Cleansing the Temple

On October 14, 2024   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 21: 12 – 13

And Jesus entered the temple and cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers den.”

Some Bibles have topical headings describing the passages. Mine is one of those and this passage is headed by the title, Cleansing the Temple. This is a familiar passage, but I want you to read it with new eyes, as if you have never heard this story before.

My first question to you is this. Jesus had been to the temple many times before and He had never upset the cart, so to speak, before. Why this time? The second question is, why did He do it at all? The conduct of commerce at the temple was not an uncommon situation. He, His disciples and everyone in Jerusalem were accustomed to seeing trade going on at the temple.

The reason this passage is so important is because of 1 Corinthians 3: 16- 17, 1 Corinthians 6: 19 and 2 Corinthians 6: 16 all of which tell us that we have become the Temple of God. Jesus’ storming of the temple in Jerusalem happened immediately upon His triumphal entry into the city on a young, donkey colt. The crowds shouted, “Hosanna” as He entered and threw their cloaks and tree cuttings on the road so that not even the hooves of His colt would touch the ground. This entry into Jerusalem marked the end of the journey for Jesus. He would never leave. When He left for Jerusalem, He went with the intention of sacrificing Himself for our sins. He knew that He was about to be offered up as the sin offering for all mankind.

Jesus cleansed the building that was used as the Old Testament temple as He entered the city and He cleansed the temple of the New Testament, you and I, as He left, “For we are the temple of the living God, (2 Cor. 6: 16). Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross cleansed all of us for all time and now the Father, Son and Holy Spirit come and make their abode in us. You are now that house of prayer of which Jesus spoke. You are the living temple of Christ. We are the reason that Jesus made a message out of a spectacle. He proclaimed us clean and entrusts us to maintain the temple until his next coming.

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Prayer Temple

On February 20, 2023   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 7: 15

My eyes shall be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

After Solomon built and sanctified the temple, God made him the above promise. God’s omnipresence and attention would always be in the temple. At the time, that promise would have meant a great deal to the people of Israel. However, we don’t live in Israel. What has it to do with any of us?

The answer for that question is in John 14, verse 23, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.” The apostle Paul made it clear, “Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3: 16 GW). These verses bring 2 Chronicles into sharp focus for our lives today. God’s eyes and ear are always attentive to the prayers offered in His temple and you are His temple.

Do you ever feel like you are praying into a void? Me too! Sometimes it seems like our prayers are cast into a vast silence of brooding space. However, now we know that is not true so how we feel can be overwritten with truth. Last week’s Word of the Day told us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. The point I tried to get across was that we should not let our feelings be the final authority. The same applies here. Though it does not always feel like God is listening, the truth is that He has no choice. He tied Himself to His temple thousands of years ago. Besides that, He loves you and is always attentive to your voice because He loves to hear from you. Still, I like having scripture to stand upon when I am not feeling my strongest. Scripture is solid and reliable.

So, what would you like to pray for today? Father is waiting and listening. Let Him know the desires of your heart.

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Indwelling Presence

On March 15, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 140: 13

Certainly the righteous will give thanks to Your name; the upright will dwell in Your presence.

Clearly there are two parts to this verse. I confess, it was the latter which drew my attention. The question this verse presents is, will the righteous give thanks and the upright dwell in God’s presence only in heaven or is this verse meant to suggest life on earth experiences. For it to have great attractiveness for me, it needs to speak of our human existence in the earth and I believe it does.

What is the epiphany of Holy Spirit inspired language about us giving thanks to God when we all move to heaven, or for that matter, where is the great revelation in exposing an afterlife spent in the presence of God? Those are great truths and good news, but the truly remarkable thought is that these two declarations describe life here on earth. We can also know this by the preceding language. Verse 12 reads, “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor.” There are no afflicted or poor in heaven, no need for God to justly defend them. Therefore, we know the author wrote about an earthly condition in which it is possible to live in God’s presence.

That is what is attractive about this verse, living, dwelling daily in His presence. The glory of God has been sent into the earth to dwell among men. But wait, the best is yet to come. Jesus described this Holy presence as the inhabitation of the Spirit of God within us. We are the temple of the Most Holy. I know that sounds like just a bunch of “church words” but if we are to think of them literally rather than poetically see what an amazing idea His indwelling presence really is. The Apostle Paul said that nothing could in any way separate us from the love of God. Well, I guess not if we openly allow the Spirit to integrate with us in a meaningful way. I mean to say, this isn’t a churchy experience as much as a daily one when we allow the Spirit to expand into every part of our being and our lives. This living in and with the presence of God can become as real to us as living with our families. For some people living with God became more substantive than their existence with people. I have read of nuns and monks for whom the reality of God’s presence was encompassing. I am not suggesting we must live as monks but rather use their lives as evidence that this God of whom we speak, Yahweh, our true Father, can and will live with us as much as we can allow. The more we grow spiritually, the more capacity we have for sharing our lives with the three people of Divinity. We can long for just a bit more every day and then, by the end of summer, we will have a SONtan from all the time spent in his presence. That idea warms my heart, partially because I know it is an ever-increasing possibility. Seek Him. Know Him and invite Him into your everyday existence.

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Building the Temple

On July 25, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Chronicles 29: 9

Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly.

God has made us to be givers. We are in His image and He is the greatest giver of all time. One of the things that hangs us up, though, is that our offerings go to people. Truthfully, we do not always trust people and sometimes in our hearts we do not wish to bless people. If we could give right into God’s hands, we would joyfully give. We probably couldn’t give enough to satisfy the desire to bless the Lord.

