Glory!
2 Chronicles 7:1”As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.”
“I repeat the glory of the LORD filled the temple!” Glory! This word is so often used, not only in the Bible but also in the secular circle, for example when there is enormous multi-colored lights, they say ‘it is glorious’; but here I talk of the glory of the Lord! Glory of God is difficult to define or explain, one has to experience it! I pray this devotion would take you into the glorious presence of God and you feel His tangible presence!
When Solomon finished offering prayers, immediately fire came down from heaven and consumed the offering, this was a sign of: God’s acceptance of Solomon’s prayers, His pleasure over the passionate prayer of Solomon and most important Solomon’s pristine obedience in finishing the work of the Temple! Let me put it in simple words: God was pleased and He showed up!
Friend, fire from heaven was no magic, Solomon had done lot of homework for God and God watched this and blessed Solomon. The Bible says: God "will repay each person according to what they have done."(Romans 2:6) Are you there? Solomon began the work of the Temple and finished it victoriously following every rule meticulously. God watched his hard work, efforts, obedience, determination and blessed Solomon.
I would like to share an incident in my life where we as a family experienced the glorious presence of God. As a family we were praying for finances for an urgent expense in the family: college fees for my daughter. Time was ticking away but payment was delayed; however, we kept persistently trusting God in the dark – we did not utter a word to anyone, though. During this time, one afternoon, when we were in our School run by us, my husband hurriedly came and whispered in my ears, ‘God has met our needs, the finances have come.’ With a beaming face I hurriedly called my daughter into my office room, my mom who knew nothing of what was happening rushed into the room too. Now, as she tried to open the door, she later said that she was unable to come in or walk. She stumbled in and slumped into a nearby chair, sobbing. The glory of the Lord filled the place! As a family while we were praising and thanking Him, I was unable to speak but I kept weeping with gratitude. All God needs is a broken grateful heart, passionate desire for Him and spotless obedience and bang He would show up! Place does not matter, though.
