1 Chronicles 28:4
However the Lord God of Israel chose me above all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for He has chosen Judah to be the ruler. And of the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father, He was pleased with me to make me king over all Israel.
David understood that the Messiah would come through his lineage, which is why he said, “…the Lord God of Israel chose me above all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever.” This is the reason that David is referred to so very often throughout the Scriptures.
1 Chronicles 28:9
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.
This is such a powerful and convicting verse. The fact that the Lord “searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts” is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Exciting if our thoughts our pure, terrifying if they are not. This is why we must be in a constant state of seeking the Lord. Our thoughts and hearts must be consumed with a desire to know Him more intimately with each passing day. As we do this, we will find Him, and our lives will be filled with God, in unimaginable ways. It is such a wonderful way to live.
1 Chronicles 28:20
And David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God—my God— will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.
When will we have finished the work that the Lord has for us? When He has finished the work in us. Paul tells us in Philippians 1:6, “…He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” Of we keep our attention focused on the Lord, He will make sure that the entire work He has for us is completed, until His return, or until He takes us home.
1 Chronicles 29:2
Now for the house of my God I have prepared with all my might: gold for things to be made of gold, silver for things of silver, bronze for things of bronze, iron for things of iron, wood for things of wood, onyx stones, stones to be set, glistening stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble slabs in abundance.
When you consider all of the materials that God used to build His temple, one can only imagine how beautiful and spectacular it must have been. The tragic side of it all, was that the Jews ultimately worshipped the temple, more than the God of the temple and in fact, to this day, still lament its destruction.
1 Chronicles 29:9
Then the people rejoiced, for they had offered willingly, because with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to the Lord; and King David also rejoiced greatly.
Once we truly recognize that absolutely everything we have comes from the Lord, then we will offer everything we have willingly back to Him, with loyal hearts. 2 Corinthians 9:7, So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
1 Chronicles 29:19
And give my son Solomon a loyal heart to keep Your commandments and Your testimonies and Your statutes, to do all these things, and to build the temple for which I have made provision.”
What a great prayer to pray for our children, “Lord give my children loyal hearts to keep Your statutes, Your testimonies, and Your statutes.
John 9:2
And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
It was a common belief in that culture that sickness came as a result of sin. To some extent, this is true. When God created man, He created him in a perfect environment where there was no sin, no sickness or pain of any kind. After the fall, sin and sickness entered the once perfect world. Some sickness even comes upon you because of sinful behavior, such as alcoholism or sexually transmitted diseases. However, sickness doesn’t come upon a person in the sense that these Jewish teachers were suggesting.
John 9:5
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
I love that this verse is in the context of the story of this blind man. We live in a dark world, a world that insists on closing its eyes to sin and their rejection of Jesus. They are intentionally blind to their sin. Light dispels darkness. Only Jesus can open the eyes of the blind because He is the light of the world.
John 9:16
Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.
The reality of the gospel is that it will always cause division. People will either accept it, or reject it. We mustn’t be surprised that this is the case. Jesus said, “You are either for me, or against me.” With that spiritual truth in mind, when we stand for Jesus, people will either be for us, or against us. This is just a fact of life.
Reading the Word 