The Cleansing of the Temple

Jesus clears the Temple
Jesus goes into the Temple and clears it out, resetting it as a place of prayer.
It is all too easy for us to become weighed down with the very real need for money to carry out daily needs; at home, in the Church and in Charity.
On this earth we really do need to have sufficient for the day, and it is very true that without some coins we would all be homeless and starve to death.

Place of Prayer
However, it is equally true that we need a refuge from the daily battles for existence and the dilemmas that just being a human alive in a complex and ever-changing world present.
And this refuge is gloriously, and peacefully, our Place of Prayer.
Over the years, as I have travelled through many different countries, I have been blessed to meet prayerful and dignified people of family values, decency and faith. They have spent time with God in their Religious Culture's Place of Prayer. They have added to our world's spiritual blessing and strength with their quiet prayer and witness.

Take refuge
We need to remember to reset a place of prayer for ourselves, where we can take refuge and build our spiritual strength to carry on.
And sometimes the place of prayer is deep within the soul; that inner sanctuary where God and I meet.

We need our daily subsistence. However, the message of God is clear; we also need to have refreshment for our souls.
Let us not become so anxious for our body's subsistence, that we forget to give ourselves the spiritual space we need for prayer.
Let us not turn our places of prayer into places of business.

Marketplace and mountain
It is true that we need to leave the marketplace of our daily lives and business and climb the spiritual mountain of prayer in order to spend time alone with God.
It is equally true that we need to leave the joy and peace of the mountain to return, refreshed and full of joy, to share the love we have been given by God in prayer through affection and service to all we meet.

Come unto Me
Jesus Christ told all who are weary and heavy-laden to come to Him, and He would give us rest. I guess this invitation extends to every single person in the world. There is no-one, rich or poor, healthy or sick, young or mature in age, who does not have some worry. And each of us has the full right to spend time with our Brother Jesus, in prayer, and to ask for help from Him to carry our heavy personal burden.

Spiritual basics
The Cleansing of the Temple reminds us to return to the spiritual basics; not to became so anxious about funds that we forget who the funds are for . . . 

Helpful spiritual book, Hind's Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard
Hannah writes an allegory about the yearning of God's children to be led to new heights of love, joy and victory. Perhaps this book would be helpful for you
http://www.amazon.com/Hinds-Feet-Places-Hannah-Hurnard/dp/0842314296

Jesus Cleanses the Temple 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyvTMggabJc

"Then Jesus said, 'Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.'"
http://biblehub.com/matthew/11-28.htm

With thanks to Amazon.com, Youtube, Mormon Bible Channel , Biblehub.com

Confession

Confession is that moment of honesty with yourself in God's Presence when you see yourself as you really are, and genuinely acccept your flaws and past deeds that have caused hurt to others and yourself.

Confession means that in honesty before God you realise where you have fallen short, and the areas in your life where you need to change in order to become a better human being made in the Divine Image of God.

Confession means saying sorry to God in the depths of your heart for that in which you have done wrong, whether you fully realised the extent of your wrongdoing or not at the time.
And then making the decision to change.
And, if possible, trying to right some of the consequences of the wrong you did. 
Even if all you can do is make an apology.

Sacred Process
All of this is a sacred process, private between yourself and the God of your soul. It may be helpful to have a minister guide you with this process. Choose your priest/minister carefully. The total seal of the confessional - which means total confidentiality of the priest - must be the hallmark of your confessional minister.
You may choose to confess directly to the Priest of priests; Jesus Christ, in the confessional of your heart.
His Hand is that most securely placed to sift your sins and good deeds like chaff from wheat, and to help you rebuild a new and better you, from the ashes of the bitterness and pain of your past.
Forgiveness - of yourself and others for wrongdoing and the pain caused from it - is the key to a peaceful future.

Forgiveness
Why is forgiveness so important? Because some wrongs cannot be righted while on this earth. The emotional, familial and societal damage done by wrongdoing can sometimes not be reversed. Justice may not always be served. And this can lead to bitterness and a cycle of revenge and ever-worsening deeds which burgeon from the bitterness bred by suffering from the results of the wrongdoing that lies in the past.
It is only by making a fresh start, by cutting the ties of the bitterness of the past, that we can make a new future.
It does not mean that we won't still feel emotional pain at the remembrance of past hurt.
It does not mean that the wrong will always be righted.
It does not mean that we won't suffer the physical, emotional, mental and financial difficulties resultant from the wrongdoing.
It does mean that we won't let it poison us, or take away our happiness.
It means that we make a brave decision to shine like beacons of light in a world, witnessing that Jesus Christ most assuredly is right; forgiveness is the only way to free ourselves from the chains of past pain.

Confession and forgiveness means a new day, a fresh start; a new life . . .

Confession and Reconciliation

Make a new start - ask for God's Grace to help you become a better person

God deals with limitless forgiveness, a concept satan finds totally incomprehensible. 

Every person can start afresh
This means that every person, no matter how bad the deed or tragic the fallout, can start a new life afresh from the moment of personal confession. 

God's Grace
We can start a new life from the very moment of our confession before God, and our drawing on His Grace to help us make a new beginning. 

Learn from past mistakes
We can start a new life in relationship with God and others, learning from the lessons drawn from mistakes past.

Reconciliation
Reconciliation means the renewal of purity and trust within ourselves. 
Reconciliation means a renewal of relationship with God and others.
Reconciliation means a chance for restitution; to work towards alleviating the results of the past wrongful deed committed.

Second chance
Reconciliation means, in short; a second chance.

It is Impossible to Rightly Govern a Nation Without God and the Bible - George Washington

Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

 

Psalm 127:1 (NIV) "Unless the Lord builds the house,its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain."

 

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.

 

I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that "except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

 

I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.

 

(Source: Benjamin Franklin, The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore and Mason, 1840), Vol. X, p. 297, April 17, 1787.)

 

Psalms 33:12 (NKJV) "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance" 

 

In His Love,

Pastor Tim Burt 

 

With kind permission of Pastor Tim Burt