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“Unto us a Son is given...and His name will be called Wonderful,Counselor,Mighty God, Everlasting Father,Prince of Peace.”(Isa. 9:6 NKJV)
Many prophecies given. Many generations came and left. Until, the prophecies came to pass.

When heaven’s Temple came down...

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (Gal. 4:4-5 NIV)

...a Son was given to Mary and Joseph. “...the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2 NKJV) The One Who was “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” (Col. 1:15 NKJV)

The begotten of Eternity. God come in Person. The Ancient of times.

...and the Temple entered a temple. The collision of Divinity and humanity!

This Temple, destined to be destroyed, torn down, ripped apart, by the hands of earth’s religionists, would one day speak these words, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19 NKJV)

Raise up. To arouse from sitting, reclining, sleep, or even death. But they didn’t get it, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” (John 2:20 NKJV)

But this Temple was no ordinary earthly temple. This Temple was of divine origin. (John 2:21)

The heavenly Temple was presented in the earthly temple...

And “when the days of [Mary’s] purification according to the law of Moses were completed, [Mary and Joseph] they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord.” (Luke 2:22 NKJV)

The Firstborn, not only of Mary but of all creation, was nestled in the arms of His earthly mother and dedicated to His heavenly Father.

“Oh my Lord...You sent Your Son to save usOh my Lord...Your very self You gave usOh my Lord...That sin may not enslave us and love may reign once moreOh my Lord...When in the crip You found Him
Oh my Lord...A golden halo crown’d HimOh my Lord...They gathered all around Him to see Him and adore”(Some versions of Mary’s Boy Child contain these ending words)
Heaven’s Temple entered earth to give those on earth an entrance into heaven’s Temple!

“Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King.”
May the Temple of heaven fill the earthly temple of your heart with Joy!

Lord, I hear You knocking. I’m coming.

Come on in. It’s cold out there. Make Yourself at home. Please come in and help me renovate my home for You.

Help me clean out the closet of my hidden thoughts and throw away the trash of wrong attitudes. Dust behind the doors where preconceived ideas accumulate like cobwebs.

Sweep out the corners of my heart where the soil of unwillingness has piled up. Dig into those deep crevices of my soul where stubbornness plants its roots. Shine Your light into the dark recesses of my emotions so nothing can remain hidden from Your forgiveness.

Remove from the shelves of my mind all the negative thoughts that I cling to and replace them all with Your promises that they may be readily available whenever I need them.

Scrub down the walls that have been littered with the graffiti of my words that are dirty blemishes on Your Spirit and Your Word. Repair the cracks in the walls so that the enemy cannot ooze in with his unwanted ideas.

When spiritual unrest jams up my usefulness as a channel, rout out all the garbage of self that Your living waters may run freely, cleansing…

Fix the holes in the roof where the rains of difficulties leak in and threaten to dampen my soul-rest. Seal up the broken windows where the winds of discontent blow in so easily. Let Your joy clean the windows and give them the sparkle that the world needs to see.

Clean out the soot of wrong burning desires that have blackened my chimney. Cleanse it that it may allow the vapors of praise to rise heavenward. Rekindle the embers of my heart’s passion that have grown cold. Ignite a blazing desire to know You more, to serve You more, and to love You more.

Use my tears to mop the floor of my soul where it has been trampled upon with the muddy feet of those who would rather walk over me than to see the hurt and pain within me.

Dismantle the fences that I have unwittingly built which have kept me from reaching out to help someone or kept some hurt soul from reaching in.

Help me build on that one sure Foundation that is unshakable and can withstand all storms and disasters. Help me erect that exterior that holds all else together, using my obedience as the cement to hold Your bricks of truth in place. Make sure I pick up and use each brick so that the edifice does not become faulty, because each truth left lying on the ground is useless.

There is but one chair within these walls, and it is the throne upon which I give You the honor of sitting. When I try to sit upon it myself, shove me off! Make me land with a jolt hard enough to bring me to my senses, because it is Your throne, meant only for You.

Lord, this is Your home. Let us build it together and keep it clean together. May it always be a temple in which You may reside and can always feel proud enough to bring others to visit. May it be a monument to Your grace, Your forgiveness, and Your love.

“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it...”

Have you ever been asked this question before…

If you were a book, what would your title be?

I have, several times, and my answer has always been…Taking Out the Garbage!

Having junk in my life that displeases the Lord is of great concern to me. I want to take out the garbage!

So, I ask myself…

* Do I recognize all the garbage that I allow in my life?
* Do I know how to rout out the unholiness and get rid of it?

Holiness is not an option, for, without it, the writer of Hebrews says, “Seek to live a clean and holy life, for one who is not holy will not see the Lord.” (Heb. 12:14 TLB) Yikes!

As God fills each of us, as His temple, with His holiness through Christ’s salvation, He cleanses us of our sins. However, the upkeep of holiness depends solely on us.

The book of Hebrews also says, “We Christians are God’s house - He lives in us!” (Heb. 3:6b TLB) So, then, do we give Him a clean place to live, or is it all filled with trash? If we are His temple, we must be diligent in routing out all unholiness in our lives.

