Time to Clean House
By Pastor Justin Cooper
When Jesus came to the temple, He did not straighten the tables. He turned them over. He made a whip of cords and drove out everything that did not belong in His Father's house, and then He declared what that house was always meant to be.
"My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."
— Matthew 21:13
Under the new covenant, you and I do not travel to a temple made of stone. Scripture says we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. So the cleansing that happened in Jerusalem is the cleansing He longs to do in us. And here is the mercy in it: when Jesus cleans a house, He does not ask us to make it presentable first. He asks us to open the door and let Him in.
We love the idea of revival. But it is easy to settle for the feeling of it and miss the substance of it. Revival is not a stirring performance that raises the hair on your neck and leaves the heart unchanged.
"Revival is you and I getting right with God."
"Revival is you and I getting right with God."
Pastor Justin Cooper
Gospel Light Baptist Church
It is you and me seeing ourselves the way God sees us, agreeing with Him about our sin, and dealing with it honestly instead of managing it quietly. And I know the temptation — to look at one thing in your life and decide it is small, not worth troubling over. Let me help you with the size of it. "How big is it? It is Calvary big. Jesus died for that sin on the cross." Nothing He purchased with His own blood is a small thing.
So do not merely feel this — do something with it. Get somewhere quiet and ask the Lord one direct question: "What would You drive out of my heart if You had free liberty in here?" Do not argue with the first thing that comes to mind. Name it. Confess it. And if it involves someone else, take the step to make it right — the apology, the returned call, the conversation you have been avoiding. That is what it looks like to let Him clean house.
He is patient enough to keep coming back, and strong enough to set you free. Open the door.
Lord, You have free liberty in this heart. I am not asking You to tidy it — I am asking You to clean it. Show me what does not belong, and give me the courage to name it and let it go. I will not call small what You called Calvary big. Make me a house of prayer again. In Jesus' name, amen.
Reflection: If Jesus had free liberty in your heart, what is the one thing He would drive out — and what step will you take to let Him?
Gospel Light Baptist Church · Walkertown, NC · unsubscribe
