Today as I continue in the book of John. I came down to John 2: 16, “And said unto them that sold doves, Takes these things hence; make not my Father’s house into an house of merchandise.”
When I read John 2:16, the word house could mean the physical church that we attend or our body (the temple of the Lord). There are many people who are allowing impure things to enter into their body and destroying the temple of the Lord. The Lord is not pleased with the things we allow to enter our lives and want us to get rid of them all.
In terms of the physical church, this thought came to me, how does God see your church? Does He see it as a place of worship? We have to be very careful what we allow to take place in our churches today. There are some things that are allowed in churches that God is not pleased with. We might be doing things that are hindering the Spirit of God to enter into the building.
I once read this story about a lady that was trying to become a member of a church and in the end the Lord told her that He was trying to be apart of the church for years and wasn’t able to get in. The tile of the story is Cleaning Woman. Below is the story:
There was a little old cleaning woman that went to the local church. When the invitation was given at the end of the service, she went forward wanting to become a member. The pastor listened as she told him how she had accepted Jesus and wanted to be baptized and become a member of the church.
The pastor thought to himself, “oh my, she is so unkempt, even smells a little, and her fingernails are not clean. She picks up garbage, cleans toilets – what would the members think of her.” He told her that she needed to go home and pray about it and then decide.
The following week, here she came again. She told the pastor that she had prayed about it and still wanted to be baptized. “I have passed this church for so long. It is so beautiful, and I truly want to become a member.”
When I read John 2:16, the word house could mean the physical church that we attend or our body (the temple of the Lord). There are many people who are allowing impure things to enter into their body and destroying the temple of the Lord. The Lord is not pleased with the things we allow to enter our lives and want us to get rid of them all.
In terms of the physical church, this thought came to me, how does God see your church? Does He see it as a place of worship? We have to be very careful what we allow to take place in our churches today. There are some things that are allowed in churches that God is not pleased with. We might be doing things that are hindering the Spirit of God to enter into the building.
I once read this story about a lady that was trying to become a member of a church and in the end the Lord told her that He was trying to be apart of the church for years and wasn’t able to get in. The tile of the story is Cleaning Woman. Below is the story:
There was a little old cleaning woman that went to the local church. When the invitation was given at the end of the service, she went forward wanting to become a member. The pastor listened as she told him how she had accepted Jesus and wanted to be baptized and become a member of the church.
The pastor thought to himself, “oh my, she is so unkempt, even smells a little, and her fingernails are not clean. She picks up garbage, cleans toilets – what would the members think of her.” He told her that she needed to go home and pray about it and then decide.
The following week, here she came again. She told the pastor that she had prayed about it and still wanted to be baptized. “I have passed this church for so long. It is so beautiful, and I truly want to become a member.”
Again the pastor told her to go home and pray some more. A few weeks later while out eating at the restaurant, the pastor saw the little old lady. He did not want her to think that he was ignoring her so he approached her and said, “I have not seen you for a while. Is everything all right?”
“Oh, yes,” she said. “I talked with Jesus, and he told me not to worry about becoming a member of your church.”
“He did?” said the pastor.
“Oh, yes” she replied. “He said even He hasn’t been able to get into your church yet, and He’s been trying for years.”
The above story is amazing and it always leaves me thinking. How many times have God tried to enter into our physical church or even our body (the temple) and he was not able to because of a hindrance.
We have to be very careful what we allow to enter our church whither in the physical or spiritual rem. There are some churches that are filled with unclean spirits and the presence of the Lord is not able to dwell there. The Lord can not dwell in an unclean vessel.
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