{"id":3796,"date":"2019-07-02T20:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T03:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=3796"},"modified":"2019-06-30T17:11:50","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T00:11:50","slug":"1chronicles_9_1-44","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1chronicles_9_1-44\/","title":{"rendered":"Restoring the Worship of God in Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Chronicles 9:1-44 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Chronicles 8:1-40.\u00a0 At first this might seem like nothing more than a list of names, but the Holy Spirit taught me some powerful lessons we can learn from this passage.\u00a0 Can I share them with you?\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

On verses 1-34:\u00a0 Starting in 605 BC, and then again in 597 BC and 586 BC, the people of Judah are deported to Babylon in three stages (This three stage deportation is described in 2 Kings 24-25).\u00a0 \u00a0The Old Testament writers see this deportation as God\u2019s way of disciplining the people of Judah for their unfaithfulness to Him (v1).\u00a0 Now the Chronicler fast forwards several decades to 538 B.C. when Cyrus King of Persia has conquered Babylon and allows the Israelites to return to their towns (v2).\u00a0 What was Cyrus\u2019 reason for letting the Judahites return to Jerusalem?\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s because Cyrus believed that God had appointing him to build a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem.\u00a0\u00a0As Ezra 1:2-4 says:<\/p>\n

Ezra 1:2-4 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The\u00a0LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Anyone of his people among you–may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.'”<\/em><\/p>\n

So here in 1 Chronicles 8:1-34 the Chronicler lists people who returned to Jerusalem, including Israelites from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh (v3-9), priests (v10-13), Levites who served in the temple but who were not priests (v14-16), including gatekeepers (v17-27), temple servants (v28-32) and musicians (v33-34).\u00a0 All of them have been allowed by Cyrus of Persia to return to Jerusalem to help him build a temple for the Lord and to restore the worship of the Lord in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Quickly scan this chapter and you will see that Cyrus sent a large team made of different members with different roles to help restore worship of the Lord in Jerusalem.\u00a0\u00a0 What\u2019s a lesson here?\u00a0\u00a0If you want to restore the worship of God in your life, it takes a team.\u00a0 You can\u2019t do it by yourself.\u00a0 That\u2019s why being part of a good local church is important.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>There are things you can\u2019t do alone \u2013 you need others to pray with, to speak into your life, to build relationships with, to be on mission with and to serve and to be served by.\u00a0 Are you a committed part of your church?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. In verses 17-27 the Chronicler devotes ten verses to talking about how 212 gatekeepers were installed to guard the gates of the house of the Lord on every side, day and night.\u00a0\u00a0 Notice how many times the Chronicler uses the words \u201cgatekeeper\u201d and \u201cguard\u201d.\u00a0 What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0You need to guard your worship of the Lord.\u00a0 That means protecting the things you use to worship God.\u00a0 Just as the gatekeepers guarded 4 sides (north, south, east, west), here are four sides to your worship of the Lord that you need to guard:\u00a0 guard your daily time with God, guard your Sundays to worship God with your church, guard your time in a small group, and guard the condition of your heart. \u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s about not allowing other things to get in the way of these different sides to your worship of the Lord.\u00a0 How well do you guard your worship of God?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. In verses 28-32 the Chronicler describes some of the administrative and logistical tasks associated with running a house of worship for the Lord, such as taking care of furnishings, preparing materials, taking stock of equipment.\u00a0 What does that teach us?\u00a0 To run at its best,\u00a0the church needs excellent administration and organization.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0That way we don\u2019t allow resources, opportunities and ultimately souls to slip through our fingers.\u00a0 How well do you take care of the ministry that God has entrusted to you?\u00a0 How organized, responsible and careful are you?\u00a0 What is one area of your life or ministry where you can serve with greater excellence?\u00a0\u00a0In whatever we do, let\u2019s serve the house of the Lord with great care and excellence.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. In verse 33 the Chronicler says that the musicians \u201cstayed in the rooms of the temple and were exempt from other duties because they were responsible for the work day and night\u201d.\u00a0 This again speaks of the importance of music as it relates to the worship of the Lord and how those in charge of that ministry needed to dedicate their full time (\u201cday and night\u201d) toward it.\u00a0 This verse also reminds me that\u00a0you and I are called the temple of the Lord and that God has placed a musician \u2013 the Holy Spirit \u2013 to work in our hearts day and night, leading us to worship the Lord.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0That means that at every point of your life \u2013 whether things are bright like the day or dark like the night \u2013 the Holy Spirit is there to lead you to worship.\u00a0 With the Holy Spirit, you have everything you need to turn whatever situation you face into a time of worshiping and drawing near to God.\u00a0\u00a0So<\/strong>\u00a0whatever situation you may be facing today, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you back to the feet of Jesus in worship.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        On verses 35-44:\u00a0 Here the Chronicler basically repeats the genealogy of Saul as the Chronicler gets ready to talk about Saul\u2019s death in the next chapter.<\/p>\n

        Heavenly Father, thank You for all the truths I can learn from Your Word today.\u00a0 Thank You for showing me that worshiping You requires that I be an active part of a team, that is, Your church.\u00a0 Please help me every day to guard every side of my worship of You, including my daily time with You, my time with my church, and the condition of my heart.\u00a0 May I not allow anything to get in the way of my worship of You.\u00a0 I pray that every ministry in my church would be done with excellence and care, starting with me.\u00a0 And thank You for placing in me Your Holy Spirit, the most powerful and humble temple servant, who lives in me and leads me to worship You.\u00a0 Holy Spirit, lead me today to the feet of Jesus in worship.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

        Today\u2019s passage is 1 Chronicles 8:1-40.\u00a0 At first this might seem like nothing more than a list of names, but the Holy Spirit taught me some powerful lessons we can learn from this passage.\u00a0 Can I share them with you?\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

        On verses 1-34:\u00a0 Starting in 605 BC, and then again in 597 BC and 586 BC, the people of Judah are deported to Babylon in three stages (This three stage deportation is described in 2 Kings 24-25).\u00a0 \u00a0The Old Testament writers see this deportation as God\u2019s way of disciplining the people of Judah for their unfaithfulness to Him (v1).\u00a0 Now the Chronicler fast forwards several decades to 538 B.C. when Cyrus King of Persia has conquered Babylon and allows the Israelites to return to their towns (v2).\u00a0 What was Cyrus\u2019 reason for letting the Judahites return to Jerusalem?\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s because Cyrus believed that God had appointing him to build a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem.\u00a0\u00a0As Ezra 1:2-4 says:<\/p>\n

        Ezra 1:2-4 (NIV)\u00a0
        \n2\u00a0\u00a0“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The\u00a0LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
        \n3\u00a0\u00a0Anyone of his people among you–may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3798,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3796\/revisions\/3798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}