DCLM Higher Everyday 15 July 2024 — Christ Cleanses The Temple
DCLM Higher Everyday 15 July 2024 Devotional by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Christ Cleanses The Temple
Topic: Christ Cleanses The Temple
Text: Luke 19:45-48
45And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;
47And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,
48And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.
Key Verse: “And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; saying unto them, it is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Luke 19:45,46).
Message
According to D.A. Carson, the fact that Jesus was not arrested by the Temple guards was due to the fact that the crowd supported Jesus’s actions. The temple was the central place of worship for the Jewish people. It was built by King Solomon in the 10th century BC as the home for the Ark of the Covenant and was considered the most sacred place on earth by the Jewish people.
Due to spiritual decline in Israel, the temple had turned to a place of merchandise (buying and selling). We should be careful not to use the house of the Lord to do wrong things that will hinder God from answering our prayers. The miracle of healing took place after Jesus cleansed the temple by casting out the sinners who were using the house of God for commercial purposes. Keep God’s temple holy and clean as this will attract God’s presence and healing. Jesus has the power to cleanse you of anything that defiles His dwelling place (your body). Come to Him in true repentance for your total freedom.
Quote: Keep God’s temple holy
Challenge: Jesus can cleanse you completely.
Prayer for today: O Lord, make my body your dwelling place.
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "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)
