The Temple (Part 1)

1 Kings 6:1, 11-13

“1 In the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord...  11 The word of the Lord came to Solomon: 12 “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. 13 And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”

If you read the description of the Temple in 1Kings 6, you will read that it was large and ornate.  No detail was left out, no cost was spared.  Solomon built God a luxurious house.  

But this is not where God wanted to live.  God wanted to live in the heart of Solomon and the hearts of all who believed in Him.  Rather than fine things, God desired faith and obedience above all else.  Only if Solomon and the Israelites were faithful and obedient would God live among them.

God does not want a large, ornate church, large columns, polished floors, large entrance ways or well kept grounds.  

God wants our hearts; the true temple of God.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

God’s Wisdom

1 Kings 3:24-28

“24 So the king said, “Bring me a sword,” and they brought a sword before the king. 25 The king said, “Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other.” 26 But the woman whose son was alive said to the king—because compassion for her son burned within her—“Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!” The other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it.” 27 Then the king responded: “Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother.” 28 All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice.”

Solomon began to display God’s wisdom in his earthly judgments and everyone was in awe.  Solomon’s wisdom was to be the key to his success as the ruler of Israel.  

Wisdom, God’s wisdom, according to Proverbs, is the basis of human happiness.  “Happy is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gets understanding.”(Proverbs 3:13).  We can have vast knowledge of science, mathematics,  literature, music, etc.,  and still not be happy, unless we have God’s wisdom to accompany this knowledge.

Christian’s can receive God’s wisdom and understanding through the power of the Holy Spirit, if we live a life of prayer, worship, study, service, sacrifice and fellowship.

It is through these things that we will find God’s spirit, God’s wisdom, and true happiness.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Desire to Change

1 Kings: 3:9-14

“9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?” 10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. 14 If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.”

Solomon knew his limitations as a ruler and asked God for wisdom.  

Few of us care to dwell on our limitations, but it is through this knowledge that we grow, especially spiritually.  In fact, it may be impossible to grow spiritually if you do not recognize your faults, your sins, and the things you need to change.

All Christians are called to change, to be transformed.  Yet, it is not possible to change without self-awareness.  The good news is that the Holy Spirit can give us this kind of awareness and the power to change.

All we have to provide...is the desire.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Unknown Man

1 Kings 2:10-12

“10 Then David slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the city of David.  11 The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.  13 So Solomon sat on the throne of the father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.”

Solomon sat on the throne.  David’s kingdom was now his.  The kingdom that David fought for; the kingdom for which David struggled and was willing to shed not only his blood but the blood of many others, for which God called him a “man of blood” and prevented him from building the Temple that he longed to build.

Now Solomon sat on this throne as an untested, unknown man.  The kingdom was his and the people wondered what the future would hold.

Christians, on the other hand, know their king.  We know the one who shed His blood so that we could be members of the kingdom of God.  We know the sacrifice He made, the price He paid.

Christ sits on the throne.  We know what the future holds.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Walking in the Way

1 Kings 2: 1-4

“1 When David’s time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying: 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. 4 Then the Lord will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: ‘If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’”

David, near death, charged his son, Solomon, heir to the throne of Israel, to be strong, to be courageous and to keep walking in the ways of God.

The Christian life is a life of death to self in order to live a life by faith; to walk in the ways and teachings of Christ.  

Such a life requires us to be different, to seek to be set apart, and requires the strength of character to go against the grain of society. It also requires the courage to act in love and forgiveness when the world is calling for hate and retribution.

Walking in the way of Christ is difficult.  

But it is the way.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Light of the Morning

2 Samuel 23: 1a, 3-4

“ 1a: Now these are the last words of David:...3 The God of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, 4 is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.”

I used to walk to the park early in the morning.  Some mornings the air would be fresh and clean and the sky would be cloudless, clear and blue.  The sun would be shining on the dew of the grass of the soccer field, and as I walked I could feel God’s peace.

Many people, including David, have had this same experience.  David said that people  who walk with God, who have within them the spirit of God, carry with them the light of morning.  Have you ever known a person like that, who, when they walk into a room, you can feel that the room is brighter, feels lighter, and more joyous?

Christians are called to be the morning light; the hope of the new day; the blue cloudless sky ….even in the ever darkening world.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Tamarisk Tree

1 Samuel 22: 6-7

“6 Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side. 7 He said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?”

A tamarisk tree in the Middle East grows larger than the tamarisk tree in the United States.  They cannot survive in wilderness areas and normally grow in communities where people who plant them on their property can give them the care and nourishment that they need.  

They are very slow growing trees and need much care to do well.  People who plant tamarisk trees do not plant them for their enjoyment, but for the enjoyment of those who come after them.

Saul, sitting under a tall tamarisk tree, accused his closest commanders of disloyalty.  He thought that they might have thoughts of defecting  to David.  And he thought that their  loyalty could be purchased.  

But there are things in this world that money cannot buy, such as the cool shade of a tamarisk tree, planted on a hill and cared for  by someone 50 years in the past, or the loyalty of  commanders.

David was chosen by God to be King when he was just a youth.  During that time he was nurtured and cared for by God’s Holy Spirit.  And in the near future, Israel would bask in the shade of David’s shadow.

Sometime in our lives, the seed of faith was planted in us. And someone nurtured and cared for that faith and over the years it blossomed in us  and grew. Just as God’s Holy Spirit nurtured and guided David, the Holy Spirit dwells in each believer, leading us in an ever deepening, ever growing  relationship with God.

Christians are God’s tamarisk.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)