This morning my Bible reading included 2 Chronicles 1-3.
King David has died and his son Solomon has taken over the reign as king of Israel. Solomon wanted to worship God at a place called Gibeon, which was the old worship place, before he started building the new worship place in Jerusalem.
He gathered everyone together and told them they were taking a little road trip to Gibeon to make some sacrifices to the Lord. It was there that God appeared to Solomon in a dream—and prompted Solomon to ask for anything he wanted—and God would give it.
Solomon asked for wisdom which honored God. God told him He would not only give him wisdom, but also wealth and would make him famous.
As Solomon started making plans for the building of the temple in Jerusalem, he inquired about supplies and a workforce from one of his dad’s old friends, the king of Tyre. And here’s what he said that really caught my attention,
“This will be a great temple, because our God is greater than all other gods. No one can ever build a temple large enough for God, even the heavens are too small a place for Him to live in! All I can do is build a place where we can offer sacrifices to Him.” —2 Chronicles 2:6
Isn’t that powerful? To think of the enormity of God. His vastness can’t be contained even in the expanse of the universe. His greatness and immenseness are far beyond our very limited imagination.
How we could ever think of containing God in a bottle like a genie, is beyond me. The picture in my mind cannot even comprehend the hugeness of our God
And yet, this very same God who is larger than life itself, humbly came in the form of man and lived among us.
His name was Jesus. He left His glory and entered into our world, to become one of us and associating Himself with us, our pain, our lostness—to be able to deal with and fix our brokenness.
But listen to this! Jesus said,
“If you love Me, you will do as I command. Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you. The Spirit will show you what is true. The people of this world cannot accept the Spirit, because they don’t see or know Him. But you know the Spirit, who is with you and will keep on living in you.” —John 14:15-17
Did you catch that?
This massive, monumental, magnificent God has taken up residence in you! God lives in you.
Here’s my word of encouragement for you today
You are never alone! God’s Spirit lives in you and will stay with you. Always! He has taken up residence in you so you will remember who you are and whose you are! You are a child of the Living God.
Father,
Live in me today. In Jesus name I ask this, Amen.
—Rev. Dr. MM Marxhausen
Mark was Spiritual Director for VdC from 2016 to 2019. He's written many of the devotions, especially the Devote and Affirm series, found on this website.