Hezekiah knew how to get rid of the unholiness in the temple.

When King Ahaz ruled, his tenacious mission consisted of destroying and removing all things holy. He turned away from his religious heritage and built heathen altars to worship Baal and Molech, which he did by sacrificing his firstborn son by throwing him into the fire.

When it came to the temple in Jerusalem, short of pulverizing it, he rummaged through it, gave away its treasures, removed all the sacred utensils, and bolted its doors.

After his death, his son Hezekiah, obviously not the firstborn, was made king. In the first month of his reign, he called all the Levites and priests back into service and told them, “Our ancestors were unfaithful to the LORD our God and did what was displeasing to Him. They abandoned Him and turned their backs on the place where He dwells. They closed the doors of the temple, let the lamps go out, and failed to burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the temple of the God of Israel.” (2 Chron. 29:7 GNB)

Hezekiah then reopened the temple doors and repaired them. After he commanded the Levites and priests to cleanse themselves, he told them to cleanse and purify the house of Jehovah and to “carry out the filth from the Holy Place.” (2 Chron. 29:5 Amp) The Message version states it this way, “Give this much-defiled place a good housecleaning.”

What did they find when they entered the temple?

* The court permeated with garbage and vermin.
* The altars absent of their aroma of burnt offerings for sin and for worship.
* The sweet smell of the incense of prayers dissipated.
* The laver’s bowl depleted of its last drop of water.
* The table emptied of its fellowship of sacred bread, the crumbs carried off by rats.
* The lamps stood cold and dark, doused by an evil blast of air.
* The vessels of service no longer adorned the veiled recesses.

The house of God had been ransacked, stripped of its illumination, revelation, and glory.

Haven’t we all done the same thing at times to God’s temple within us? We permit looters to ransack and haul off His precious treasures from our hearts; we slam the door shut and bar His presence, allowing the world’s garbage to accumulate and quenching the Holy Spirit by dousing His light.

We disregard the well of Living Water, letting it go unattended and dry up. We acquiesce to the snatching of the Bread-Word right off the sacred table by the rat-enemy. We ignore burning the sweet incense of prayer or offering the sacrifice of praise, leaving our altar empty.

After the Levites and priests made a thorough housecleaning, they took all the debris from the temple to the Brook Kidron to be washed away.

Are our efforts exhaustive enough to rid ourselves of all the unwanted garbage in our lives? Have we taken the debris and dumped it in the stream of God’s forgiveness to be washed away, never to fish it out again?

When all had been cleansed, including the people, Hezekiah told the people to bring their sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord. So, the house was returned to its holy order.

After taking the garbage out and cleansing our temple, do we return it to its holy order…

* asking for forgiveness through Jesus’ sacrifice,
* refilling the well of Living Water,
* replenishing the table of fellowship with the sacred Bread of Life,
* relighting the lamp of the Lord with the oil of the Spirit,
* and returning to our knees to fill up the heavenly, golden bowl with the incense of our prayers, offering the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving on God’s holy altar?

May our hearts be so averse to the slightest thought of unholiness that we constantly keep our temples swept clean and in holy order.

In the neighborhood where I live, I have one neighbor who likes to cause trouble. He picks the fruit from my trees, chops down my shade trees, and mows down my flowers.

He dumps trash in my yard, reads my mail, steals my packages from the delivery man, tries to tell me all the neighborhood gossip about my friends, and does his darnedest to make me mad.

Forever prowling around the premises, he tries to sneak in the windows and get his foot in the door, attempting to steal my belongings. So I put an alarm system on all the doors and windows.

He likes my house and wants to live here, but I’m under a lease contract for a single dweller. He can’t have it and he certainly isn’t going to move in with me! But he still continues to try to take it away from me.

It’s a comfortable old house, though it’s not the most beautiful on the block nor is it the biggest. The landlord was very generous in his lease, so I appreciate what I have, even if a few structural changes are needed.

A few of its rooms have become dusty and overcrowded and need remodeling. Some of the junk needs to be put out with the trash. Some rooms are in a constant state of upheaval; others just need rearranging.

The windows have become a little foggy, so they’re not as easy to see through as before. Some of the shingles are falling off the roof, while some of the fence pickets are missing. A few of the hinges have become a little rusty and don’t work as well as they used to, but the landlord I lease from said he would make all the necessary repairs. I know he will, for he is a man of his word. However, he does have a busy schedule, so I’m just patiently waiting my turn.

I thought it might be time to move, but he says I can stay a while longer, if I do some of the maintenance work. I do look forward to moving, though, because I’ve had my eye on this perfect, little cottage that’s being built. I’d really like to move there some day…there’s no traffic, no noise, the air is clean, great neighbors, the scenery is beautiful, and best of all, no more Mr. Meany!

I’ve called ahead to see if it was ready but they tell me they’re still working on it. Well, I guess I can wait a little longer. I’m not really finished renovating this one!

“For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down-when we die and leave these bodies-we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself and not by human hands.” (2 Cor. 5:1 TLB)