Imagine how different our Bible reading time would be if instead of just reading the Bible, we became aware and appreciated the fact that God Himself was actually speaking to us personally through His word. The Church at Thessalonica understood this and Paul was thankful for that: For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe - I Thess 2:13. In other words they were clear that it was not Paul speaking to them but God Himself. Their attitude: Hush, pay attention God is speaking. Their appreciation for the Word was great. Think about it. What a privilege it is to have the same God who spoke the world into existence speak to us personally. Paul uses two different words for the word receive in this verse. The first time he uses it: "receive the word from us", means to accept from another. The second time he uses the word when he says received it not as the the word of men, means to welcome. They accepted the Word as God speaking to them and they welcomed what God was saying to them into their hearts. I have.a vivd childhood memory of my Grandmother being at our house in the middle of a thunderstorm. We had to turn off all the lights and we were not allowed to speak. She told us to be quiet God was speaking. Biblically of course we believe otherwise, but the sense of awe of God in her was real. She believed that God was saying from heaven: Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God- Ps 46:10 AMP.. I am struck by the times we read the Word of God and never bother to acknowledge that God is trying to have a conversation with us. How often do we read, then close the Bible, completely ignoring what He has said?. We just start praying about our laundry list of wants and needs. Jesus, in Mark 4:24 tells us to pay attention how we listen: And He said unto them take heed what you hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you; unto you that hear, shall more be given. We are to diligently pay attention when God is speaking through His word, seeking to understand it, thinking about it and applying to our lives. The more we do this, the more understanding and divine insights will be given to us. And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands and grasps it; he indeed bears fruit and yields, some a hundred times (as much as was sown), some sixty (times as much), and some thirty. - Matt 13:23 AMP. Good soil in this parable represents a heart that is prepared and engaged to receive the Word. For the Word the God speaks is alive and full of power making it active operative energizing and effective...Heb 4:12a (AMP). God is speaking, but are we listening? May we listen when God's speak and hear with our hearts. learning to listen, Diane p.s. the next time you read the Word recognize God is about to speak to you. Listen with your heart and respond to what He says. Our rebuilding process is underway as we learn to commend our problems and the people we tend to worry about to God, and as we work on constructing our lives upon the foundation of the Word of God. We continue to look at Acts 20:32, I commend you to God and to the Word of grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. The last time we connected we talked about desiring the Word of God: As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby - I Pet 2:2. Our focus last week was on the word "desire", concluding that if we are going to be built up we must crave the Word. There is however, something else essential highlighted in this verse; in addition to desire for the Word, there is dependence. Just as a newborn baby is completely dependent upon milk for nourishment, so are we completely dependent upon the Word for our spiritual nourishment. Our spiritual growth and strength is directly connected to the time we spend in and how we relate to the Word of God. ...It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God-Matt 4:4. Physically we can't survive without food, spiritually we can't survive without a regular intake of the word of God. Our very lives depend upon the Word! If we are going to truly be built up, firm and established in our faith we must get beyond casual reading of the Bible. Causal or superficial reading of the Word is like eating but not chewing your food. When we eat without properly chewing our food, we don't digest the food properly and our bodies can't absorb the nutrients from the food that we have eaten. The same thing happens spiritually when we fail to engage when we read the Word. We read it but we don't get the spiritual nourishment from we should from it. Too often we are not even present in the moment, unaware that God is present. Some times we just read but we have not heard God speak. We are encouraged not just to read but to meditate (ponder, consider, murmur to ourselves) upon the Word. A word picture for meditate is a cow chewing the cud. Ever notice how a cow chews? It chews very slowly over and over and over again, as if to ensure to get every ounce of nutrient from each morsel. Periodically the cow will shift its weight and it seems when his food gets real good, he will let out a long moo. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success - Jos 1:8. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor nor standeth in the way of sinners, sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night - Ps 1:1-2. Lord help us to meditate, imagine, contemplate and think about Your Word day and night, so we can be built up, strengthened and firm in our faith. learning to meditate, Diane P.s. practice meditating upon a verse all day long. Consider starting a Bible verse journal. Write the daily verse in the King James Version and then write it in the Amplified version. Open your heart to the verse. Write a conversational prayer to Lord about the verse, asking Him to help you apply to your life. Meditate upon the verse all day long. Do this daily. How are you making out with putting people and problems on your stretched out faith and commending them to God? As we continue with our process to be built up instead of broken down, let's revisit Acts 20:32: And now brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of grace which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. The second key to being built up is constructing our lives upon the foundation of the Word. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ -I Cor 3:11.The word built up means to be strengthened, established, firm. The most important part of any building is its foundation. The foundation determines the size, shape and strength of the building. If a building is going to stand tall, the foundation must be dug deep. Spiritually, if we are going to be built up, our lives must be constructed upon a deep relationship with the Word of God. Building our lives on any other foundation will not hold up in the tough times. Jesus describes it as so: Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it - Matt 7:24-27. If we are going to be built up, the old foundation must be cleared away. We must be completely exposed. Our old way of thinking must be moved out and our hard hearts must be broken up. As we open up the word, we have to connect with our hearts. We have to talk with God, ask Him to help us understand what He is saying to us personally. As we read His word and consider what He is saying to us, asking how the Word that we are reading applies to our lives. It is not enough to get that scripture of the day on our phones, glance at it while sipping our lattes, and think we are good because we had a minute with God. No, if we are going to be built up, strengthened and firm in our faith, we must begin to see the Word of God as spirit and necessity for life. As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby - I Pet 2:1. We must crave the Word just as babies crave milk. Our very perspective of the word is must change. We can't see the Word of God as just a book. The Word is God speaking to us personally. He is sharing His heart with us. It is our love letter, our insurance policy complete with a declaration of all our benefits, our portfolio of our spiritual assets, our declaration of independence. Blessed is the man that doesn't construct his life on bad counsel but delights in himself in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters, the bringeth forth his fruit in his season...Ps 1:1-2. When we begin to construct our lives on the word of God and thinking about it all the time; considering it over and over and over again. We will be planted, strengthened firm, built up! . under construction, Diane p.s. let's take some time this week to really examine our foundation. Are all our decisions based upon the Word? Every time you read the Word become aware and sensitive to the fact that God is speaking to you personally. Just came back from an amazing Women's Retreat. The Lord used that time to Rebuild my faith, my hope and my joy. Believe you me, I so needed rebuilding. The everyday grind of life had begun to deplete my energy and douce my enthusiasm. Do you find yourself at times feeling discouraged, heavy and weighed down by life? My prayer is that Lord will build you up and strengthen you. And now brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified - Acts 20:32. Paul realized this was the last time he would see the Elders at the Church of Ephesus, in his farewell address to them he highlights in this verse three things that will help build us up: commending things to God, constructing our lives on the foundation of the Word, and contemplating our future inheritance. Paul knew that the Church was about to come under tremendous attack and he would not be there to protect them. So he commended them to our Heavenly Father. In other words he carried them to God and deposited them with Him, entrusting Him to protect them, provide for them and perfect those things which concerned them. If we are going to be built up and not broken down we too must learn to commend things to our Heavenly Father in prayer. Our problems and the people we are concerned about consume us and the weight of worry burdens us. We must learn to cast all our care upon Him for He cares for us - I Pet 5:7. In Luke chapter 5, Jesus was in town ...and the power of the Lord was present to heal them - Luke 5:17b. There was a paralytic man who had some friends who were determined to get him in front of Jesus so that he could be healed. They put him on a bed and carried him to Jesus; unfortunately, it was a sold out crowd, and they could not get him in front of Jesus. I can imagine them in their effort to get their friend to Jesus, saying excuse me, excuse me, trying to make their way through the crowd, only to be meant with rolling eyes and indignant looks that screamed you should have gotten here earlier. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch in the midst. And when Jesus saw their faith, He said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee...Arise, and take up thy couch, go into thine house - Luke 5:20, 24b. These men were so committed to laying the paralytic at the feet of Jesus they climbed up on the roof, starting tearing the roof apart so they could get him to Jesus. We must show that same persistent to lay at the feet of Lord the people and the problems that are weighing us down. Who are you so worried about that it is a weight, wearing you out ? It's time to put them on your stretched out faith, commend them to our Heavenly Father in the Name of Jesus. Lay them at the feet of our Heavenly Father. Entrust Him to heal, help and provide for them. Commend them to God! laying some people and some issues at His feet, Diane p.s. Identify the issues and the people you need to lay on on your stretched out faith carry them to the Lord. Every time you begin to worry commend them to your Heavenly Father. Have you made worship a daily practice