4/3/2023
You are God’s temple
The Week That Changed The World
May he guide us to a better understanding and a deeper experience of his promises today.
Introduction
Today we’re launching a brand new series as we make our way toward Easter.
God’s love is for everyone, and today we’re looking specifically at how God invites us to receive his mercy and grace by drawing near to him.
May he guide us to a better understanding and a deeper experience of his promises today.
Scripture
Hebrews 4:16 ESV
Devotional
Do you sometimes feel unworthy to come to God?
Well, there is good news for you today, this first day of Holy Week.
After announcing himself to the crowds as the Messiah on Palm Sunday, Jesus returned to the suburb of Bethany for the night. The very next morning, he and his disciples walked back into the Holy City and into the temple.
When they arrived, Jesus found money changers charging exorbitant rates to convert Roman money into the currency required for the annual temple tax. They were also demanding unfair prices for the only sacrificial animals the priests would accept. In anger, Jesus drove these corrupt merchants from the temple.
Why was he so upset?
He explained in Mark 11:17: “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.”
The word nations comes from the original Greek word ethnos, which means “all races.” This would include the very Gentiles being taken advantage of by the merchants. See, Jesus was making the point that God intended his temple to be a place where everyone was welcome to meet with him.
He still does.
Here’s why it matters: because your Savior paid the price for your salvation, “you are God’s temple” since “God’s Spirit dwells in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Because of that truth, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, my emphasis).
You don’t need to go to Jerusalem to meet with God.
His mercy and grace are available here and now.
All you must do is draw near.
Let us do that together now as we enter a time of guided prayer.
Today’s devotional is written by Jim Denison
Prayer
1. Picture the scene as Jesus overturns the money changers' tables and releases their animals. Is there anything he needs to remove from your “temple” so you can make it a “house of prayer” today? As he brings things to mind, confess what needs to be cleansed and receive his forgiving grace.
Jesus “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him” (Hebrews 7:25).
2. The word mercy can be defined as “not getting what we deserve” with regard to God’s judgment. Why do you need to “receive mercy” today? Take time right now to “draw near to his throne of grace.”
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23).
3. If mercy is “not getting what we deserve,” grace is “getting what we don’t deserve” with regard to God’s forgiveness and provision. Where do you need to “find grace” today? “Draw near to the throne of grace” now.
We “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
Worship
Go
Before I became a Christian, I thought I wouldn’t be welcome in church because of my mistakes and failures. If someone from a neighborhood church had not invited me to come, I would never have taken that first step.
So as you go today, ask the Lord to put someone on your heart who needs the mercy and grace of God. He will answer your prayer. If you invite them to your church or offer to pray for them, you will plant a seed the Spirit can use to draw them to your Savior.
Max Lucado wrote, “God’s mercies are new every morning. Receive them.”
Then share them, to the glory of God.
Extended reading: Psalm 103.
As you go today, ask the Lord to put someone on your heart who needs the mercy and grace of God. He will answer your prayer.
Featured Content
Start Today