Day 4 - Week 16 - Hebrews 4:16 - "Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time."

Who?  Those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their High Priest, thereby gaining access to God the Father.
What?  Prayer - acknowledging and drawing near to the presence of God.  Conversing with Him in an honest and confident manner, knowing that He is listening to every word we present to Him.

Now "WHERE?"  ---

We are told to approach the throne of grace....

Robert J. Morgan says,

It is a throne, a majestic and glorious seat of power.  It is a throne of grace, not of judgment or condemnation.  Through Christ we approach the throne of One who is our Friend, who desires fellowship with us, who wants to bless us from the endless resources of His grace.

It is an amazing thing to me to every time I realize that I, me, Janice Hodges, have access to the throne seat of the Creator of the Universe, the One who holds everything within His control  That I can approach God Almighty and converse with Him reflects a truly remarkable characteristic of the God we serve.  While God is huge in His power and might, He allows Himself to become distinctively God to each and every human being in a personal way and in a personal relationship. 

And why are we given this access to One who certainly would not have to grant it?  Ephesians 1:16-23 states,

And you will know his great power. It can't be compared with anything else. It is at work for us who believe. It is like the mighty strength God showed when he raised Christ from the dead. He seated him at his right hand in his heavenly kingdom. There Christ sits far above all who rule and have authority. He also sits far above all powers and kings. He is above every title that can be given in this world and in the world to come. God placed all things under Christ's rule. He appointed him to be ruler over everything for the church.

Only because of His Son, Jesus Christ, who lived and died and was raised to sit in the seat of authority, at the right hand of God the Father are we given the right to come in to God's throne room.  God give Jesus the authority to admit us into His presence, and when we knock and announce that we come in the name of Jesus, the door is opened.

Don't ever stop being amazed at the fact that you have access to the throne room of the universe when you believe in Jesus Christ as God's Son and His resurrection.  It is an astounding work that has been done for us.  Marvel in His presence!

Day 3 - Week 16 - Hebrews 4:16 - "Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time."

OK - we've got the who...those who have accepted Jesus as their high priest through faith in Him.  He brings us into God's presence.

Now the what -what is prayer? 
In our reference text, Robert J. Morgan says,

Prayer is approaching God.  It is drawing near....The chief purpose of prayer is recognizing the nearness of our King.

How close is God to you?  He is as close as your whispered voice acknowledging His presence.  James 4:8 tells us, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you."  God will not force Himself upon us, but at the moment of our acknowledgement of Him, He is there, ready to establish relationship with us. 

Deuteronomy 4:7 tells us, "For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is [to us] whenever we call to Him?"

I had never thought about the chef purpose of prayer being the recognition of God's closeness to me, but that does make sense to me now.  God does not want us to think that He is distant and detached; much the opposite - He wants us to realize that He is available to us, that He is involved with us, and that relationship with Him does not have to be delayed until we are at home with Him, but that we can know Him now and have relationship with Him now. 

We can come to our Father with boldness---that is not brashness---the Greek word used is parrhsiva.  Listen to its definition, "freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech; openly, frankly, i.e without concealment; free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance." 

That's how we can talk with God...and when that kind of genuine conversation is taking place I can picture Jesus standing nearby smiling because He knows only because of His sacrifice that these words can transpire between child and Father.

It has been said that Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship.  Prayer is the way we enter into relationship with God...Jesus makes prayer possible for us at extreme cost.  And yet, we so often ignore this amazing gift that comes with our salvation. 

We have a Father who loves us, and desires to hear our voices --- let's lift them up to Him with all of our cares, concerns and praise! 

...And tonight one thing I again bring to our Father is the request for rain for our severely dry and parched land. 

Day 2 - Week 16 - Hebrews 4:16 - "Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time."

I'm always reminded of a Bible study tool that I learned many years ago...whenever you see a "therefore", you need to look to see what it is there for.  This verse starts out with "Therefore, let us...."  so what is this "therefore", there for?  You always have to look backward to know.

Hebrews 4:15 read, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin."....that's why we have been given access to the throne of grace.

Remember the quote from yesterday cited from Robert J. Morgan author of our reference book? 

"This wonderful verse gives us the who, what, where, why and when of prayer."

Morgan goes on to say regarding the "who"...

Let us...The exhortation of Hebrews 4:16 has your name on it.  The context reminds us that Jesus, our great High Priest, has gone through the heavens before us, sympathizing with our weaknesses.  He opens the door into the throne room of the universe for us.

Now doesn't that paint a beautiful word picture for us?  Jesus, our Savior, our brother and our friend, knows us, and knows us personally.  It is through our relationship with Him that we acquire access to the throne room.

He has been in our shoes, He understands our temptations and He knows our weaknesses.  When we can barely crawl into the presence of God after being beaten down by the world, He is there, opening the door for us --- doing everything He can to usher us into God's presence. 

