“Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.” John 2:19-21
The Jews asked for a sign that Jesus truly was and is the Son of God and the promised Messiah and Savior. The sign Jesus gave them was His death and His resurrection on the third day. His hearers didn’t understand, but His resurrection on Easter morning proves He is God the Son and that He has, on the cross, atoned for the sins of all that we might look to Him in faith for forgiveness and life eternal.
Dear Lord Jesus, grant that I see in Your death and resurrection proof that You are the Son of God and my Savior from sin and death that I might trust in You and be saved. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“And the Jews’ Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.” John 2:13-16
Should our churches, which are to be houses of prayer and places to hear God’s Word, be turned into places of business where goods and merchandise are sold and money exchanged? What do you think Jesus would say?
Grant that we have a true zeal for Your house, O Lord, and use it to hear Your Word and come before You with our prayers and praises. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“He [John the Baptist] said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” John 1:23
In many ways, we are like John the Baptist. We are not the Messiah and Savior and do not direct people to ourselves, but we cry out in the barren wilderness of this dark and sinful world, calling upon all to repent of their sins and place their faith and hope in the true Messiah and Savior who has come into the world and redeemed us, the Lord Jesus!
Dear Lord Jesus, help us bear witness to You in this dark and dying world. Amen.
[Scripture is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.” Psalm 65:3
Like David the psalmist, all of us stand guilty before the LORD God. Our iniquities prevail against us. But as David looked forward to the atonement God would provide for his sins, we look back to the fulfillment of David’s hope — to the Lord Jesus Christ, who atoned for our sins and the sins of all by His holy life and His innocent sufferings and death on the cross. Through faith in Jesus, we have God’s pardon and forgiveness!
I have transgressed and broken Your holy commandments, O God. Forgive my sins and make me acceptable in Your sight through the atoning sacrifice You provided for all in Your only-begotten Son, Christ Jesus. In His name, I pray. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6
The Word of God is true and pure and there is great blessing in accepting God’s every word in faith. But there is danger in adding our own interpretations to God’s Word, in saying more than God has said. Anyone who adds to His words (or takes away from them) will be reproved by the LORD God and found to be a liar.
O Lord God, grant that I accept Your every word in faith, neither adding to Your words nor taking away from them. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
