REAL HEALING BEGINS WITH CLEANSING by Shaun Saunders So many pictures of Jesus portray him as a quiet, harmless, and peaceful man. But in Matthew 21, you see a different side of Jesus. Jesus is walking through the temple to clean house. He is, in no uncertain terms, upset. But if there is anything worth getting upset about, it’s the moment we turn God’s temple into a casino. As Jesus enters the temple, he does two things. He flips over tables because the moneychangers were using these tables to count their money on. Next, He turns over their benches, or the thing they were using to sit comfortably on. This scene teaches us something about healing and cleansing. Firstly, whenever God wants to get our attention, the first thing he will do is turn over the things we are counting on. He will turn over friendships. He will turn over finances, and he will turn over our credentials in order to call us back to FOCUS. God wants his church focused more than he wants us to be debt free. A church without focus is like a camera without a lens—the photographer may trick onlookers, but the picture won’t show clearly without proper focus. Often we blame the devil for every difficult situation. But sometimes, God sees that we have been counting on our own resume for too long, so in order to produce faith, He’s got to flip some things upside down. Oh trust me. When JESUS needs you to “get it,” He will turn your table of life upside down until you “get it”! Secondly, Jesus grabs the benches upon which they are sitting. Why? Because when we become too comfortable (in the temple), we become carnal and irreverent. We lose sense of what matters most. The church is a place where souls can be restored. It’s a spiritual hospital where the wounded can be healed, and where the Divine Physician can medicate sick patients. The people had been sitting on a bench, which meant, they were reclining. They were relaxing, and it was clear that they planned to be there for a while. Like some of us, they had no desireto change, and they had lost all conviction. How do I know? Because they weren’t even hiding it.But when God has had enough of our seat-warming Christianity, he will remove every comfortable bench and call you to action. Gone are the days when we can allow tradition to overrule the Holy Spirit. God wants to reclaim His church, and He will begin by cleaning house first. Notice, Jesus doesn’t sharply rebuke the unbeliever. He goes after those who are religiously endowed. The teachers of the law and the spiritually “dignified,” are those who stand in the need of correction. What areas of ministry might God be trying to correct in your life? Verse 14 states that after the cleansing took place, blind and lame patients came in to be healed. Could it be possible that healing is blocked in our churches because we have got some cleaning to do in our temples? Is it possible that we are more focused on the table and the bench; the offering and the budget; the stage of men and not the altar of God? We’ve got to get our priorities in order. If you’re searching for healing today, clean your house. The sooner you do, the better. Scripture Referenced: Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. Matthew 21:12-14 #90daychallenge #jointhechallenge #emailusat projectencounter1@gmail
Posted on: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 09:25:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015