2003
2004
2005
2006
January '03
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
February '03
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
March '03
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
April '03
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Week 17
May '03
Week 18
Week 19
Week 20
Week 21
Week 22
June '03
Week 23
Week 24
Week 25
Week 26
July '03
Week 27
Week 28
Week 29
Week 30
Week 31
August '03
Week 32
Week 33
Week 34
Week 35
September '03
Week 36
Week 37
Week 38
Week 39
October '03
Week 40
Week 41
Week 42
Week 43
Week 44
November '03
Week 45
Week 46
Week 47
Week 48
December '03
Week 49
Week 50
Week 51
Week 52
Breath
of Power
A Weekly Devotional of Jesus Power Outreach Ministries
Week 33: August 11 - August 17, 2003
BUILT ON ASHES
Key Passage: 2 Samuel 24: 16-18; 2 Chronicles 3: 1
And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, "It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, "Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.” And Gad came that day to David and said to him, "Go up, erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David. (NIV)
The temple is the dwelling place of God amongst men. It is the place where men meet with God and worship Him. The right place for the temple is the place of divine encounter and in that place is built the altar of sacrifice. Under the Old Testament, the animal of sacrifice is slain and laid in the altar where it is burnt to ashes. The altar of sacrifice is symbolic of the place of brokenness - the place of humble submission - because sacrifice is not given in pride, but by a heart that is seeking mercy and help. It is only such hearts, with such attitude, that can truly worship God.
God’s anger was aroused against Israel because of the sinful act of David and He sent a plague among them that left 70,000 dead. As the angel of judgment was about to destroy Jerusalem, God’s heart was touched and He stopped the angel. David, on seeing the angel, fell down before God in brokenness, and pleaded, “Lord, I am the one that has sinned, not these sheep. Let your hand fall upon me and my family.” God, being moved by the brokenness and the humble submission of David sent His prophet to tell David to build Him an altar on that same threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite where he poured out his broken heart to God. David bought the place for its full price, built the altar, made burnt sacrifices to God and God withdrew the plague.
Many years after when Solomon was seeking for the right place to build the first temple of worship, God said that there is no better place to build it than at the place of the altar of sacrifice where the heart of a man was poured out in brokenness to Him. That was at the threshing floor of Arauna the Jebusite.
God wants us to always come to worship Him with hearts burnt to ashes, which are hearts absolutely broken and yielded to Him. That is the true sacrifice that provokes His mercy and favor (Ps 51:17).Pray, Lord, give me a broken and a yielded heart that I may worship You in Spirit and in truth.
Written by – Evangelist Oguazi Onyemobi
Evangelist's Itinerary | Links | Contact Us | Relationship with God | Bible Search
Copyright © Jesus
Power Outreach Ministries Inc., Lagos Nigeria