What Would You Do

That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” Solomon replied to God, “You showed great and faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place. O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father , for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly, for who could possibly govern this great people of yours? God said to Solomon, "Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you ask for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people – I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as knowing the king has had before you all will ever have in the future!”

My husband and I sometimes play a game, if you had stupid money what would you do? And we proceed to talk about some things we would do, what type of house, what type of car, the church and we talk about what we would not do, even if we had stupid money.

During one of my morning devotions, I came across this devotion by John Barry and he asked the question, “What would you do if you won the lottery?”

“What would you do if you won the lottery?”

He goes on to say, This question always seems to generate the same responses: there is the person who devises an investment strategy, the dreamer who envisions ending global poverty, the individual who would travel the world, and the person who would buy the house, boat, or car they’ve always wanted.

These responses tell us something about each person’s character and what fulfills them. The root of these desires reveal something about how they perceive their identity and relationship to their culture, family, and God. They feel “in their identity” or “most themselves” when they pursue happiness, others happiness, or the things they want.

Solomon experiences in an unexpected “wish” scenario, like winning the lottery or being granted three wishes, Solomon’s response reveals what is important to him, the core of his identity, and how God responds to people who know what he desires. God says to the king, “ask what I shall give you” (). Solomon replies with some of the most humble words ever spoken: “now, give to me wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before this people [an idiom for a type of leading], for who can judge this, your great people?” ().

In response, God reminds Solomon of all the great things he passed up in this moment, and how doing so showed his true character. As a result, God says that He will also bless Solomon with “wealth, possessions, and honor” (). Solomon’s humility demonstrates what it looks like to have a godly identity that’s focused on others rather than ourselves.

The difference between present gain and eternal gain is focus: Are we working toward the eternal good of God’s work or the temporal good of our own success? When we align ourselves with who God created us to be, our desires become His desires. Our thirst for gain is quenched by God—sometimes surprisingly. We, like Solomon, should understand our role in God’s work and request what we need to fulfill that role, trusting that He will provide the rest.

The difference between present gain and eternal gain is focus: Are we working toward the eternal good of God’s work or the temporal good of our own success? When we align ourselves with who God created us to be, our desires become His desires. Our thirst for gain is quenched by God—sometimes surprisingly. We, like Solomon and Paul, should understand our role in God’s work and request what we need to fulfill that role, trusting that He will provide the rest.

Barry ends the devotion with the question, “What would you do if you came into a large sum of money? How can you align your desires with God’s?”

What would you do if you came into a large sum of money? How can you align your desires with God’s?

I believe this particular devotion caught my attention because of where I am now in regards to Love Christian Center. We are in the process of praying and asking God for a building for the church. Not just any building, but a debt free building.

I’m not asking God to do it any particular way or in any particular time, I’m just believing that He can and that He will, in His time; and I’m being open to receive the blessing however it may come.

When you pray, you have to be willing to wait on God to answer that prayer in the way He knows is best for you. The blessings of God are yea and amen and they bring no sorrows with them.

Solomon is the son of King David and the second child of Bathsheba. He was promised to be the successor to the throne of David and now his time had come. He is in a time of peace and celebration; there is no idolatry in the land; the people are following Jehovah God and all is good. They are in what we would call the perfect place, spiritually, economically and even morally, it’s all good.

Solomon has called a meeting of all Israel, he’s got the commanders of the thousands and of the hundreds, the judges, and all the leaders of all Israel, the heads of families. Solomon has gathered everyone and they all head to the high place, or what we would call church.

Wouldn’t that be great if we as a nation could all come under the banner of God, on one accord and our leader feared God and led us all into worship? What time it would be and what a place this would be. We as a land could experience the peace of God. Let us continue to pray.

Solomon has gathered all the people together and he does what honors God during this time, he offers sacrifices, in fact, he offers a thousand burnt offerings on the bronze altar. Where you sow plentifully you will reap plentifully, where you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly. You can’t sow a little seed and expect to get a great harvest. How many of you have ever heard, you get out of it what you put into it; whatever “it” is.

The equivalent of the thousand sacrifices today would be like us gathering and worshipping and praising God. Everyone together, no one envious of anyone else, everyone satisfied in who they are, operating in the gifts and talents God has given them and just happy to come together to give God glory.

God was pleased with this offering and we know this because He came to Solomon in a dream. Verse seven says, That night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, Ask what I should give you.” God shows up in Solomon’s dream and says, what shall I give you Solomon.

Verse seven says, That night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, Ask what I should give you.” God shows up in Solomon’s dream and tells him to

Now imagine this, the creator of the heavens and the earth, the world and they that dwell therein, is coming to you saying what would you like me to give you. If you could have anything in the world, just ask and I will give it to you. What are you going to ask for?

Now there are those who would ask for peace on earth, that all wars would cease; others may ask that there would be no hunger, still others may ask that all sickness and disease be healed, another may ask that there be no more death or for someone they loved, to be with them again, and the list could go on and on and on. And dare I say your request would largely depend on your circumstance. Are you dealing with sickness in your body, are you dealing with financial lack, are you grieving the recent loss of a loved one? Are you longing for a child, you’ve been trying for years to have, but nothing. Perhaps you have a child that’s lost spiritually or physically missing and you don’t know where they are. Maybe you’re dealing with mental health issues in yourself or you family. Try though we may, the average person is going to make their wish based on what they see around them at the time.

