2 Chronicles 8-10

"King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart."

God promised to give Solomon "wealth, riches, and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have." This was in response to Solomon asking God for wisdom.

I was reminded this morning how I limit God so much in my heart...

Solomon lived according to God's commandments, yet all other kings of the earth (I'm sure most of them did not believe in God) sought him out to hear his wisdom and see his splendor. And I'm sure Solomon did not hide the fact that all these riches and wisdom were given to him by God.

Yes, we should not seek after riches. Solomon did not do that. But we definitely should not limit God, either. The reason I find myself limiting what God can accomplish in my life is because I keep reminding myself of my past failures. I, also, allow myself to dwell in all the negative news and stats about the economy... This is no way to live by faith.

God wants us to live by faith. He specifically said to not worry about tomorrow, but to live each day fully according to his will. And he does not hold the sins we've committed against us, as long as we repent of them.

Let's encourage each other to let go of anything in our hearts that limit God this day. He did not save us so we can live in misery. He wants to bless us. And he will do great things in our lives way beyond what we think we are capable of:)

2 Chronicles 5-7

"'O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth–you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it–as it is today.'"

This was Solomon's prayer to God after the temple was built according to God's promise.

Just a simple reminder that we serve a living God who loves us. There is no one like him. And he has given us a great promise through his son, Jesus. And God will never ever break his promise:) Hallelujah!!

1 Chronicles 29-30, 2 Chronicles 1-4

"David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

'Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise you glorious name.

'But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.'"

I've already mentioned several times how David truly had a heart for God and how he knew the sovereignty of God. This constant reminder through God's word of his sovereignty will never get old. It is something we need to be reminded of always, because we forget so often.

We read in the bible so many examples of how God provides for his people. Everything is from him. How much do we believe that? I believe this is the main lesson that God teaches us as we walk with Jesus. How much do we trust him? Do we truly believe that these stories and promises in the bible are real?

I told you the other day that I know I lack faith in God. I believe the stories in the bible. I have heard testimony of God's miraculous provision in people's lives, including several people being fully healed of cancer! But in my prayers, I sense doubt... And my lack of faith reflects in the way I live.

Fear and doubt are not from God. How can they be? It's not in God's character. So we can be sure that whenever there's even a bit of fear and doubt in our hearts, it is from the Devil.

Let's promise to always remind each other, whether we fully believe it or not at the moment, that God, indeed, is sovereign over all things. And that he will make good of all that he has promised in his word. Let's look to God and praise him this day!

Isaiah 49-51

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."

Yesterday I heard a sermon on the radio and the pastor was talking about the last days. I believe he was preaching from 2 Timothy 3:1-5 "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them."

He was talking about how loving oneself is true even between parents and their children. We already heard of many unbelievable incidents where children killed their parents for money or other selfish reasons and vice versa. I was reminded of how thankful I am to have godly and loving parents. However, that is not the case for many people. And I thought about being a good parent is very hard because we are all mere sinful people.

Today's passage talks about God's goodness and faithfulness. Even if everyone, even our own parents, in our life fails us, God will never abandon or forsake us. He is our eternal, loving father. He is always there to love us. Let us thank God for loving us. And let us strive to love others just the way he loves us.

1 Chronicles 25-27

"All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres, and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the supervision of the king. Along with their relatives–all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD–they numbered 288. Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots for their duties."

David is appointing people responsible for the music at the house of God. There were 288 skilled musicians and they were all under God's supervision, because David looked to God for supervision.

This passage made me ponder about music and the role it plays in our lives.

It wasn't until recently that I realized the potential harm secular music may have in lives. I never thought secular music was a huge deal. I mean, like any other entertainment, there's so much range from the obviously evil to the friendly and tame. What can possibly be harmful about the oldies? I remember that I used to get upset when certain elders from the church I grew up in would get legalistic about certain secular music. Rap, rock, and electronic musics are bad. Classical is good. Hm... think I'd still get upset, if was to hear that today. Anyways...

I think they missed the point about music.

I wrote a few blogs back that when we encourage each other in the Lord, what we are really doing is just to change each other's focus away from ourselves unto God. Because we know that when our eyes are not focused on God, that is when we veer off away form the light and into the dark. And when that happens, we are so easily tempted...

I believe it's foolish for Christians to say that secular music or any other forms of entertainment do not have the potential to effect us. But this is a personal matter. We can't be labeling certain things as good and others as bad. It'll be endless. As Christians, we need to come before God and be very honest about ourselves. When I listen to this music that I like, does it cause me to lose focus on God? What about watching this movie? TV show? Youtube video? Browsing this website? Reading this book or magazine? The list goes on.

I've experienced way too many times how Devil can use something I thought was completely harmless and use it to veer me away from God. Again, it's not a matter of something being good or bad. It can be anythings. It can even be a worship song, if your heart is not in the right place.

This is a very challenging thing for most of us, because music, movies, and TV shows are a huge factor in what defines us. In social networking sites, those are things we can list, and in a way, they make us who we are. This is how we often connect with other people.

But let's be reminded this day that above all things, it is Jesus that define us. We are nothing without him (do we believe that?), and all the good and perfect gifts in our lives are from him. He loves us. Let's not be afraid to allow God to examine our lives and point out things that we need to let go. Whatever they may be, in the long run, they are not worth us being away from the presence of the Lord.

Oh, and since this post is about music, we should definitely worship and praise God more often together :)

1 Chronicles 22-24

"'But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.'

'Now, my son, the Lord be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the LORD your God, as he said you would. May the LORD give you discretion and understanding when he puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the LORD your God. Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the LORD gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.'"

In this passage, David is telling Solomon what God has revealed to him. God did not want David to build his temple, but gave Solomon the blessing to do so instead.

This is an encouraging passage, because it reminded me of how God perfects our faith. David did not say to Solomon, "Okay, since God already told me that he want you to build his temple and you have his blessing, you can do whatever you want with your life. What God said will happen shall happen no matter how you act."

David told Solomon that he would still have to do his part and obey God. He didn't use the word "will" but used "may". "May you have success and build the house of the LORD your God, as he said you would." David could have said "you will have success" but he didn't, because that's not how God works. He told Solomon that you will have success only if you obey God's command and follow in his ways.

Sometimes I wish that I can just be a puppet of God so I can't make any mistakes on my own. God will just control my every move and my every thought. He should do that to all people so there would be no evil in this world. But God didn't design us that way. He gave us the ability to make choices. And it's because of this that he is able to teach us to trust and have faith in him. He wants us to learn how to choose to follow him in all things.

God promised Solomon that, "He will be my son, and I will be his father." What's great is that we were given that same promise through Christ Jesus. We have, also, received a great blessing from our heavenly Father. And we will have success. We just need to do our part and choose him in all things.

As David said to Solomon, let us not be afraid or discouraged. For we have Jesus that loves us and is willing to teach us, and he is truly the perfecter of our faith :)