CLEANSE

 

2 Chronicles 29:15-20

Hezekiah had the people cleanse the temple. They "sanctified" themselves first and then they cleansed it from all the debris. It is interesting to note that they cleansed themselves first(verse15) before they took on the task of cleansing the temple. We must make a determined effort and choice to "cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit"- 2 Corinthians 7:1. We must do this first before we are able to help anyone else or be able to fulfill our calling.

 

We all keep things in our spiritual lives that are really just clutter. They may not be sin- but they do hinder us in our walk with the Lord- our attitudes is one very good example. These things bog us down and we are not to be victorious in our walk with the Lord.

 

We hold on to things (attitudes) that we want to keep. As in our natural lives, there are things we know that we need to get rid of. I have come a long way in cleaning out our garage. But it is a process. I make piles- one pile has things I want to keep; another pile has things I want to throw away and yet another pile has things I am going to think about. It has been proven that the longer we hold onto something, look it over, remember all about- the less likely we will throw that object away.

 

Everything had to go in the temple- except what belonged in the temple. Much debris had accumulated over the years and cluttered the house of God. Even the animals had gotten in and profaned the temple. This all had to be cleaned out.

 

Many things get into our spirits and profane our "house of God". We are the "house of God", we are His temple. We must be on a constant vigil to keep our "house" clean and spotless before God. We need to kill the spider- then we won't have to constantly be brushing down the spider webs.

 

When we moved into our home about 14 years ago, there was a Yucca plant out front. We left it there for a couple years, then we decided to remove it. No matter how many times I dug down deep into the soil to remove that stubborn plant, sure enough- it would manage to make its way back up! I never had gotten all the way down to the source of the plant- to the very root. Without removing the root, the plant was always going to come back up.

 

It is the same in our spiritual walk. We need to pray and ask God to show us all the roots of our sins and those things that hinder us. It isn't enough to just cover it up or take off the thing from the surface. We must get to the root of the problem! These roots control our thinking and responses and leads us back into sin. We try to cover up the part that people see. We may fool other people but we can never fool God and eventually it will show up again.

 

James 4:8 says to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. We must be SURE we don't transfer something unclean to someone else- our hands and our hearts must be clean- spiritually.

 

I John 1:7-10-- The Word must be in us. It is what keeps us clean and pure. But in order for it to prosper it must be activated in us-- as we apply it to situations in our lives.

 

There may be kingdoms in our hearts that have never fallen to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must submit our entire being to Christ. We need to be careful to not judge others but we need to judge ourselves according to the Word.

 

Lets pray that God will show us the root of our problems- that besetting sin, that thing that constantly hinders us in your walk with God. None of us are exempt. We all need God to reveal to us the areas of our lives that are not completely submitted to Him. He is faithful to show us and more than able to help us.

(Taken from Pastor Keith's sermon 2/17/2013)