The average person, but not everyone is average. There are those who see things on a more grand scale, there are those who see things from a different point of view. While you see what’s in front of you, they see 180, still others see 360. You may see what’s at ground level, but someone else sees from an elevation of 10,000 feet, another 30,000 feet and still someone else sees it from space.

Your experience will have a lot to do with what you ask for. If you've never left the city limits, then chances are you won't have a worldly view. It's all about perspective. Where you are in your life, is going to have a bearing on what you ask for, no matter who's offering.

What an opportunity Solomon has and he begins by recognizing what God has already done. He begins with what he already knows about God, he begins with what he has already experienced. He says "You showed great and faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place." Sometimes it's good to look at your situation, it's good to look back from whence you came. Sometimes the best way to know where you're going is by evaluating where you've been. It's also important to remember your past is a place of reference not a place of residence. Don't get stuck in what you used to be, what you used to do, or where you used to go. Those experiences made us who we are today, but they don't define who we are in Christ, what we can do, or where we can go.

He continues, “Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth!” If we know nothing else about God, we know that he is a promise keeper, we know he honors his word above his name. This goes back to the promise God made Abram back in Genesis when He told him, “in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore” and now here we are.

Now comes Solomon's request, "give me the wisdom and knowledge to leave them properly, and possibly govern this great people of yours?"

What an opportunity Solomon has and he begins by recognizing what God has already done. He begins with what he knows about God. He says "You showed great and faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place."

If we know nothing else about God, we know that he is a promise keeper, we know he honors his word above his name.

Of all the things Solomon could have asked for, he was talking to the God of heaven and earth, the great Jehovah, the true and living God, and he asked for wisdom and knowledge to lead the people of God properly. Solomon recognized who he was, he recognized his limited ability, and he recognize that God was limitless. When you know who God is and who you are you can think beyond yourself, you can elevate your thoughts above where you are right now.

When you get in the space to be who God has truly called you to be you will see God's people in a whole different way. You will be concerned with helping them to meet their needs, instead of trying to take what they have. You will recognize that while they may be weak and frail and fallible they are also God's anointed, appointed, and powerful vessel. They are his child and because of that, they have worth and they have value and so do you.

When you get in the space to be who God has truly called you to be you will see God's people in a whole different way. You will be concerned with helping them to meet their needs, instead of trying to take what they have. You will recognize that while they may be weak and frail and fallible they are also God's anointed, appointed, and powerful child. They are his child and because of that they have worth and they have value and so do you.

Now comes the most exciting part of our text. Always exciting to be given the option to ask for whatever you want but more exciting than that is God's response. In verse 11, "God set the Solomon, "because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or of long life, but rather you ask for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people – I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!"

Ask for what you will but understand and know that God has something better for you. He has more for you than you can ask or think. That's why we can ask for a building debt-free for Love Christian Center. When you have a heart to want to bless God's people he will go beyond anything you could imagine. Try him and see. Won't He do it? Won't He do it?

God said he would certainly give him the wisdom and knowledge he requested but He’s going to give him even more than that. Now when you ask God for something you must be sincere about that thing. We see in James you have not because you ask not and what you do ask for you ask amiss. Asking amiss means you have an ulterior motive for what you're asking for. Be sincere about what it is you want God to do and why you want Him to do it. If your heart's desire is to own a house there's nothing wrong with that. If your heart's desire is to drive a new car, there's nothing wrong with that. But know this, God is about so much more than the material things, set your hopes, your dreams, your desires on things eternal, on things in the heavenly, on things that won't rust, things the moths can't eat, things that won’t go in and out and back in and out of style again. Set your mind on the things of God.

The building for Love Christian Center, is not just about a building, it's about ministry, it's about growth, it's about being able to do more in ministry that can't be done when you're paying rent to someone else. It's about being able to impact the community when you don't have to worry about sharing parking spaces. It's about being able to carry out the ministries that God has placed here in this body of Christ. It's about being good stewards of all that God has given us and getting a return on what he's given.

Yes we want to grow numerically, but more than that, we want you to grow spiritually, we want you to be spiritually mature Christians able to stand, able to resist the devil so he will flee from you, able to share your testimony anytime, anywhere. Able to speak life into others, able to lay hands on others and they be healed. Able to be an instrument in the hands of the Almighty God. Able to tell others about the goodness of the Lord and more than that able to tell others how they too can be saved.

This ministry is about multiplication, it’s about warfare and don’t think we don’t have enemies, but God said one can put a thousand to flight and two ten thousand. Not because of who we are, but because of who He is. But to impact a community it requires some things from you.

It requires first a heart for and commitment to God

Will you go, even when you don’t feel like it

Will you give, even when it seems like you won’t be able to get what you want for yourself

Will you worship Him in spirit and in truth - because that’s the kind of worship he requires of you

Will you praise Him, even when your life is in shambles?

It requires a heart for God’s people

Will you love them, even when they don’t love you

Will you serve them, even when they are only using you

Will you show up to worship service and forsake not the gathering of yourselves together, even if you don’t like everyone there?

Will you give of yourself for them, even if they can’t give in return to you?

If you won the lottery, if God said to ask for what you will - what would you do?

The doors of the church are open

Communion