1 Kings 8:10-11
And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a 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 filled the house of the Lord.
Truth: When God is present there is room for no other!! Solomon had spent 20 years building the Temple and his own palace. The Temple was a one-of-a-kind structure and was to honor God and be a place that God could show His glory to the world. In the subsequent prayer of Solomon, the Temple was to be a place the nation could pray to and God would "hear from heaven" and move in some favorable way to and for the nation. The Temple would be the picture of God on the earth and would be the artifact that would draw others to Him. God's people was supposed to be that artifact ... as today. Yet, God allowed the Temple to be built in honor of Him and to worship and glorify Him. At the end of the construction God comes and fills the Temple. His glory was so vast and so overwhelming, the priest could not stand to minister. Imagine a church service that the Spirit of God is so filling the place that Pastor's can't preach, worship leaders can bang the drums and ushers can't collect the funds. Imagine the place full of God's Glory. Such is the scene in the Temple as Solomon and the priest began to worship. When God so ordains a place and so approves of the worship He indwells the place with His certain power and presence. God did the same thing when Moses consecrated the Tabernacle in the desert. God can so fill what He honors that we can be overwhelmed with that filling. Think of God so filling us that we are overwhelmed with His presence. When Christ is in us, that is God's glory filling us. We have all the fullness of God indwelling us. Christ in us is God's dwelling in us (Colossians 2). We need to rejoice when God's presence is in us and in the place we worship.
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