A God who will tell you a thing and not disappoint you but honor it and fulfill it in His timing is just a big reminder that HE will do same for me and all of us too. Once you have a plan that aligns to Hos will and he endorse it, that's a great opportunity let the world see his glory

It’s beautiful how God appeared to Solomon a second time to assure him that his prayer had been heard and that the dedication of the temple had been accepted. By allowing Solomon to build the house of the Lord, He fulfilled His promise to David. Thank God He is a promise keeper ❤️

Solomon in 1kg 8:56 is recounting how God has fulfilled every of the promise he made to his people through Moses, though generations has passed yet,the word of God was fulfilled. I am reminded that once I am certain God has said something to me, delay isn't denial. His words cannot fail, even if it doesn't look like it right now, I am rest assured that since He always fulfills his word ,it will come to pass in His time

A huge take away so far is the similarities between Moses overseeing the tabernacle and Solomon overseeing the temple. It almost feels like God was doing a reset. It’s so uncanny: First, God gave specific instructions to Moses and then equipped Bezalel with the craftsmanship to carry those plans out. On the flip side, God gave specific instructions to David who passed it on to Solomon and then equipped Hiram to carry them out. Then the people gave so much, Moses had to beg them to stop. Solomon sacrificed so much, the Bible said they lost count, plus the altar was to small to contain so they had to use the courtyard 😅 After the tabernacle was completed, God descended in a cloud of smoke so heavy that people could not enter. God brought down fire for Solomon and also descended in a cloud of smoke so dense, no one could enter. I don’t think these are coincidences. It even adds an extra layer of depth to the reason God didn’t allow David to build. He may have wanted a clean slate, a fresh start from the messiness the Israelites had gotten into. Solomon didn’t have blood on his hands. Lowkey, there’s a similar pattern if you look at Jesus. It’s like a series of nesting dolls. Every dwelling place is preparing you for a greater one. This is so cool! 🤯

Hiram was so entitled, as far as I’m concerned. The agreement was that he provided the cedar wood and in exchange Solomon would give him food supplies. That was honored. So why was he upset at the 20 cities Solomon gave him? Wasn’t that a generous gift? I’m inclined to think that he saw the extent to which Solomon splurged on both the temple and his palace (took 20 years of building) and thought he’d get same. Solomon was extremely wealthy after all 😅 But that’s still weird. You don’t behave like that. Smh.

One thing that stood out for me in today’s read was how the altar built for sacrifices was too small to contain those sacrifices so Solomon had to use the courtyard. I already know the size and quality of that temple was extremely high so this blew my mind. He was so extra like his Dad. Lol. I love it! 😅

I particularly loved that after consecrating the temple to God, Solomon led everyone, Israelites and foreigners alike on a 14 celebration festival. It’d be great to see us emulate this a lot more in our systems today. We do a lot of prayers and fasting (and that is amazing) for elongated periods but how about celebration festivals? That’d be nice ☺️

God wants us to partner with Him and has always made provisions for us should we disobey him but then again He strongly abhors idolatory and strongly tells Solomon how He will reject them as His people should they turn away from Him to other gods. He is always particular about idolatory. And God actually when God forgives, He doesnt recount it against us anymore all He expects from us to genuinely return to Him when we sin.

1 Kings 8:54-66 [59] ... as each day requires This pointed me to a portion of The Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread" Whatever grace, whatever strength, courage, peace, patience, endurance, whatever we need for the day, God is faithful and He will provide.

My guy, David was not perfect but he was faithful and devoted to God and that counted. The fact that he genuinely repents and asks for forgiveness helped. Lesson learned. Be faithful. Be devoted. Repent genuinely. Love God. Obey Him always ✅

David obeyed ALL the Lord’s commands? Wow! God is indeed faithful and doesn’t necessarily pick singular incidents. He knows a man’s heart and desires because how can you tell me this story? And this also tells me that when God forgives, He ‘remembers’ them no more.