As the year comes to a close and we prepare for another it seems to me that the Jesus would have some of us do some cleaning out of the house
Scripture says in 2Co 7:1
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
The new year awaits us. There are ordained blessings in store for us in the new year just as there were treasures to be had in the one that has just finished. These blessings do not simply fall into our lap if we do not move towards them.
A man may live all his life with gold in the ground and never discover it.
We must seek and ask and knock.
We must dig.
There are hindrances to receiving our inheritance. There are enemies in the land that do not want us to dig, or to seek for any more than what we have in life. I am not talking about money. There is a birth right for each one of us. Every year has new blessings and purpose in it. The enemy of our soul would seek to blind us, to dull our spirit, to keep us going around the mountain with no change, no answers , no blessing.
We see with Israel that there was progression in their spiritual walk. God delivered them out of bondage to bring them in to a promised land of milk and honey. But they had to fight the enemies who resided in that land. They had to learn to follow the Spirit Who was with them in order to ensure victory.
As this year 2015 ends let us throw off the sluggishness and with all our heart seek God.
Our spirit is His temple. King Hezekiah sought to cleanse the Temple…
2Ch 29:3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. 2Ch 29:4 Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, 2Ch 29:5 and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. 2Ch 29:6 For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the LORD our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him.
The first thing King Hezekiah did in the new year of his reign was to open the doors of the Temple of God because they had been shut up.
It may be for many of us that the door to our spirit has been shut up as well. And inside is a lot of rubbish that needs to be removed.
2Ch 29:16 Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the LORD to the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook Kidron.
We can by the Holy Spirit go into the inner part of our spirit and cleanse it. Praying in the spirit, fasting, asking the Father to reveal with His light every hidden mechanism in us that is hindering us from walking more fully in faith and trust.
God desires truth in the inner parts and in the hidden parts He wants there to be deposits of glory and grace. These inner parts are the deep spirit of the mind. The ingrained thinking that has kept us stagnant for years in certain areas of life. The “stuck” places where we simply cannot go beyond.
Father wants us to progress with Him. We must open the doors to our spirit and allow the Holy Priest Jesus to go deep and search and see if there be any wicked thing in us and to bring it out to the light.
Spend some quality time seeking God to cleanse your spirit. Turn off the TV, get off the internet and set your heart to seek His face.
The scripture above says that the debris in the Temple is from our ancestors sin.
For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the LORD our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him.
The trespasses of our fathers are visited upon the children. These are the things that defile the human spirit and they need to be cleansed away. The Holy Spirit will lead us to see them if we seek Him specifically about it.
The priests took the debris out of the inner places and took it to Kidron Valley. The Kidron is joined to Gehenna which is named in Hebrew “The valley of the sons of Hinnom.” This is where the criminals bodies were often thrown to be burned, where the rubbish from Jerusalem was thrown. A perpetual fire smoldered and burned amongst the debris burning it all to ashes.
That is what our Father will do with all our muck and debris in our spirit. Every blockage in us caused by our own sin or the sins of our forefathers he will locate and bring to the fire.
2Ch 29:27 Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel.
After cleansing the Temple they threw a praise party. In these next few days let us seek to be clean before the Lord. I am not saying you are in sin and need to repent. I am saying that if we recognise that in our lives and in our walk we are stuck in different areas then maybe it is because there is debris in our spirit, wrong ideas, wrong beliefs, hurts, bitterness long ago covered over by pride that has made us ineffectual and mediocre.
It was Paul who said let us cleanse our spirit’s in the verse at the top of this post. You would think Paul was clean? It is simply the way of the spiritual person to be ever vigilant and ever seeking to go deeper into Jesus, to dwell closer in the holy of holies, to walk clear of all things that offend him and us.
There is a blessing awaiting us in 2016, do not allow the the next year to pass with no advancement into those stuck areas of your life.
A Prayer:
Father I come to you in Jesus name and I ask that you would lay me upon your altar and inspect the offering even as the priests did. I ask that you would separate all the inner parts and wash them in your Spirit of love and tenderness. I ask that by your spirit you would identify and cleanse away all evil that hides itself in my inner parts so that I may come more boldly before you this year.
All rejection that I have hidden in me, all fear, all pride, all self loathing and defeat that is lodged in my heart please uproot it and bring me to full acceptance of your forgiveness and love.
I look forward Father, to this new year as we walk together in a new anointing and a new sweetness of obedience to You.
Amen