#43 Oct. 26, 2015
2015 Devotional. Our goal for these weekly devotionals is to grow in humility and to grow spiritually by memorizing selected passages, putting them into context, and by applying them to our daily living. These passages are taken from: “100 Verses Every Christian Needs to Know” by Freeman-Smith. All passages are from the NIV.
I Chronicles 28:20
20 David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.
King David wanted to build a house for God; (I Chr. 28) he laid his plans and gathered all the material. But God did not allow him to build the temple because he was a man of war. God designated Solomon, David’s son to build it. Yet God gave David the plan for the house and the plan for all the tables, bowls, instruments, lamp stands, alters, and the Ark, following some of what God had given to Moses for the Tabernacle.
Those of us in ministry and those who follow Jesus have come to know what David had to come to grips with: “God’s plans are not our plans, His thoughts are not our thoughts.” Yet we all have a role to play in the work of the Kingdom. “The Lord has assigned each his task” (I Cor 3:5-7). We recognize that truth in this passage but it goes deeper and confronts us as fellow servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. David, though disappointed, shows us a better way to deal with what God has assigned us when we would rather be doing something different. David is an encourager and by encouraging others he is himself encouraged.
Verse 20 encourages Solomon and is an encouragement for us. “Be strong and courageous and do the work”: whatever it is God gives us to do. Know there is always opposition and that strength and courage is a requirement for the work.
“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.” I remember when we committed to New Community Church with 11 people after the former pastor left with the rest; we could not find a church that would sponsor us, we felt alone and rejected. We did not get a lot of help until we started to grow a little. God is good! “He (God) will not fail you or forsake you until all the work”; whatever the work may be “is finished”. This is true for all those who follow Jesus. Remember verse 20, remember to encourage others, you will be encouraged. Praise the Lord!
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Heavenhigh 