents

PRAY OVER THIS

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Exodus 20:12

 

READ THIS

We can be children of happy mothers when we follow God’s command to honor our parents.

We first do this by obeying our parents when we are young. Disobedience is a serious sin. It is not weakness; it is wickedness. Disobedience invites the judgment of God; obedience invites the blessings of God.

Second, we care for our parents when they are old. As we care for them, we remember that our parents loved us in spite of our faults; we must love them in spite of their faults.

Third, we honor our parents at all times. We show respect and express gratefulness. Our gratitude blesses our parents more than we could ever know.

Fourth, we honor our parents when we listen to their counsel. Our parents have the advantage of being further down the road of life than us. They love us and have our best interests in mind.

Last of all, we show our parents love, remembering what we owe them. They gave us life. Their blood flows through our veins.

CONSIDER THIS

How can we continually honor our parents, even as we acknowledge that they have not been perfect?

How does honoring the good things about our parents point us to the perfect fatherhood of God?

DO THIS

Take time to honor your parents today in specific ways. If they are living, reach out to them with encouragement. If they are not, take time to thank God for the good ways they influenced and shaped your life.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

What Makes God Proud

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)

I want very much for God to say to me what he said about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: “I am not ashamed to be called your God.”

As risky as it sounds, does this not really mean that God might actually be “proud” to be called my God? Fortunately this wonderful possibility is surrounded (in Hebrews 11:16) by reasons: one before and one after.

Take the one after, first: “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

The first reason he gives why he is not ashamed to be called their God is that he has done something for them. He made them a city — the heavenly city “whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10). So, the first reason he is not ashamed to be called their God is that he has worked for them. Not the other way around.

Now, consider the reason he gives in the front. It goes like this: “They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.”

“Therefore” signals that a reason has just been given for why God is not ashamed to be called our God. The reason is their desire. They desire a better country — that is, a better country than the earthly one they live in; namely, a heavenly one where God is.

When we desire this heavenly city — this dwelling place of God — more than we desire all that this world can give, God is not ashamed to be called our God. When we make much of all that he promises to be for us, he is proud to be our God. This is good news.

So, open your eyes to the better country, the city of God that he has prepared for us, and let yourself desire it with all your heart. God will not be ashamed to be called your God.

John Piper