Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Chronicles 6:12-21.  Let’s go!

2 Chronicles 6:12-13 (NIV) 
12  Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 
13  Now he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had placed it in the center of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

On verses 12-13:  Here Solomon has a platform on which he stands and speaks to the people of Israel.  Similarly, if you have trusted Jesus as your Saviour, God has given you a platform on which you can stand and influence others.  A big part of that platform is the set of spiritual gifts God has given you.  For a list of many of the spiritual gifts God makes available to His children, see Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 28-31; and Ephesians 4:11-13.  What spiritual gifts has God given to you?  Be sure to discover, practice, develop and use your spiritual gifts with love, humility, and in unity with your church so that others can be brought near to God and so that God’s kingdom can expand on earth.  As 1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Chronicles 5:1-14. Let’s go!

2 Chronicles 5:1 (NIV) 
1  When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated–the silver and gold and all the furnishings–and he placed them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

On verse 1:  It took Solomon seven years to build the temple of the Lord.  What can we learn from this?  Good things take time to build.  Little by little, bit by bit, God is building us into the temple He made us to be (1 Peter 2:5).  His building project in us was never meant to be done overnight, but takes a lifetime.  So in case you’re prone to beating yourself up, be patient; God is not finished with you yet!

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Chronicles 3:1-17. Let’s go!

On verses 1-14:  In approximately 966 B.C., Solomon begins building the temple in Jerusalem.   What strikes me as I read these verses is how much Solomon incorporated designs of cherubim (i.e. angels) into the temple.  Solomon carves cherubim into the walls (v7) and works them into the curtain (v14).   Most obvious and impressive of all, in the inner sanctuary of the temple called the Most Holy Place, Solomon erects a pair of massive cherubim whose wings span the entire Most Holy Place from wall to wall (v10-13).  Later on Solomon will place the ark of God under the wings of the cherubim (see 2 Chronicles 5:7), such that whenever the high priest would inquire of God at the ark in the Most Holy Place, huge angels would tower over him, watching over him.

Why does Solomon incorporate so many different representations of angels into the temple?  It was to remind the people of what the Bible teaches, that the spiritual realm is real and that angels are real.  Angels are described as powerful, ministering spirits sent to serve God’s people (Hebrews 1:14), protect God’s people (Psalm 34:7), deliver special messages from God (e.g. Judges 6:11-12) and administer God’s will (e.g. Exodus 12:23; Daniel 10:10; Acts 12:23).  

Hi GAMErs,

Today we begin the book of 2 Chronicles and there are many powerful lessons we can learn from today’s passage, 2 Chronicles 1:1-17. Let’s go!

2 Chronicles 1:3-6 (NIV)
3 and Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s Tent of Meeting was there, which Moses the LORD’s servant had made in the desert.
4 Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.
5 But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the LORD; so Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there.
6 Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

On verses 1-6: Solomon is now the new king of Israel in place of his father David (v1). After speaking with his leaders, Solomon’s first order of business is to go and worship the Lord and inquire of Him. But then here’s a question: where should Solomon go to inquire of God?

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Philemon 1:8-16.  Let’s go!

Philemon 1:8-11 (NIV) 
8  Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do,
9  yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul–an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus–

On verses 8-9:  Paul had a special role in Philemon’s life.  For one, Paul was the one whom God used to lead Philemon to Christ (v19).  In this way Paul was like a spiritual father to Philemon.  Not only that, Paul’s disciple Epaphras was the one who started the church in Colosse that met in Philemon’s home and so, like a spiritual grandfather to the Colossian Christians, Paul’s words carried special weight.  Yet instead of throwing his weight around and using his rights and authority to order Philemon to do what he should do (v8), Paul appeals to Philemon gently and meekly “on the basis of love” (v9) – not as an authoritarian apostle, but as “an old man” and as “a prisoner of Christ Jesus” (v9).   From this I learn an important lesson: