A Glory-Filled House

Based on 1 Kings 6-8

Throughout these chapters, there is a beautiful description of the construction and decoration of the house of The Lord which Solomon oversees being built. It is interesting that "house" and "temple" are both used as references to this magnificent place. Think about it...is our house a place where we honor God? Do we make our church our home as well? Wherever we are at, we can feel at home when we make God first priority! God always gives us the comfort & peace we seek.

Solomon even has his own beautiful house built during this time, so there's a lot of work going on! Whether it be our home or God's temple, we need to have a glory-filled space! A place where God can dwell, abide and feel welcome!

"Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:" 1 Kings 6:12.

Remember, God follows through...but WE also need to follow through! In order to have a blessed, glory & God-filled house, we need to fill our lives with the following of His Word!

"After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size." 1 Kings 7:37.

Is our home a place of balance? Do we experience more peace or stress in our home life? We need to cover our "bases" with God's Word of encouragement! One casting, one measure, one size, one glory-filled house!

There are so many intricate details to study concerning the house of The Lord and Solomon's house, so definitely check back to these chapters when you have the time! But when all was said & done, it was time to take the ark of the covenant of The Lord back to dwell in the temple:

"And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude." 1 Kings 8:4‭-‬5.

Solomon made great sacrifices in the past-a thousand at once! And now, this time of sacrifice could not be told or numbered for multitude! Solomon really took this time seriously. This place wasn't "just for show"...this was the ark. This was the house of God. And God definitely made His presence known by making it a glory-filled house!

"And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord." 1 Kings 8:10‭-‬11.

God flooded in because Solomon and all Israel welcomed Him and honored Him with great sacrifice! We need to do that in our church buildings and in our homes as well! We need to come humbly before God, as living sacrifices, ready to give our best and our all to Him! Solomon had all the provisions to build this place because of God in the first place, so now it was time to build and enhance the relationship with God through officially welcoming Him in to dwell in that space. After abundant sacrifice came abundant prayer & worship of The Lord:

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place."
1 Kings 8:27‭-‬29.

This can be a prayer we can pray for our churches and our homes as well. Wherever we are at, we need to welcome the mighty presence of The Lord! We need to start by building our families securely upon His Word and making our homes glory-filled houses! Then, we can bring that peace of His presence with us wherever we go!