Come Boldly
Hi everybody, it’s Pastor Dave Shepardson. Thank you for being part of the Word By Mail family! We appreciate every one of you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being part of what God is doing in this ministry.
Today it is a “Daily Journal” day in your Alone With God journal. If you have one, grab it. If you don’t have an Alone With God journal, you can get one at wordbymail.com. At least go and take a look at the journal. They’re really special! They really are.
So, on our “Daily Journal” page, which is where we’re at today, if you have your journal, open it to it. And listen, find some time. Just make a few minutes for God. You know, you have to create this time. None of us have any spare time. We have to make time for God. And so, make some time for God, and listen to this journal guide, and really take the opportunity to meditate on God’s Word and to allow the Holy Spirit to apply it to your life, personally and specifically. And then have the courage to respond honestly and transparently. And then pray it out. I mean, if we’ll do this, God will meet us, and it will transform our lives day by day.
Today, grab your journal if you have one. If you don’t have an Alone With God journal, you can grab any journal. And if you’re just not a journaler (Hey, I don’t journal!), that’s all right. Just stop everything you’re doing and focus. Just focus and at least grab your Bible. You’ve got to get your Bible. And I’ll walk you through this daily devotion time.
Today’s verses come from Hebrews Chapter 4, verses 14-16.
Hebrews 4:14-16 (NLT)
14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.
15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Let me just go through this, and you look at the translation you have, and let’s talk a little bit about this.
The writer to the Hebrews says, So then (Because) we have this great High Priest who has entered heaven . . . this perfect High Priest, this perfect Mediator between God and man. The God-Man – Jesus. 100% God, 100% Man who lived a sinless life and who died on the Cross to open up a clear path, a clear way for us to come boldly to the throne of God. . . . this High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly (to our faith) to what we believe.
And then verse 15 says, he understands our weaknesses . . . Jesus as our great High Priest understands our weaknesses because he faced all of the same testings (the temptations) we do, yet he did not sin. He was perfectly sinless.
16 So let us come boldly (let us come with confidence) to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy . . . Mercy is not receiving what you deserve. That’s mercy. And we can come with confidence to the throne of our gracious God where we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace . . . Grace is receiving what you DO NOT deserve. Mercy is not receiving what you do deserve. Grace is receiving what you do not deserve. And we find both at the throne of our gracious God to help us when we need it most. And this phrase, when we need it most, is like a figure of speech. We would say, “In the nick of time.” We’ll receive mercy and grace from God when we come boldly before his throne to help us in the nick of time.
Listen, guys, we have got to come before our great High Priest, before the throne of our gracious God. We’ve got to spend time bowing before him, pouring our lives out to him, confessing our sins, and asking for him to strengthen us, forgive us, heal us, lead us, and guide us. We’ve got to go regularly before the throne of our gracious God to be continually made right in his sight.
And we can! We can come before him just as we are – no matter where you’re at today. No matter what sin you’re feeling the weight of, of the guilt or the shame. No matter what it is, you can bring it to the throne of our gracious God because you’re High Priest, Jesus, died in your place and paid for that sin so that you could come boldly before the throne of God. And when you do, and you lay that sin down, you lay that burden down, then you will receive God’s mercy and his grace to help you in the nick of time, to help you when you need it most.
Guys, listen. We’ve got to learn to come personally before the throne of God in a relational way where we understand his holiness and his righteousness. But we also understand that he died to give us mercy and grace to walk us through this life and to lead us into victory for eternity!
So (now that I’ve preached a mini-sermon), read through these verses again. And then, do the steps in your Alone With God journal. First, you meditate on the verses. Under Meditate, your Alone With God journal says, “What is God’s Word saying? What are the spiritual principles here?” And I just tried to inspire you with some there. So, write that down.
And then, in the second section, it’s Apply. The journal says, “How does this apply to my life today, personally and specifically?” What do you need to bring before the throne of our gracious God today? What do you need to lay at his feet? You can come with praise and thanksgiving. You can come with repentance. You can come for comfort and for peace, for forgiveness, for strength, for the power of the Holy Spirit. How does this apply to your life today?
Then step three is Respond. In your journal, it says, “What action will I take today in response to this truth?” And my prayer is that you will say, “I will come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. I will storm the throne room of Heaven and fall on my face before God and say God; I need you. Or I praise you, or I thank you. Or I repent. Please cleanse me of my sin, Lord. Please make me right with you again.” Choose your response and write it in your journal.
And then, write a prayer to close this time with God. And you can do that right after I pray. Let me pray, and you can get right to your journal or right to your mediation and application and response time.
Let me pray through this really quickly.
Heavenly Father, you have given us a great High Priest who has beat sin, death, and the grave and has ascended into heaven. Jesus, you are our great High Priest. And so, Lord, we hold firmly to our faith in you. And Lord Jesus, we know that you understand our weaknesses. We know that you have experienced anything that we can experience, Lord; you have experienced it, and you have paid for every sin in our place on the Cross already. And so, Lord, we pray that we can come boldly before your throne, that we can see you as a gracious God ready to forgive, ready to receive us, Lord. And there at your throne of grace, we will receive your mercy and find grace to help in the nick of time, Lord. We need you. Jesus, thank you for being our great High Priest. In your precious name, Lord, amen.
