The prophet Isaiah has written: "My house shall be called by all nations, a house of prayer."--Jesus Not a little pang we feel when a son shows some preference for a friend's family's influence: "They have a fun night!", "You should see their game room!", "Wow the vacations they take are awesome!", "Their mom is such a great cook!"
What is your house called?
In a sermon I heard recently the pastor challenged the congregation to "Envision what you want your family to be." Let's say you have done that and your home is well on its way to achieving your vision. What would you do if someone or something invades your home and attempts to change its character? Instead of integrity and peace being the rule, deception & bickering begin to spread like a cancer engulfing the serenity you once enjoyed.
On two occasions in his earthly ministry, the elder brother,
Jesus, had to "clean house." With "hate-less vengeance" he forcefully evicted nefarious characters who had invaded the serenity of his Father's house. By symbolic act he demonstrated to the world his mission to rid the world of sin & misery.
If all the ills of the world could be identified in one single source it is this: the disruption between the Creator and the created.
Perfect Will plus Perfect Obedience equals Perfect Love.
- House of fun?
- House of horrors?
- House of order?
- House of chaos?
- House of the unambitious and ill mannered?
- House of opportunity?
- House of the ill prepared and untrained?
- House of responsibility & citizenship?
- House of faith?
- House of the immoral and impure?
- House of kingdom values?
- House of the vain and fashionable?
In a sermon I heard recently the pastor challenged the congregation to "Envision what you want your family to be." Let's say you have done that and your home is well on its way to achieving your vision. What would you do if someone or something invades your home and attempts to change its character? Instead of integrity and peace being the rule, deception & bickering begin to spread like a cancer engulfing the serenity you once enjoyed.
On two occasions in his earthly ministry, the elder brother,
If all the ills of the world could be identified in one single source it is this: the disruption between the Creator and the created.
Perfect Will plus Perfect Obedience equals Perfect Love.
Jesus came to lead home to the heart of the Father many sons & daughters who long have sensed His presence but not known his arms; whose troubled hearts & lives yearn for his comfort. Those who walk, with fading hope, "through the dank mists of doubtful thought or the cold winds from the desert of foiled effort" and are hidden from the Light of the world.
But every now and then the blue pledge of a great sky breaks through the clouds overhead. Gradually they grow more capable of imagining a world in which every good thing thinkable may be a fact. Best of all, the story of Him who is Himself the Good News, the gospel of God, becomes not only more and more believable to their hearts, but more and more a minister to their life of conflict, and the assurance of a Living, Loving Father who hears when his children cry. (adapted from MacDonald, The Hope of the Gospel)
Take heart, then, you who sincerely want to know God and understand His work in the world but are besieged with woeful explanations of God's nature that repel a true heart. Jesus will come, once again, to clean house, expel the nefarious, and establish righteous order to God's House!
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Comments are welcome. You can post them here or send me an email: clyon2msu@gmail.com. Thanks for reading, hope you are encouraged, blessed, challenged and grow stronger in your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Charlie