I Kings 8, II Chronicles 5

When Solomon dedicated the new Temple, the glory of the Lord filled the House. Oh, to have been one of the thousands who witnessed that cloud filling the Temple! That would be a sight you’d not soon forget. God’s glory, present, and visible.

Church yesterday was almost that for me. First we sang, “Blessed Assurance,” “And Can It Be,” “Victory in Jesus.” The special music was a quartet singing “He Touched Me.” All of it old school. And all of it prepared us to hear a message about the unfailing love of God.

God’s Presence was as real yesterday as it was in Solomon’s day. The same Spirit that filled that temple, filled our hearts in Bellville, Ohio.

In light of the most recent Muslim terrorist attack on our country, I am hearing a lot about “love.” One person even said that if we stopped considering Muslims as the enemy, and loved them like God loves them, none of this would happen.

In a sense, that’s true. But not in the sense this person intended. Love is not acceptance. God’s love, which is a blanket that covers the whole world, is not salvation. God’s love sent Jesus to the cross because He is that serious about sin.

If we loved Muslims with the same love God has for them, we would stop at nothing to introduce them to the Savior. Love is not the answer. Tolerance is not the answer. The Person of Jesus Christ is the only answer to our world’s unrest.

Talk about Amazing Love. How can it be that God would love me so much He’d die for me? The victory is in Jesus who seeks each of us, who bought our salvation with His precious redeeming blood. We can have the Blessed Assurance that this same Jesus whose Spirit filled Solomon’s Temple thousands of years ago, is ours when we are born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

What does it mean to love like Jesus loves? What does it mean to have His Holy Spirit in us? It means we look at the world through His eyes. We see all people as individuals He died to redeem. It means we realize the truth that, without Him, they have no hope. It means allowing Him to live and speak through us so that those who don’t know Him, will recognize their need and fall on their knees in repentance.

Holy God, thank You for wanting to fill my heart with Yourself, like you filled Solomon’s Temple so long ago. Thank You for loving us so much You’d die to save us. May we who know You allow You to fill us, to strengthen us, to make us bold and obedient servants, so that all people will come to You. I pray for the families touched by the deaths in Orlando. May Your Spirit minister, may Your children reach out, and may hearts be drawn to the Savior, for their good and Your glory.