ps 100:3

Know that Yahweh, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

It is often hard to know that God is God. Most of the time it is me that is god. Whatever we trust in most, wherever we find our comfort that is our god. Our idea of God can be our god. The Bible can be our god. Our good intentions can be our god. Our ideal form of what life "should be like" can be our god. Our relentless quest to rid ourselves of any form of suffering, any inconvience, anything that doesn't put "me" first can be our god.

But these things are not God in the true sense. They may try to function that way for us though. They are crutches to lean on to help us navigate life on our own, but God is the Creator God, the All-Powerful God. He made us and we are His whether we admit it or not. When we are confronted by this God, He destroys everything that is not His. He lays to waste the other gods in our life. As Jesus cleaned the temple with his whip, driving out all that did not belong, Jesus destroys everything in our lives that do not belong to those who are called the children of God. The Spirit brings to light all our darkness.

All our good intentions are nothing. We are God's people. We are the sheep of his pasture. We live in God's world. He does not live in ours. We do not go to visit God's house, we are surrounded by it. We serve a God that does not dwell in temples built by our hands. The entire world is His temple. More than that, our bodies are his temple. We have the divine presence among us day by day.

Sheep follow the shepherd. Our Shepherd was beaten and despised. That is our lot in life as well. Christ is not here to meet your needs. He is not here to make you happy. He is here to support you through every grief, and comfort you in every sorrow. We will see glory on the Last Day. But tur road to glory runs through the cross. This life is a life of struggle and trial. But Christ has bore all our burdens and our sins are laid upon him. We have the promise now of the present and living God among us. He made us. We are his people. That is a promise we always have.