yet? Were you able to take time out today to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, to affirm His greatness, and to ascribe the honor and glory due to His Name? Were you left in awe because of His Majesty and Power? Remember the Father is seeking people who will worship in Spirit and in Truth. Isaiah writes: In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw (in a vision) the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and exalted, with the train of His royal robe filling the (most holy part of the) temple. Above Him seraphim (heavenly beings) stood...And one called out to another, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of host; The whole earth is filled with His glory - Is 6:1,2a,3. If only we could, like Isaiah, truly see the Lord high and exalted daily in His Word. The Psalmist in ask God to open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law - Ps 119:18. O God we pray that you would open our eyes so that we can see You, High Holy and lifted up. If we could just see Him as He reveals Himself in His word, our worship would be elevated to a whole new level.. The only appropriate response to seeing the Lord would be for us to worship! My first entry in my worship journal was I Timothy 1:17. I used this verse to meditate on and to motivate me to worship the Lord in spirit and truth: Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen - I Tim 1:17. Paul writes this doxology in response to the overwhelming mercy and grace of God that saved him. As I meditated on this verse I thought about The King. So I wrote in my journal: The King. The One that I bow before. The King who rules, reigns and sits on the throne of grace. The King who invites me into His presence. The King who is eternal. The One who always has been even before the beginning. The Eternal God who chose me even before the foundation of the world. The God who can't be contained or corrupted by mortality. The invisible God who can't been seen but is always present. The only God who is wise, The God who is the God of all wisdom. The King who is worthy of all honor! Think about what our reaction would be if we were invited to the palace to visit the royal family. We would be excited, honored and probably in awe . This week consider the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God and stand in awe of who He is! desiring to be left speechless, Diane ps. if you haven't started one consider starting a worship journal and take your worship to a new level. How would you respond if you were asked when was the last time you worshipped the Lord? Most of us would probably say Sunday. Unfortunately, for far too many of us, worship has become an activity we only identify with and participate in on Sunday while we are at church. However, true worship is not a ritual or routine to be done only on Sunday at church. Jesus engaged in a conversation about true worship with the Samaritan woman at the well, in John 4. The woman was making an issue about where worship should take place. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one ought to worship is in Jerusalem (at the temple) - John 4:20. Jesus saith unto her, Woman believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father...But the time is coming and is already here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit (from the heart, the inner) and in truth; for the Father seeks such people to be His worshipers - John 4:21 KJV, 4:23 AMP. Worship can't be confined to specific place or time, although participating in corporate worship is important for believers. True worship is not a matter of location, it is a matter of the heart. God the Father is actually seeking true worshippers; people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Worship flows out of a heart of love and affection for a God who first loved us, and loves and accepts us with all our flaws. True worshippers worship God the Father and God the Son in spirit (within their hearts) because they have become persuaded by the Lord's love and moved by the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ. What if instead, the question asked was when was the last time you truly stood in awe of God? Would our answer still be Sunday, or would the question cause us pause? When were you so overwhelmed by the power, majesty, greatness, and holiness of God you were left speechless? The kind of worshipper the Father is seeking not only worships in spirit, but also worships in truth. This kind of worship is based upon a true knowledge about the character of God. True worship involves acknowledging, affirming, ascribing worth to and standing in awe of God: Let all the earth fear and worship the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him - Ps 33: 8. The more knowledge about the character of God we have the more in awe of Him we become. True worship flows out of a heart that is gripped and overwhelmed by the love of Christ and a mind that is blown by the revelation of His character and power; revelation that comes from spending time in His Word. Worship has nothing to do with us and everything to do with God. Worship is not about getting our petitions heard or prayers answered. Worship is centered solely on Him. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen - I Tim 1:17. The Father is seeking people who will worship Him. Will He find us acknowledging, affirming, ascribing worth to and standing in awe of Him? desiring to be left speechless, diane p.s. make worship a daily habit. Daily affirm the character of God, stand back and consider His greatness, His holiness, His majesty, His goodness. Start a worship journal, righting down scriptures that affirm who He is like I Tim 1:17. Meditate on these scriptures and before long you will be left speechless. Do you know someone you just love hanging around? You are smiling, right? Just the thought of that person brings you joy. Jesus invites us to hang around Him for that very reason. He wants us to experience abundant joy. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, ...These things I have spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full (John 15: 9,10a,11). Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy (Ps 16:11a). In His encouragement to continue in His love and to abide in Him, Jesus is saying I want you to constantly hang around me so that you can always enjoy my company, be filled with delight and experience overflowing joy. Need more joy in your life? Start hanging around Jesus. I know we have talked about hanging around Jesus before, but if you are at all like me, and I believe you are, it's good to revisit it and to be reminded. There are also other benefits to hanging out with Jesus besides plentiful joy. Abiding in Christ assures us of protection. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty (whose power no enemy can withstand) - Ps 91:1. This promise of protection is available to all believers but only enjoyed by those who have learned to constantly hang around Jesus. Want the assurance of His protection? Start hanging around Jesus. When we learn to hang around Jesus we not only experience plenty of joy, the promise of protection, but also we begin to produce spiritual fruit. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing - John 15:5. Spending time with Jesus allows us to manifest joy, kindness, peacefulness and the other fruit of the Spirit. Want to have a life filled with spiritual fruit? Start hanging around Jesus. Hanging around Jesus affords us plenty joy, the assurance of protection, a life that produces spiritual fruit and answered pray. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you (that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart), ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you - John 15:7 AMP. Abiding in Christ assures us that our prayers will be answered because the more we hang around Jesus, the more we become like Him and the more our desires become aligned with His desires so that we only ask for things that are aligned with His will. If we want to experience fullness of joy, be assured of God's protection, live spiritually fruitful lives and have our prayers answered, we have to start hanging around Jesus. How do we hang around Jesus? Read His word with the understanding that He is sharing His heart with us, and letting us know what's on His mind. Each day we must become more and more aware of His presence and invite Him into every aspect of our lives, the big and the small things. We must begin to talk to Him throughout the day not just in the morning or the evening, or when we need something. Hang around Him and learn to enjoy His company. still trying to hang around Jesus, Diane p.s. Don't really have a desire to hang around Jesus yet? Be honest with Him and ask Him to give you the desire. Today was no different than any other day for us. Whether we were cognizant of it or not, we were in the midst of spiritual warfare. Unfortunately, far too many of us on far too many days are not aware of the warfare that Satan wages against us daily to discourage our faith and to make us ineffective for Christ. We are far more engaged with the conflicts we have with each other, completely ignoring the fact the Bible informs us that our fight is not against flesh and blood: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places - Eph 6:12. We must wake up and get prepared to fight daily: Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind) be vigilant and cautious at all times: for that enemy of yours, the devil roams around like a lion roaring (in fierce hunger), seeking someone to seize upon and devour - (I Pet 5:8 AMPC). Satan is waging a warfare of influence and the spiritual battlefield is in our minds. He is attempting to infiltrate our thinking so our thought life will not reflect God's truth about ourselves, others or our situation. Nor does his thoughts reflect God's ways. Once we grasp hold of his demonic thinking, we wrap our emotions around those thoughts and we find ourselves feeling discouraged, defeated and doomed to acting in ways that are not consistent with our faith. We don't have to own those thoughts. Remember we are in it to win it! So how do we fight? Resistance! So submit to (the authority of) God. Resist the devil (stand firm against him) and he will flee - James 4:7 and Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world - I Pet 5:9. How do we resist? Opposition. Oppose the lies he is putting in your thoughts with the truth, God's thoughts. Satan will have us thinking crazy thoughts about ourselves, crazy thoughts about other people, crazy thoughts about our lives and crazy thoughts about our God. We must resist him steadfast in the faith and by faith. Jesus resisted the temptations of the devil by resisting the influence of the devil with the truth of the word. But he answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God - Matt 4:4 We win the battle one thought at a time. For we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to pulling down of strongholds) Casting down imagination, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ - II Cor 10:3-5. We must gird up the loins of our minds -I Pet 1:13a. Bring our wondering thoughts in, arrest our thought life and don't let any thought loose to have free reign in our lives until we identify its source. Is the thought from God or Satan? Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God's word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things (center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart) - Phil 4:8. We have to bring in our wandering minds; minds that are consumed with thinking about getting our nails done, our next social media post, what we are going fix for dinner, or what we have to get done tomorrow at work. We must be alert, aware, and prepared to dismiss every wrong thought because Satan is daily ambushing us, waging war in our minds. Recently I experienced the danger of not bringing my thoughts into captivity. I allowed my adult kids this summer to convince me to get on a body waterslide. Now I know I don't like body slides; nevertheless, I succumbed to their pressure. So as I started down this winding dark slide which was initially very slow moving, I started having a conversation with myself: What in the world was I thinking? Why did I let them convince me to get on this thing? I hate body waterslides. I was frustrated with myself, angry even. All of sudden I accelerated as the slide took a 90 degree dip, plunging me into the water. Because my mind had been filled with thoughts of frustration and self anger, I was shocked and unprepared when I hit the water. I had not thought about what I was supposed to do when I entered the water. I opened my eyes underwater saw a tank and thought I had to swim to the top, so I panicked. As I come up for air, arms flying everywhere, my kids and everyone else are on the side looking at me like I am crazy. The lifeguard is approaching me asking if I am okay and can I swim. Insulted and embarrassed, I said yes, so I quickly regrouped and proceeded to swim to the side with the smooth stroke I am known for in my family. Spiritually, that's what happens to us when we allow our thought life to have free reign. Suddenly, without warning, we will find ourselves in situations we are totally unprepared for, disoriented, discouraged, defeated and often we end up responding with disobedient. Let's gird up the loins of mind, bring our thoughts into captivity and reject any thinking that is not true, honest and pure ! fighting wrong thinking and resisting the devil with truth, Diane p.s. start paying attention to what you are thinking. Fill your mind with truth. Dismiss self talk that does not line up with what God say's about you, others, Himself or your situation! I know you know this already, but let me say it anyway, this journey is not for the faint of heart. The struggle is real. Every single day we have to fight to maintain our faith in order to keep making progress on this spiritual journey. Our spiritual growth is not automatic. We must be deliberate and intentional about it. The Word of God clearly let's us know that we engaged in warfare. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal...(II Cor 10:4a); This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare - I Tim 1:18. Paul encourages his protege Timothy to fight the good fight of faith (I Tim 6:12). Paul describes his journey with these words: I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection... - I Cor 9:26-27a. At the close of his journey he states I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith - II Tim 4:7. Our fight is not against flesh and blood. It is spiritual warfare. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places - Eph 6:12. Every believer has three enemies, Satan, the world system, and our very own flesh nature. Yes we fight daily, and some days we feel the effects of this daily struggle. In spite of the fact that we know the Word of God, there are just some days we end up feeling discouraged and defeatedSo what should we do? Just like a prize fighter who has had a bad round, we must go back to our corner and allow our trainer, the Holy Spirit to minister to our wounds, to encourage and remind us with the Word of God that: No weapon that is formed against us shall prosper - Is 54:17; Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world - I John 4:4; Nay in all these things we are more that conquerors through Him that loved us. Be encouraged, you see we are in it to win it! We are already victorious we just have to learn how to stand in faith ! daily fighting the fight, Diane p.s. Begin to ask God to give you a desire to grow closer to Him and to prepare you spiritually for the daily battle. Hopefully you are praying with more confidence because you know that the Lord inclines His ear toward us and He hears our cries (Ps 40:1). We should have greater confidence also because the Holy Spirit helps us in our infirmities (Rom 8:26-27). Even when we don't know what or how to pray He groans on our behalf according to the will of God. There is another huge reason we should pray with confidence: we have a great High Priest. Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has (already) ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, lets us hold fast our confession (of faith in Him) - Heb 4:14 AMP. Our great High Priest is in heaven sitting right next to the Father, interceding for us. When Jesus prays for us He is not praying some general prayer; instead, He is praying on our behalf with intensity and empathy because He knows exactly how we feel, how we struggle and knows our weaknesses. Ever notice how differently you pray for someone when you have been through what they are going through? Exactly! Your prayers are specific and intense because you actually feel their pain. Jesus prays for us like that. For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning - Heb 4:15. We can approach the throne of grace with confidence because of the intercession of Jesus. He ever liveth to make intercession for us (Heb 7:25). Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to sinners), that we may receive mercy (for our failures) and find grace help in good time for every need (appropriate help and well timed help, coming just when we need it) - Heb 4:16 AMP. We can go to the throne of grace and pick up exactly the grace needed for our situation that has been preordered by Jesus on our behalf. So let's prayer with greater confidence because Jesus hears us, the Holy Spirit helps us and the Jesus Christ is our Great High Priest! going to the throne with confidence, Diane |
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