In today’s story, David was at the end of his life and thus, his term as the king and leader of Israel. His son, Solomon, would be tasked with building the temple to the Lord. David, though, gave gold, silver, brass, etc. towards the building of the temple. He even gave gold so the walls could be covered in gold. It was in his heart to bless, the Lord, his God. As the people listened to his words and observed his example, they also dug deep into their resources and gave more gold, and other metals. It was a joy and a delight to these people to give to their God and they gave with a whole heart. I would like to go back in time and witness their joy.

We have a number of cultural issues which impede our giving. First, there is that keeping up with the Jones’ thing. If we give and give, then others will have more than we. What if we give so much directly to our pastors that their prosperity begins to eclipse our own? We seem to have a mentality which requires pastors to be broke. This is a thought pattern which strains my brain because it seems to me that in the world of logic, especially in Kingdom dynamics, those who serve God (including you) should be the most prosperous on earth. I don’t know where we got this poverty mentality, the Puritans perhaps, but it defies logic for me. Surely, you have noticed how wealthy preachers are criticized. I do know of some churches, though, who seem to consider it an insult to themselves if the pastors are not in nice clothes and driving the nicest cars. How would that go over in your church? What are the tapes running in our brains that would never allow that to happen.

Another problem our giving suffers is that we are living in a time when there is so much to spend money on. We can go on nice trips, drive nice cars, buy bigger homes and multiple homes. There is a new electronic gadget out almost every day that attracts our attention. What would the Israelites have done with all that gold anyway? If they did not give it to the temple would that have meant they could take a Caribbean cruise? I think they were not as distracted by a world full of pleasures as we are. I believe that is why we have to purpose in our hearts to be givers. There are many things we can give our money to, is the church the most attractive of these? I doubt it. God, likely is though. If you can get face to face with Him I think we would all want to give Him anything we could.

The Israelites received a revelation of the elation in giving. They gave to God with their whole hearts and rejoiced in the gifts. Maybe in our quiet time with the Lord, he can give us a revelation too showing us how giving will benefit us while it increases our joy. Let’s ask him about that, shall we?

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Home Address

On November 29, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 2: 17

His disciples remembered that it was written, “ZEAL FOR THY HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”

Today’s passage comes from the story of when Jesus overturned the tables in the temple, running out the merchants and money changers. It is a great story; one with which many of you are familiar. I want to put a New Testament spin on it for you today though.

Remember, when Jesus went through the temple overturning the money changers tables, the Old Covenant was still in operation. The new dispensation only came in with Jesus’ victory over death, sin and the grave. Therefore, when the temple was discussed in those times the reference would always have been to the building known as the temple. There is a new message about the temple on this side of the cross.

“For we are the temple of the living God,” (2 Corinthians 6: 16). Bearing this verse in mind, reread today’s passage. Now what do you see? You better believe that Jesus is zealous over the temple. Don’t you imagine that when he went through the building in Jerusalem he had you on his mind? This event occurred when he was about to go to the cross. He had been in that temple many times. Never before did he respond to the commerce going on within. Why this time? The answer is that it was because he had you on his mind. He was on his way to the cross to “cleanse the temple.” His outward display in the church that day was a symbol of the cleansing he was about to do through his sacrifice. Jesus was consumed with zeal for God’s house but it was not the brick and mortar building that captivated him. He was consumed with his love for you. It was that love; that consuming, burning love that gave him the strength to endure the cross.

He had his Father’s mind and his Father’s thoughts. He knew the plan and he understood what he and his Father would accomplish through the cross. The real question is, do we? “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3: 16). There is your key for understanding today’s scriptural quote. Because of Jesus’ zeal for you, he endured the cross. He had the end in mind. He wanted to be able to make his abode in you so that he could be with you at all times. You are that which Jesus is zealous for. Let this truth sink into the deep part of your being. Absorb it. You are the temple of God. You are Jesus’ home address.

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Dwelling in the Presence

On August 1, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Genesis 3: 8

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

As I read through the Bible one thing keeps being impressed on me and that is that God has always longed for close, personal fellowship with us. That idea begins with today’s passage. Imagine living in the Garden of Eden and in the evening God comes to walk along the garden path with you. Doesn’t that sound idyllic? Well, God’s original intention for the earth was for it to be a perfect garden where we could enjoy His company. Unfortunately, we spoiled the garden.

All through the Bible you see God return to this idea of living with His people. In 1 Kings 6: 13 we witness God expressing this very idea saying, “I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.” When he saved the people from their captivity in Egypt He went along with them, leading them day and night by His presence. He was in the cloud. He was in the fire. He was their rear guard as well as their guiding light. Later He told Moses to “let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25: 8). Then He gave them the instructions for building the Ark of the Covenant. And His presence came and rested in the Ark and with the people.

Time marches on and King David sits on the throne. Finally there is peace in the land and David has a desire in his heart to build a temple for God but God forbids David from building the temple because he, being a man of war, has too much blood on his hands. So, his son, Solomon builds the temple. In 1 Kings 8 we read about the dedication of the temple. These interesting words appear in verse 10: “When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.” Again God came to live among His people.

This recurrent theme does not end with the Old Testament saints, however, nor with the Israelites because we have now become the temple of the Most High. “For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (2 Corinthians 6: 16).

God has not changed. His long held desire has been to live with His kids. Ever since the Garden of Eden God has longed to be in close proximity with us both physically and emotionally. He has made us His temple so that He can be with us everywhere we go. And again, as in 1 Kings 8, He wants to fill His temple with His presence.

Today He wants to walk in the cool of the day with you. He longs to chat with you and hear what is on your heart. He deeply desires fellowship with you. This revelation will prevent you from ever being lonely again. You have a close and abiding friend and He is the Lord of creation. So, let us all stop thinking of God as high and removed. Don’t imagine Him far away in the cosmos. He is in the room with you right now. He is as close as your next breath. Begin to talk with Him as your best friend. It will change your life.

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