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Is not reading and meditating on the bible a "beautiful devotion" and are we limited to just that? Is it a sin to build a beautiful house of worship fit for a King? Is it a sin to use the most expensive materials available in that worship?

It certainly can be. Do you recall in the OT when Israel failed to destroy the treasures taken from the nations they were killing off? They were going to use them in sacrifice and that seemed just as innocent and righteous as Catholic embellishments. But it wasn't. God finally says that He hated the sacrifices and offerings because they were offered amiss. Do you think that such things can be recreated right now?

God is certainly more pleased with faithfullness to His word than with building "beautiful places of worship".

The Word of God is a person, the second person in the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, His name is Jesus Christ.
He is present, Body, Blood Soul and Divinity in The Most Blessed Sacrament, The Eucharist. This is why we have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

God finally says that He hated the sacrifices and offerings because they were offered amiss. Do you think that such things can be recreated right now?

God is certainly more pleased with faithfullness to His word than with building "beautiful places of worship".

And here you are judging the motives of Catholics - acting in the place of God, I might add. Can not the two things (faithfulness and beauty in that faithful worship) be intertwined for the adoration of God?