DAY 82
Pastor Darren DeLaune
Scripture
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” - Matthew 21:12-13
In today’s teaching, Jesus enters the Temple to find it defiled and misused. He was looking for true worship from a pure and obedient heart. Instead, He sees a scene that perhaps resembles a football game concession stand serving way overpriced snacks! But the stakes are much higher here.
Sometimes we also drift into doing religion instead of engaging in true relationship. We get caught up in the actions without having the right hearts. But we can choose to ensure that our actions are borne out of our relationship with God.
Pastor Darren reminds us to examine ourselves for anything that might hinder our witness to God’s grace and love. Pray about and seek others out to help you identify sin and callousness that might have crept into your life. If we are to be the light of the world and point others to God, we must first be worshipers with true, obedient hearts.
Question: Take a moment to take the temperature of your heart for God. Are you cooling off due to repetition or warming up from a heart acting out of love for God?
Prayer Starter: Jesus, Show me if there is a reason, a past hurt, or a lie I’ve believed that has allowed this place in my heart to drift. I repent from ________, and I receive Your forgiveness, I renounce the lie that ______, and I receive Your truth that I am Your adopted son/daughter, forgiven and restored, an heir to Your Kingdom. I receive Your healing from ________, and I choose today to _______. Thank You for strengthening my understanding of who I am in Your eyes.
Family Chat: On a scale of 1-10, how close do you feel to God?
Take Action: When you identify those cooler places, give those back to God. Repent and ask God to draw you close to Him so that you can experience fresh truth, freedom, and the grace of God, and subsequently, that others will also, through you. Then phone a friend and talk to them about it.
Additional Resources: