12/24/2010 9:38:27 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Finishing the temple PT-2
Bible Reading
& Meditation
Reference: 1Kings 7:13-51; 2Chron. 4
Message of the verses: Today’s SD will continue with some of the
articles that are in and around the temple that Solomon built.
The golden incense altar (1Kings 6:20, 22;
7:48): “20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in
length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it
with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar. 22 He
overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the
whole altar which was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.
“48
Solomon made all the furniture which was in the house of the LORD: the golden
altar and the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence.”
I am unable to put the diagram on this blog for reasons that I do not know. It just would not work.
I have again inserted this diagram of
the temple in order to see where the articles and rooms were inside the temple. The altar of incense is right in front of the
lamp stands, just before the door and the veil that separates the holy place
with the holy of holies. It was used to
burn incense every morning and every evening as the priests cared for the
trimming of the lamps. There was a
certain mixture that was given to Moses by the Lord for this incense, and it
was only to be used for this purpose.
There is no size of the altar of incense given, so it is not know
exactly how large it was, but it was overlaid with gold. The burning of the incense is a picture of
the prayers of God’s people and this can be seen in the book of Revelations
along with Ps. 141:1-2, Luke 1:8-10.
“On
the Day of Atonement, the high priest applied blood to this altar to cleanse
and purify it (Exodus 30:10). Without
‘clean hands and a pure heart’ (Psalm 24:3-5), we can’t approach the Lord and
expect Him to hear and answer prayer (Psalm 66:18; Hebrews 10:19-25).”
I
want at this time to copy and paste the verses that are referenced in the above
paragraph:
Psalm 24:3-5, “3 ¶ Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And
who may stand in His holy place? 4 He
who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to
falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. 5
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God
of his salvation. 6 This is the
generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face-even Jacob. Selah.
Psalm 66:18 “18 If I regard wickedness
in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
Hebrews
10:19-25 “19 ¶ Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy
place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated
for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21
and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed with pure water. 23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who
promised is faithful; 24 and let us
consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as
is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see
the day drawing near.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I thought that perhaps I might be able to
finish this chapter this morning, but since these kind of things have happened
to me in the past I tried to leave room for the Spirit of God to show me how
much I would finish today, and He seemed to stop me with this Altar of
Incense. The verses written above are
convicting to me along with Psalm 139:23-24 which say, “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me
and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see
if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”
I
suppose that there are far too many times in my life when I think that I have
it all together and I am not sinning, but those verses in Psalm 139 seem to
draw me back to have the Holy Spirit search my heart to see if there are any
unconfessed sins in my life, for the older that I am in the Lord and the more
that I learn from the Spirit’s teaching through His Word the more awful I see
myself. I think of Isaiah in chapter six
and how he fell down before the Lord saying that he was a man of unclean lips
and would die because he saw the Lord.
Isaiah was a believer and I’m sure that he was walking with the Lord,
and yet when he approached the Lord and His holiness he thought he would die. Daniel and John along with Peter and James
when they saw the Lord Jesus Christ transformed into who He was out of a human
body they fell down before Him as they were dead.
The
point in all of this is that I am a sinful creature who at times am too proud
to allow the Spirit of God search my heart to make sure that I am walking in
fellowship with the Lord in order to have my prayers heard by the Lord.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
23 Search me,
O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
2.
Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
3.
Continue to learn contentment.
4.
Remember that I am in a battle and in great need of
the spiritual armor.
5.
Trust the Lord to guide and direct my steps.
12/24/2010 10:34:34 AM
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