As I was led to do a blog about Holy Week.  Let’s chat about Holy Monday, but first let me say this.

Most churches have had to scale down their usual sercvices and even closed their doors because with COVID 19 creating physical distance from one another, we are not permitted to gather together.  It is important during this time that we remember we all have a personal relationship with God and our continued worship, prayer and time with God should not decrease nor stop because of this.  You are responsible to keep connected.  You are responsible for your prayer time with God.  You are responsible for your worship.  The church building should not keep you from that.  Philippians 2:12 says “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”  You are responsible to seek God out yourself.  We usually hear an abbreviated version of the story of Holy Week leading up to Easter, but let’s read it and know for ourselves.  Know about the sacrifice, the pain, the beatings, the determination, the love that Jesus had for us and what he went through to save us!

Read with me today… Luke 19:45-48

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Jesus is once again in the temple and angry about how the merchants  and money changers are treating this holy place.  They were being dishonest, deceiving the people and my study bible notes say the commercialism in God’s house frustrated people’s attempts at worship. Money changers would change the foreigners money but inflate the exchange rate to make more money for themselves.  The merchants would increase the price of the sacrificial animals so they could make money for themselves.  And all this is happening inside the temple’s court.

My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’

Sadly I must say, this has a familiar resemblance to some of the things that are happening in the church even today.  We as People of God should be doing everything we can to remove any barrier in the sanctuary that would get in the way of worship, of God’s presence.  All that other stuff is a distraction.  Its actually a bit frightening to me that someone would think their needs are more important than God and worship.

This same behavior is happening in our stores also with price gouging the COVID 19 pandemic.

I believe this pandemic is a permissible movement from God to get our attention.  he clearly told me one day that “this is a RESET”  He is calling us back to Him in a more intimate way, we are to sit back at His feet and hear from Him.  Things a shifting and changing.  We should not be the same when this passes over.  And He picked a significant time to bring this to our attention.

Be still and hear God in this time.