Tag: Mark 11:17
Sunday Rest: the power of prayer!
Dear friends,
Greetings again this first day of a new week! Hopefully, you are spending it gathering with God’s people to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He began a new day, called ‘today’, a day of salvation and good news for all mankind! He is alive and we have the hope of eternal life in Him alone! There is no other name given under heaven among men by which we must be saved! (Acts 4:12)
As I reflect back on this week’s readings, I am quickly brought back to the prophet Daniel. His life of dedication and prayer lived out in the country of Babylon in the midst of pagan culture is amazing! His world was radically changed with the captivity and move to a strange culture. He kept his spiritual bearings by praying three times a day. This habit got him into trouble later in his life. He was nearly 90 years old when this habit caused him to be thrown into the lion’s den during the reign of the Persian king Darius. His faithfulness to pray stopped the mouths of hungry lions. (Daniel 6:19-22) He got to share with this king about His God and brought Him honor! (Daniel 6:26-27)
Another time, Daniel was reading the Book of Jeremiah where he saw that the captivity would last 70 years and realized that it was almost over. He began to seek the Lord by fasting and prayer, confessing again the sins of the nation that took them into captivity. (Daniel 9:4-19) This beautiful prayer of repentance brought a swift answer from God by means of Gabriel, the Archangel! The amazing answer was the word concerning the “Seventy ‘seven’s” which tells the number of years until the Messiah would come. Prayer is an awesome privilege and God loves to share with His servants.
God’s House is to be a “house of prayer” for all nations! (Mark 11:17) We gather to worship and to pray for His kingdom and will to be done. Don’t miss out on gathering today and take time to pray! Read the Word of God and pray for it’s completion in you and your family! God hears and will answer! What a privilege we have! Have a great week in Jesus! In His Love, Pastor John
Preaching at the church door!
Scripture reading for August 5: Jeremiah 7-10
Jeremiah was sent to preach to God’s people and told that they would not listen! (Jeremiah 7:27) He was told on several occasions not to pray for these people because their sins had removed them from God’s grace, but he wept rivers of tears for them anyway! (Jeremiah 7:16) (Jeremiah 9:22-23) His preaching was straight and he used interesting object lessons to get the people’s attention! He was told by God to go to the gate of the temple of the Lord and preach to the people as they arrived for worship and sacrifice. (Jeremiah 7:2-7) “Hear the Word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty, The God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, and in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.”
God’s people were going through the motions of religion and were deceived! Jeremiah’s words struck to the heart of the matter. We can use our religious activities to justify our own selfish lifestyles. God is not interested in religious activities unless they come from a heart that is humble, repentant and willing to listen to Him. Their trust was in their attendance at the temple. God called them to change attitudes and actions. He cared about orphans and widows, the alien and the poor. His heart was broken when innocent blood was shed and people dealt unjustly with one another. He hated adultery and lying. God wanted His people to reflect His heart of love.
God was and is watching over His Word and His people’s response to His Word! When He sees hypocrisy, He desires repentance and faith. Jesus Christ went into the temple of the Lord and saw the same things with the money changers and traders. He quoted from Jeremiah: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a ‘den of robbers’.” (Mark 11:17) (Jeremiah 7:11) After preaching, He then cleansed the temple! Maybe we need more preaching at the church door!
Glory in the Temple!
Scripture Reading for April 3: 1st Kings 5-8
Solomon had heard God’s decree that he would build the house where God’s Name would reside among His people. He had a vision and at God’s invitation had asked Him for wisdom. He knew of the desire of his father David and willingly offered himself to the Lord to build this “House”. (1st Kings 5:5)
In building the temple, Solomon employed many people. Some came from lands outside Israel. Solomon made covenants with many nations and the nations were drawn to Israel during this time of peace. The temple was made of stone, cedar and pine wood, and precious metals. Craftsmen worked off site on the stones so that the temple could be assembled without saws, chisels or hammers used on the site. (1st Kings 6:7) The temple took seven years to construct with thousands of workers meticulously adding every piece and detail in precise order and design. (1st Kings 6:38)
When the temple was completed, the priests carried the Ark into the Holy of Holies and then withdrew. None could stand as the Presence of God in the cloud of Glory filled the temple. (1st Kings 8:6-11) Solomon declared a blessing and thanked God for His faithfulness! Solomon then knelt down, raised his hands toward heaven, and prayed a magnificent prayer of dedication! In this prayer are eight petitions of God to “hear from heaven” when His people call upon Him for help. The central focus was forgiveness! All of man’s troubles are caused by sin, either against God or man made in God’s image. The consequences of sin bring famine, disease, plague, war, and death. As God’s people cry out, God’s glory is that He will hear and forgive and act to bring healing and restoration!
Solomon also prayed for the foreigner and those drawn to the temple from other lands and peoples. Solomon asked God to hear their prayer as well so all peoples of the earth might know His Great Name and fear the Lord! (1st Kings 8:41-43, 60) This prayer reminds us of Jesus sending his followers into all the world to make disciples of all nations! His house would be a house of prayer for all nations! (Mark 11:17) Examine your heart today as the temple of God. Would your house be a house of prayer for all?
Jesus, the blessing of all nations!
Scripture reading for January 17th: Genesis 28-29; Mark 11
Mark 11:7-11 “And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and He sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” And He entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when He had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.”
Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt to the cries of worship from the crowd who had viewed Him as the coming and promised Messiah. Jesus was a descendant of King David through his mother and even through His adoptive father Joseph. There were coats laid out on the road, palm branches, and cries of “Hosanna” (The Lord Saves). Jesus entered Jerusalem on Passover week as the “Lamb of God” who would take away the sins of the world. He went to the temple where the Levites, scribes, Sadducees and Pharisees were in charge and charging returning pilgrims for sacrifices. Jesus quietly observed and then left with the twelve. He would return to drive out the money-changers and declare God’s purpose for His House–a place of prayer for the nations! All nations would be blessed through Jesus’ final sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Mark 11:17 “And He was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
Faith confession: Father God, Thank You that I am now a part of Your ‘House of prayer’ here on earth. May all nations be reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As the Jews welcomed Jesus at the beginning of that Passover week, I look forward to worshiping Jesus every day of the week and one day to welcome Him as King of Kings. Prepare me to be part of the bridal company to greet Jesus with lamps burning when He returns!
Genesis 28:12-14 “And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all families of the earth be blessed.””