He said. She said. Seeds of
distrust were planted . . . words were twisted and turned . . . truth was lost.
Bitterness.
Manipulation.
These things invaded their hearts . . . wrecking their life . . . impacting
friends and family.
What needs to be done?
As we look at the week of Easter . . . we see the need to get rid of the
things that do not belong. The gospel
writer, Mark, describes: On reaching
Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were
buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and
the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry
merchandise through the temple courts. Mark 11:14-16
The Temple was
denoted as a special place of God’s presence; however, Jesus saw the corruption
in the Temple. And, Jesus addressed the issue by getting rid of what does not
belong. Certainly, the “unholy” could
not remain, if, the Temple were to be the place of the presence of God.
When we ask the presence of God to enter our heart . . .the place that
identifies who we are . . . we must be
willing to honestly and authentically
look at what we have allowed to come
into our life. For the heart to be
centered in Christ . . . we must continually be in process of surrendering to
the presence of Christ . . . as well as embracing
the life we have in Christ.
Putting Christ at the center produces the need to shift the way we live:
Make the decision to look at what you have allowed into your life.
Surrender what does not belong.
Center your attention on God.
Be still and know the everlasting God.
Learning with you to KICK START the day . . . getting rid of things that do not belong.
Pastor Kerrie
(written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights
Reserved)interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/