Unlike other religions, Christianity has at its center a Savior who not only loves His brothers, but stands by the Father reminding Him of that deep love with a complete understanding of our hopeless position without Him.  He knows, from being here, how the world works to separate us from our identity with God. 

I thank God the Father for Jesus my Savior, and for the Holy Spirit who affirms my faith.  I thank Him for allowing me to approach Him in the throne room of the universe to bring Him my requests for mercy and grace.  What a wonderfully loving God we serve.  Praise Him!

Day 1 - Week 16! - How many have you got down?

I think I made a statement this past week that may have been misinterpreted.  I said we were on the last of the six verses regarding the gift of Scripture...but by no means am I quitting now!!  We've got 85 more verses to go---it's a long road ahead, but we will get there and we will not only have 100 Bible verses committed to memory, but we will have gained Biblical knowledge surrounding those verses as we travel this road.  I think that's why it's so valuable to take a verse a week....we really get to absorb the verse and it's complete meaning.  Then we are not just reciting words, but we've got meaning behind the words.

OK - here we go - we've got 15 now!  When we get to 20, we'll just review 20 a week, rotating sections so we keep all verses reviewed at different times.

Four Corners of the Bible
Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us; we have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

Romans Road to Salvation:
Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Romans 5:8 - But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9 - If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 12:1 - Therefore, dear brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual worship.

The Gift of Scripture:
2 Timothy 3:16 - All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness.
Joshua 1:8 - This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth, you are to recite it day and night, so that you may carefully observe everything written in it.  For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
Psalms 119:11 - I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6 - Listen Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.  These words I give to you today are to be in your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:7 -  Repeat these words to your children.  Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 
Hebrews 4:12 - For the Word of God is living and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide the soul, spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

And tonight we start a short three verse section on the Gift of Prayer:

Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

As Robert P. Morgan states, "This wonderful verse gives us the who, what, when, why, and where of prayer."  I'm looking forward to these three weeks!

Day 7 - Week 15 - Hebrews 4:12 - "For the Word of God is living and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart."

Hebrews 4:12, "For the Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart."

A judge of our ideas and thoughts...how does the Word of God judge our ideas and thoughts?

The Greek word used for "judge" is kritikos, the origin of our word, "critic"  Robert P. Morgan says, "The Bible is the critic of the heart, pointing out weakness and showing us where to improve."

The Bible criticizes us when our ideas and thoughts are not aligned with God's will.  We realize our error when we read the Word and understand our missteps.  The quicker we can accept the criticism and get back on track, the better. 

God knows our hearts - the Bible is His tool to shape our hearts into ones that are shaped like His.  It is the sword, it is the reformer.  Why do we so frequently ignore it's criticism?  We read, we ponder, and we walk away...making no change and being exactly the kind of people that James so aptly warns us against becoming.."But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

Accept the Words of Scripture as your most honest source of criticism.  But don't ask what you don't want to know...it will tell you that you look fat in those shorts!  (OK - it won't really tell you that, but it will tell you when you are doing wrong in God's sight, no matter how badly you don't want to hear it.)  Put aside all forms of rationalization for your behavior and listen to what God's Word has to say to you about how you are living your life.  Then ask Him for His Spirit to empower you to change what it is that His Word is rebuking you over.

Finally, when we pray the following verse each and every day as we leave our homes to enter into the world for the day, it keeps us on God's track and in less need of the criticism of God.

Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."

Day 6 - Week 15 - Hebrews 4:12 - "For the Word of God is living and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart."

Hebrews 4:12, "For the Word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as to divide the soul, spirit, joints and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart."

Penetrating as to divide the soul, spirit, joints and marrow...what is this phrase telling us about God's Word?  Robert P. Morgan includes in our textbook this explanation, "Some commentators believe this image is based on the knives the Levitical priests used to cut through the deepest sections of the sacrificial animals.  Wielded by our great high priest, God's Word penetrates to the depths of our hearts and souls.  No part of our personality is unaffected by Scripture as we hear and respond to it."

So coupling this verse with Romans 12:1 which says that we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, we can see that as we submit ourselves to God, giving Him complete permission to cut away as needed in order to make us a holy and pleasing sacrifice, we can understand that it is His Word that becomes the carving tool utilized to make the necessary incisions, as deep as necessary, wherever necessary, down to the very marrow of our bones.

In John Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament, he says, "It is more penetrating than a two-edged sword. Living and energetic, it separates all that is most intimately linked together in our hearts and minds. Whenever nature-the "soul" and its feelings-mingles with that which is spiritual, it brings the edge of the sword of the living truth of God between the two, and judges the hidden movements of the heart respecting them."

God's Word divides within us what is of Him from that which is not of Him, the spiritual from the nonspiritual.  As we apply God's Word to our lives, we should see a continual shift in our lives away from worldliness toward godliness. 

Is your life tracking in the right direction?  If not, maybe there is a greater need of not only study of the Word, but sincere dedication to application.  Prayers for all of us to make this our priority.