Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. Psalm 43:3.

Have you ever stopped to give thanks to God that He is here? That He has revealed His love to you? That His love is leading you to Him? Sometimes when I pray, my thoughts feel like the deepest ocean that presses all around me and is always there surrounding me. It can be difficult to still those thoughts pressing all around me, but when I do there is peace with a quiet that I recognize comes from being with God. In the quiet of my living room in my chair with God I am so grateful I am aware of Him and can listen to His voice within my thoughts. A gift so beautiful I turn to Him.

In 1 Kings 6 the temple for the Lord is being built. In the notes it said: In honor of God, the temple in Jerusalem was built without the sound of a hammer or any other tool at the building site. This meant that the stone had to be “dressed” (cut and shaped) miles away at the quarry. The people’s honor and respect for God extended to every aspect of constructing this house of worship. This detail is recorded not to teach us how to build a church, but to show us the importance of demonstrating care, concern, honor, and respect for God and his sanctuary.

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm. Revelation 11:19.

Our Mom used to love to look at floor plans. She could envision what those plans would look like as though she was looking at photos. I never could quite see what she saw. So it is reading about floor plans for the temple in this chapter. I can appreciate the descriptions of the carvings of cherubim, palm trees and open flowers; of the description of the inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place: For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits – ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. The height of each cherub was ten cubits. He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. He overlaid the cherubim with gold. v. 23-28.

It took seven years to complete the temple, v. 38. Can you imagine living close enough that you could see the building taking shape? Can you imagine the excitement for its completion? And what did God say to Solomon? The word of the Lord came to Solomon: “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.” v. 11-13.

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Proverbs 3:1-4.

Love and faithfulness. God. Help us be aware of You, Lord. Open our eyes to Your Presence with us and help us rejoice and be with You, our faithful, loving Creator God. Let our hearts be with You so we can begin to understand love.