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1 Chronicles 21-23

1 Chronicles

21:1-22:1 -  ‘Satan stood up against Israel…’ (21:1). ‘Satan’ is ‘the devil’ (Revelation 12:7). He is a powerful enemy. We must not underestimate him. In the service of the Lord, we face strong opposition. It is not merely human  – ‘our struggle is not against flesh and blood’. It is much more powerful – ‘the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms’ (Ephesians 6:12). Satan is very powerful. When he wins a victory over you, confess your sin to God and seek His forgiveness, believing that ‘His mercy is very great’ (8,13). Be careful not to overestimate Satan. Christ is more powerful  (Colossians  2: 13-15; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8). Christ has won the victory. In Him, we have the victory – ‘they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb’ (Revelation  12:10-11). Keep reminding  Satan of Christ’s victory. Don’t let him forget it!

22:2-23:32 -  We need visionaries. We need managers. We need workers. David was a visionary. He had the original idea of building the Temple. Solomon was a manager. Under his leadership, the vision became a reality. David was important – but he was only involved in the ‘preparation’ for the building of the Temple (22:5). Solomon was important – ‘He shall build a House for My Name’ (22:9-10) – but he couldn’t do everything. The people were important. They were the workers. Without the workers, the work remains undone. Each of us must play our part. We must ‘do the work for the service of the House of the Lord’ (23:24). In this work, there is something we must never forget – ‘thanking and praising the Lord’ (23:30). David, Solomon, the people – they were all important. More important is the Lord. We need Him.
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