Tag: Revelation 3:20

Temples Won: Flipping Tables for Hearts

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Victories look different depending on the battles or contentions fought and won. The victory our Lord Jesus Christ gained on Calvary was nothing short of a miracle that could never be replicated again. But the fight to win the world, the battle to cleanse temples and hearts, didn’t start on the day the nails were driven into His hands. Holy Week is remembering the significance of each day that led to the cross and the sacrifice of our Lord.

Therefore, being Monday, we look back to the cleansing of the temple. Jesus could not bear the unholy manner in which the Father’s house was being treated. All respect, all honor for the sacredness of His place had been replaced by merchandising and swindling of those who sought to truly honor and worship before our Heavenly Father. Jesus, coming into the Temple, was appalled by what He witnessed.

In Jesus’ day, the temple of God, specifically the outer courts where the Gentiles worshiped (supposedly), was turned into a kind of marketplace. A meeting place of money and merchandise rather than humble hearts looking for a graceful God.

Can we imagine trying to worship and pray to God, sincerely lifting hearts up to Him, listening to the ding of a cash register going off and people asking for price checks while others barter over cost and quality of product? Well, there may not have been the ding of a cash register in Jesus’ day, but this disturbance in the meeting place of God was just as real. People who were seeking the Lord, in the place where they are told He may be found, were not able to connect with God as they should have been able to because of all the business going on.

Surely, this was not His first time there and witnessing the unashamed way people were being hustled, but as He was marching toward Calvary, He would make another attempt to redirect the hearts of those around. For Jesus, this event was about what was going on in the temple of people’s hearts, as well as the brick and mortar building of worship. Previously, I wrote:

“Unashamedly and without regard for roving eyes and the tsk tsk tsk of the people’s lips, He flips tables over and starts throwing people out to get His Father’s house back in order.  With holy force, He sought to reclaim what was rightfully God’s.

But can I tell you, His fight didn’t stop there.  He wanted more than a building to reclaim for God, He wanted people that rightfully belonged to Him.  He wouldn’t gain that by flipping over tables, rather He flipped over the gates of hell.  He wouldn’t get there by driving people with wrong intentions away, but with force, He drove the enemy of our soul away and crushed him under His feet. He wanted to win the temple of people’s hearts for His Father and this fight could only be won on the cross.” (©When Jesus Cleansed Our Temple/WordforLifeSays.com)

God has always intended His house to be a special, holy place where He and man can meet. And, from the time of Genesis, God has always had it in His mind that all men, from all over the globe, would be invited to come to Him and to worship: “Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people“ (Isaiah 56:7; emphasis added).

You and I, coming to the Father through Jesus Christ, were worth fighting for. Every leg of His battle, every scar, wound, and contention had Him focusing on a better future for us: “… who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Friend, your heart is the temple Jesus fought most to win. “Your heart wants God.  Your heart will never be happy with anything or anyone else. You may not completely understand how it all works, what it all means, or what this is all supposed to look like, but your heart wants God.” (©Your Heart Wants God/WordforLifeSays.com)

With that, the beginning of this week can be the start of a brand new life or a recommittment to Jesus Christ. Today, all the noise of this world can be silenced by the call to salvation: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16, and “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).

Many battles have been fought through the years, but the greatest battle fought and won is the battle for the hearts of people everywhere. Will you let Jesus in your heart today? Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20). 

Father God, thank You for every leg of this Christian journey Jesus fought for and accomplished in our lives. Thank You for being so mindful of us that You didn’t mind flipping over tables and hell to win our hearts. Thank You for the holy determination that drove the Savior’s love for us to do the impossible, eventually laying His holy life down on Calvary’s cross to free us from our unholy life. Today, we don’t take for granted this remarkable love shown. You have done the impossible in our lives. May our hearts ever reflect on the sacrifice and love commended toward us during this Holy Week of remembrance.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, X, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details. 

Your Heart Wants God

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Many hearts walking around today want God.  Feeling void without Him, they fill it with things they think can satisfy the longing deep within.

More and more, the search goes on to try this and that to fill the place only God can fill.  Attempt after attempt is made to try something, anything, that will occupy the space called your heart.

Friend, this is where God wants to be.  Successes, things, and even people will never be able to do for you what God can do.  All the things we try to put in place and accept into that sacred space of our hearts, outside of Him, will never last, will never fill, and will never bring you to the peace you are truly seeking.

Your heart wants God.  Your heart will never be happy with anything or anyone else. You may not completely understand how it all works, what it all means, or what this is all supposed to look like, but your heart wants God.

All you have to do is invite Him into that sacred space. Yes, you may have questions, and for some of those questions, there may not be an immediate answer revealed to you. But take that simple first step of faith, and trust God enough to let Him come into your life with His love and saving plan even if you do not immediately have all the answers to the questions you are looking for.

Your heart wants God, and Jesus gave us this promise: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20).

Your heart wants God, and all you have to do is open the door and let Him in.  If you do, Jesus said, “I will come in to him.”  He loves you, and in your heart is where He wants to be.

Your heart wants God, and God wants your heart. Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” (Matthew 22:37).

Even if you do not understand everything, the Bible encourages us to “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5,6).

Today, with all sincerity of heart, look to God.  “Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.” (Lamentations 3:41).  “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45:22).

Jesus is the only way you will ever find to get to God. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Jesus is the only answer and plan for our spiritual healing. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16, 17).

Today, your heart can have what it genuinely wants.  Turn to God through Jesus Christ and be saved.  Let Him fill your heart as only He can. “For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.” (Psalm 33:21).

“When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.” Psalm 27:8

Above image by rony michaud from Pixabay

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.