Gtcotr/ws032118
Spring
has officially begun, and we are now in one of the most exciting times of the
year for the Child of God. The most important spring feast of the Jews is
almost at hand. This year the Feast of Passover will coincide with the western
calendar and the celebration of Easter.
Passover
begins this year on Friday evening, March 30th, at sundown. Without
regard as to your particular beliefs about Jesus being crucified on a Thursday
or a Friday, everyone agrees that He was raised from the dead on Sunday.
Sunday, April 1st, is Resurrection Day!
Almost
2000 years ago this week, Jesus took His disciples and they went to Jerusalem
to attend Passover. It was during the first year of Jesus’ earthly ministry and
still 2 more years until He would be crucified. Jesus had a short time to teach
the people and to proclaim His Kingdom. Let’s read:
John 2 NKJV
13 Now the Passover of the
Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And He found in the temple
those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business.
15 When He had made a whip of
cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and
poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
16 And He said to those who
sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of
merchandise!”
17 Then His disciples
remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
18 So the Jews answered and
said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”
19 Jesus answered and said to
them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 Then the Jews said, “It
has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in
three days?”
21 But He was speaking of the
temple of His body.
22 Therefore, when He had
risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them;
and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
There
is no denying Jesus was consumed with zeal for the House of God. In fact, Jesus
clearly pointed to the fact that His very own body was the true House of God. Even
if men tear it down, Jesus will restore it and raise it up.
The
Apostle Paul confirms that the physical body of every Believer in Jesus is the
temple of the Holy Spirit.
·
1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you
not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,
whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
Jesus
continued to reveal this truth through His earthly ministry and just days
before His crucifixion:
·
John 14:23 Jesus answered and
said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love
him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”
Jesus
is compelled and consumed with zeal to see God’s house, your life, clean and in
order so ,that God can live in you in the most dynamic way. And, it is evident
from scripture that Jesus is willing to die for it.
Perhaps
then, we should pay more attention to improving God’s home in our heart, mind
and body. To help provide motivation, supply materials, and learn to use the
right tools so that we can do some Home Improvement, we are going to be
studying the scriptures on building and maintaining our hearts, minds and
bodies over the next few weeks. This 7-week Home Improvement series will begin
on Wednesday, April the 11th.
Let’s
read our key scripture to set the tone for this upcoming series.
Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom has built
her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars.
Each
week this series will provide 7 foundation stones from God’s Word which He
intended we use to build and maintain His House in a clean, orderly and
productive manner. You will learn and be refreshed in the knowledge, wisdom and
power to Build Better Lives and Homes for Christ. Here are the topics we will
cover in this series.
Home
Improvement Series
1.
Building Better Habits
2.
Building Better Marriages
3.
Building Better Finances
4.
Building Better Health
5.
Building Better Leaders
6.
Building Better Dreams
7.
Building Better Families
Why
wait until April 11th?
·
Next
Wednesday is March 28th and we considered beginning then but
·
On
the following week, Wednesday, April 4th, we are having our first
quarterly Youth Led Mid-Week Service. The youth will be taking charge of that service
with everything from greeting to ushering to singing to preaching. It’s going
to be an exciting and encouraging service.
·
Not
wishing to interrupt the series in the third week, our staff worked hard to
choose meaningful topics, get the information ready and find the times to best
serve our congregation. So, April 11th is the day!
Ephesians 2:22 In Christ you also are being built together
for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Let’s
all get ready for some Home Improvement this spring. You have a few days to
invite people who might benefit from some improvement. This is going to help
all of us build better lives in Christ.
