God's Loving Purge

We are the house of God, the temple of God. He has said that His house will be called a house of prayer. Jesus cleansed the temple in Jerusalem, and His zeal for His Father's house was the tipping point after which the religious leadership made up their minds to kill Him.

Jesus is still cleansing His temple by purging His people of the guilt and the condemnation and the sense of failure with which the enemy inundates us. His love toward us is constant, unfailing, and unchanging. His anger toward those powers that try to attack and trip up His beloved, the place where His Father's name resides, is uncompromising and awesome. And this time, His zeal will culminate in the demonstration and manifestation of His victory: His return, His reign, and His wedding.

When He was driving out the money-changers from the temple in Jerusalem, I'm sure there were true worshippers there, trying to ignore the cries and the calls of the merchants offering things, distracting them from the worship of God. And once Jesus started laying into the money-changers, tipping over the tables, animals running free and pandemonium everywhere, some of the true worshippers were likely looking for a place to hide, perhaps wondering what the commotion was and whether they would be attacked next. But they were never in danger, for Jesus knows His own.

The same is true today. Because He is working inside our hearts and minds, cleansing the true temple of God, it strikes so close to home that it seems, at times, we are the target ourselves. Nothing could be further from the truth. His weapon, the Word of God, divides cleanly and separates the "money-changers" and other intruders from us, cutting them loose from the stranglehold they have made, tearing down the strongholds they have built. Sometimes the aspect He is working on is something we have identified with as part of ourselves, or something we have felt good about and, as a result, we feel we are the focus of His wrath. But as God's children, we are *never* subject to God's wrath; that is reserved for His enemies.

Trust God to do His work truly and lovingly and accurately. When the pain comes, know it is not God wounding you, but the enemy making one last desperate, hateful attack against the beloved of God before he is purged fully and finally from the sanctuary of God, you, where the fullness of God is destined to dwell. Yield to His Spirit, understand the clean up that follows, and rest in the love and grace with which God engulfs you, healing and soothing the wounds caused by the enemy as it was required to go. You are clean, you are loved, you are the righteousness of God. Embrace Him and follow Him.

purge
verb

1. (a) rid (someone) of an unwanted feeling, memory, or condition, typically giving a sense of cathartic release.
"Bob had helped purge Martha of the terrible guilt that had haunted her"
synonyms: cleanse, clear, purify, wash, shrive, absolve

1. (b) free someone from (an unwanted feeling, memory, or condition).
synonyms: remove, get rid of, expel, eject, exclude, dismiss, sack, oust, eradicate, clear out, weed out

2. remove a group of undesirable people from (an organization or place) in an abrupt or violent way.
"an opportunity to purge the party of unsatisfactory members"

LAW
atone for or wipe out.
physically remove (something) completely.

Loving and gracious Father, grant us the grace to see the work You are doing in our lives and the lives of others. Hold us close as You do what is necessary for our spiritual health. Lord, we stand with our brothers and sisters as Your work progresses and as You build Your body from the living stones of our lives, shaping and dressing the stones to Your blueprint so that You, Christ Jesus, can be the foundation, corner stone, and capstone of the place where our Father's name will dwell for eternity with all blessings. Thank You, glorious Lord!

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