Tuesday,
March 5, 2019
Last
week at mass, our priest reminded us that we are carriers of Christ; Christ
containers. His glory fills us and flows
out of us. We remember this from
tradition – what our ancestors have told us.
As
I read this chapter, I thought there is so much to learn from Solomon. We need to spend time studying scripture so we can have a right relationship with God. Why does Solomon praise the Lord with such a
long prayer? For 480 years after Israel
escaped from Egypt, God did not ask His people to build a temple. Instead He emphasized the importance of His presence
among them. We can get so caught up in a
building being the worship center and the focus of God’s presence, but God
chooses people, not buildings to carry Him to the world. (verses 15-21). Nothing can contain all of God; just look how
the carrying poles for the ark stuck out in the inner sanctuary.
God
chooses people like you and me, and He resides in us. When we read the Old Testament, we read of
many wars. Wars are to rid evil. It may seem like war was Israel’s first duty,
but isn’t it ours too? God wants to
reside in us, but evil and God cannot reside together. So we have to rid ourselves of evil – and it’s
a war alright! Once we sacrifice our
evil desires, God moves in and we are free of the burden of that sin. And what we learn from the experience illuminates us for the rest of the world to ask how we did it. Praise the Lord for His amazing patience and love to put
up with our slowness to end the wars!
We
need to be long in our praises to God, because He takes residence in us. He chooses the lowly, the least expected,
shows us how to sacrifice the evil desires which causes us to sin, and replaces
that with His amazing love, mercy and forgiveness. How can that perfect gift not illuminate
us! It’s a gift we cannot gain on our
own and God deserves all the praises for convincing us to fight the battle; to
sacrifice our desires and do His will.
When we admit we are truly nothing more than the worms that we are and we see the saving grace we have been given – our praises should go on and on and on!
Today
is what many people call Fat Tuesday and for many people it is the last day
they indulge in things they know separates them from God because tomorrow
begins Lent. The time of preparation of
the believer for Easter through prayer, doing penance, repentance of sins,
almsgiving and self-denial. It’s a time
of fasting – fasting from what prevents you from getting closer to God.
This year I’d like to fast from short praises and
make them longer. I want to praise God
ALL DAY LONG! And if you’re like me,
that is not easy. But like Lisa said
yesterday, “So what’s the deal with all of this emphasis on praising God?
Why would God who being self-sufficient, with complete and perfect fellowship
through the holy Trinity, need the exhortation, worship, and thanksgiving of
His people? Because in His perfect way the Lord uses our worship not for His
benefit, but for ours. “God wants nothing but our ever-increasing joy and
delight in glory. So he gives us worship, not because he needs
it, but that we might have more and more pleasure in him.”...Mark
Altrogge” (Read
the rest of her post here)
Praise be to the Lord, the
God of Israel. He has fulfilled His
promise to dwell in my heart! (1
Kings 8:56-61)
