encouragement

THURSDAY January 17th, 2008

And a Happy Thursday Morning to you all!

God is good, isn’t He?

I thought I’d share two of my favorite verses in the Bible. These are only SOME of my favorites… but if I were to have “life” verses, I’m sure these would be the ones.

Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

There are many points in this verse… so many that I cannot even begin to expound, but I will name a few.

I. The thought that our God is touched with our “infirmity”. This word means (Lack of strength, character flaws, minor illness, frailty) Our God faced these “infirmities” yet didn’t sin! I always remember, with this verse, when I’m “depressed” or “tired” or not feeling so self confident, that Christ actually FELT these “infirmities” so that He could understand me! How wonderful He is!

II. “…but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” He felt those infirmities but was not drawn into them to be led by them into sin! How can infirmities lead us to sin? They tempt us not to do the things God would want us to do. Depressions, lack of confidence, frailties, can cause us to miss out on God’s wonderful blessings by not doing what we should do. (i.e. going to church, visitation, reading our Bibles, praying, being a blessing to another, chores around the house, loving our families and friends.) What a wonderful God we serve! Who better to go to when we have an issue then to One who knows EXACTLY what I’m experiencing but didn’t fall into the sin of that “infirmity” or “temptation!”

III. “Let us come boldly to the throne of grace…” We don’t need a “priest” to come to Christ. We don’t need a Pastor to “come to Christ.” We just need to be BOLD when we go to Him! Bold means simply, “confidence, fearlessness”. Don’t be afraid to go God about our often infirmities. Believe me, we all have them… and daily! Which means we need to be bold enough to contact our Heavenly Father on a daily basis for those often infirmities.

IV. Why come to him boldly? “That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Let me be honest with you… when there is a challenge in your life, you want the resolution IMMEDIATELY! You want that “Grace”… but before you get that “grace” you need the “mercy” first. What is mercy? I was going to use the old “favorite” but then I checked the King James dictionary and here is what I found for MERCY: To be or to lie at the mercy of, to have no means of self-defense, but to be dependent for safety on the mercy or compassion of another, or in the power of that which is irresistible; We need to show God that we are dependent on Him and we are throwing ourselves on HIS mercy… to obtain HIS mercy… so that we can have the GRACE we need to help in “times of need.”

V. My last point is “TIMES OF NEED.” I don’t know about you, but that would be EVERY DAY for me, ladies! I have “times of need” almost at all times of the day! Boy, do I need that “grace!” What is the grace referenced here mean? “Favorable influence of God; divine influence or the influence of the spirit, in renewing the heart and restraining from sin.” WOW… We need God to “influence” our “time of need” so that He will receive the glory… not that WE will. During those “times of need” we need God’s Grace to take care of those “challenges” so that He will have the glory and we can learn from His Grace.

What an awesome God we serve! How blessed we are to have His Words, penned in our tongue, that we can read and glean from them!

“Grace, grace, God’s Grace… Grace that will pardon and cleanse within… grace, grace, God’s grace… grace that is greater than all our sin.”

Have a “Grace-filled” Thursday ladies!

.

FRIDAY