Cleansing the ‘temple’………….?

 

For as long as I can remember I have always looked up to King Josiah. He had a heart after God. Unlike his predecessors He followed hard after God. He didn’t turn to the left or the right. He loved God with all of his heart. This past week I read his story and there were a few things that stood out to me.

 

– When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay.                  2 Kings 22:11

 

–  Then the king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, his associate priest, and The Temple sentries to clean house – to get rid of everything in the Temple of God that had been made for worshipping Baal and Asheroth and the cosmic powers. He had them burned outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and then disposed of the ashes in Bethel. 

 

– He fired the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had hired to supervise the local sex-and-religion shrines in the towns of Judah and neighborhoods of Jerusalem. 

 

– In a stroke he swept the country clean of the polluting stench of the round-the-clock worship of Baal, sun and moon, stars-all the so-called cosmic powers. 

 

– He took the obscene phallic Asherah pole from the temple of God to the Valley of Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it up, then ground up the ashes and scattered them in the cemetery. 

 

– He tore out the rooms of the male sacred prostitutes that had been set up in The Temple of God; women also used these rooms for weavings for Asherah. 

 

– Then Josiah demolished the Topheth, the iron furnace griddle set up in the Valley of Ben Hinnon for sacrificing children in the fire. No longer could anyone burn son or daughter to the god of Molech. 

 

– As Josiah looked over the scene, he noticed the tombs on the hillside. He ordered the bones removed from the tombs and had them cremated on the ruined altars, desacralizing the evil altars. 

 

 

I could go on and on. Please read the whole chapter to see how extensive the cleansing was! Josiah didn’t hold back. Once he heard the word he did everything in his power to make things right.

As I read this chapter I believe God spoke to me. He challenged me to have Josiah’s attitude towards sin. Josiah didn’t tolerate it at all. The land he cleansed and the temple he cleansed are a picture of our bodies, of our lives. He did not compromise with sin. He saw all the idols and images that were set up and he tore them down. What idols need to be torn down in your life? He was ruthless with sin. He didn’t play with sin. I want that same attitude concerning sin. There is sin I take seriously but there is other sin I take too casually! There is nothing casual about sin. I serve a HOLY GOD. Yes, I am a sinner and I have flaws but what I can do in my own power I should do……

Josiah did everything He possibility could and why? Because he loved God!!!!

 

In verse 25 of 2 Kings 23 it says,

 

There was no king to compare with Josiah-neither before nor after- a king who turned in total and repentant obedience to God, heart and mind and strength, following the instructions revealed to and written by Moses. The world would never again see a king like Josiah. 

 

It is time to cleanse the “temple”. Let us not take sin lightly. Let us take it seriously. As Josiah took care of the sin in his land God set him apart. There is a truth we need to know as we plan on taking on sin, we can’t fight sin on our own. We need to ask God for His help. What God wants of us is to see sin as He sees sin. I had taken sin lightly but it was sin that put Christ on the cross, OUR sin……

 

With all that said, how do you treat sin in your life? Are you as zealous as Josiah when it comes to dealing with sin or do you have a laid back attitude? This is a challenge for all of us.

 

God, please help us be like Josiah! He never tolerated sin. He never became comfortable with sin. He saw sin the way God saw sin. Josiah loved God so much that his love translated into a hate for sin! May we have that same love for God……..

( Please note: As I post this I have sinned extensively today and yesterday and day before that…… I have found it extremely hard not to sin! No matter what I try do blows up in my face! I can’t believe it….I have tried day after day but it seems like I have sinned even more!

But is this not the story of our lives? Is sin not a daily struggle which we face ? So how does the “Temple”get cleansed? It get’s cleansed by relying on His righteousness! He paid the price for us. Sin has been defeated. Our job is to trust in His grace and mercy in which He so abundantly gives).

My conclusion has to change then. Have an attitude like Josiah’s toward sin but rely on God’s mercy and grace everyday because we will sin, that is a fact but He provides us an opportunity to ask for forgiveness! We need to realize we can’t deal with sin because it was already been dealt with by Jesus. He died and rose so we could be free  from sin!  Amen

Rolain

 

Rolain

Scars of Loss.

If we are to experience God’s best there is a price to pay. This was so clear to me as I was reading Bob Sorge’s book on prayer. Are you prepared to pay the price, because there is a price?
The enemy has come and taken things, he has come and plundered our stuff but there will be restitution. He will pay for all he has done but there is a price.
I have been deeply challenged by the words I have read. This is what he had to say:

“There is a steep price to pay if we are to experience restitution.
What does qualifying for restitution mean?
And even though there is restitution, the reality of the actual loss is a scar that marks us forever.

Take, for starters, Job.

The indelible mark left upon Job because of the loss of his first set of ten children. Yes, he was changed, healed, restored, and given a second set of children. But nothing could erase the fact that he had lost his first children. They were gone forever, and their absence represented a hole in his heart that nothing could fill. This left an eternal scar on Job’s soul“.

And the Lord turned the captivity of Job and restored his fortunes, when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.  Job 41:10
We read Job’s story with no clue at the cost he had to pay for restitution. He lost his kids. All his kids. It didn’t mean just because God blessed him with more kids he forgot about the pain and the tragedy of losing his first ten kids. On the contrary the pain of losing his children would forever be with him.

–  Paul is another example of this. Paul was a mighty man of God who God delivered. At the end of his life Paul testifies of God’s faithfulness by saying,

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7

Paul faced impossible opposition! It was not an easy road. For Paul to say what he said, had such a weight and significance. He didn’t just leisurely get there. He nearly died and was actually prepared to die for Christ. His deliverance and glory came at a huge cost. Consider this:

2 Corinthians 11:23-30

²³ Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

²⁴ Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

²⁵ Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

²⁶ In journeying’s often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

²⁷ In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

²⁸ Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?

As you can see, Paul suffered a lot.

The last person I would like to point out from the book is Naomi. The author says:

Naomi was comforted with Obed’s death, but she never got her husband and two sons back.
Ruth 4:17-22

We like happy endings but we need to realize like Job Naomi lost her family!
She was happy that she had a grandson but the fact remains, she lost her family and she had to live with that truth everyday of her life! She paid a huge price.

What I would like you to see through all of this is, what you have gone through, what you going through is not all for nothing! It is for a testimony! I would like you to start seeing your scars differently. Your scars are a reminder of what happened to you but they are also a testimony of God’s faithfulness. Let me give you one last practical example of what I mean.
I was abused as a child. My dad was a violent man and a drinker. I lived most of my childhood in fear then in shame and insecurity. I was abused physically and verbally. I have scars to prove it. Today, I can look at those scars and hate my dad but I don’t. I look at those scars and they remind me of how God saved me! I have come a long way because of God! The scars are a testimony of God’s faithfulness, do you understand? Look at Jesus, His nails bare the mark of what He paid on the cross. It is a reminder to us of how much He loved us. His scars are a testimony!

The author goes on to say, The point is: The losses are real, and the scars eternal. And yet, the suffering is worth it because of the glory which is revealed in us.

And I will stop there. God is so good. I hope you will look at your scars differently. There is a price to pay to experience God’s restitution.

Rolain