Alright, guys. That’s a great devo today; those are great verses. Again, if you have your Alone With God journal, write in it. If you don’t, write in any journal. If you don’t write in a journal, then take some time focused on your Bible, talking to God. Just have a real conversation with the Lord about these verses.
Again, you can get information on everything that we do at Word By Mail at wordbymail.com. This is a twenty-two-year-old Bible teaching ministry. There are over a thousand verse-by-verse Bible teachings on the Word By Mail phone app. You ought to grab that – get to your app store and download the Word By Mail phone app. You can watch the messages on Roku or Apple TV at the Word By Mail channel. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram. You know – all the places. Connect with us. And you can text us – you can always text us at (877) 790-WORD. (877) 790-9673.
Thanks for joining us today as we dig into God’s Word. I pray your day will be tremendously blessed. And we’ll have something for you here tomorrow. See you then. Bye-bye.
Today it is a “Daily Journal” day in your Alone With God journal. If you have one, grab it. If you don’t have an Alone With God journal, you can get one at wordbymail.com. At least go and take a look at the journal. They’re really special! They really are.
So, on our “Daily Journal” page, which is where we’re at today, if you have your journal, open it to it. And listen, find some time. Just make a few minutes for God. You know, you have to create this time. None of us have any spare time. We have to make time for God. And so, make some time for God, and listen to this journal guide, and really take the opportunity to meditate on God’s Word and to allow the Holy Spirit to apply it to your life, personally and specifically. And then have the courage to respond honestly and transparently. And then pray it out. I mean, if we’ll do this, God will meet us, and it will transform our lives day by day.
Today, grab your journal if you have one. If you don’t have an Alone With God journal, you can grab any journal. And if you’re just not a journaler (Hey, I don’t journal!), that’s all right. Just stop everything you’re doing and focus. Just focus and at least grab your Bible. You’ve got to get your Bible. And I’ll walk you through this daily devotion time.
Today’s verses come from Hebrews Chapter 4, verses 14-16.
Hebrews 4:14-16 (NLT)
14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.
15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Let me just go through this, and you look at the translation you have, and let’s talk a little bit about this.
The writer to the Hebrews says, So then (Because) we have this great High Priest who has entered heaven . . . this perfect High Priest, this perfect Mediator between God and man. The God-Man – Jesus. 100% God, 100% Man who lived a sinless life and who died on the Cross to open up a clear path, a clear way for us to come boldly to the throne of God. . . . this High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly (to our faith) to what we believe.
And then verse 15 says, he understands our weaknesses . . . Jesus as our great High Priest understands our weaknesses because he faced all of the same testings (the temptations) we do, yet he did not sin. He was perfectly sinless.
16 So let us come boldly (let us come with confidence) to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy . . . Mercy is not receiving what you deserve. That’s mercy. And we can come with confidence to the throne of our gracious God where we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace . . . Grace is receiving what you DO NOT deserve. Mercy is not receiving what you do deserve. Grace is receiving what you do not deserve. And we find both at the throne of our gracious God to help us when we need it most. And this phrase, when we need it most, is like a figure of speech. We would say, “In the nick of time.” We’ll receive mercy and grace from God when we come boldly before his throne to help us in the nick of time.
Listen, guys, we have got to come before our great High Priest, before the throne of our gracious God. We’ve got to spend time bowing before him, pouring our lives out to him, confessing our sins, and asking for him to strengthen us, forgive us, heal us, lead us, and guide us. We’ve got to go regularly before the throne of our gracious God to be continually made right in his sight.
And we can! We can come before him just as we are – no matter where you’re at today. No matter what sin you’re feeling the weight of, of the guilt or the shame. No matter what it is, you can bring it to the throne of our gracious God because you’re High Priest, Jesus, died in your place and paid for that sin so that you could come boldly before the throne of God. And when you do, and you lay that sin down, you lay that burden down, then you will receive God’s mercy and his grace to help you in the nick of time, to help you when you need it most.
Guys, listen. We’ve got to learn to come personally before the throne of God in a relational way where we understand his holiness and his righteousness. But we also understand that he died to give us mercy and grace to walk us through this life and to lead us into victory for eternity!
So (now that I’ve preached a mini-sermon), read through these verses again. And then, do the steps in your Alone With God journal. First, you meditate on the verses. Under Meditate, your Alone With God journal says, “What is God’s Word saying? What are the spiritual principles here?” And I just tried to inspire you with some there. So, write that down.
And then, in the second section, it’s Apply. The journal says, “How does this apply to my life today, personally and specifically?” What do you need to bring before the throne of our gracious God today? What do you need to lay at his feet? You can come with praise and thanksgiving. You can come with repentance. You can come for comfort and for peace, for forgiveness, for strength, for the power of the Holy Spirit. How does this apply to your life today?
Then step three is Respond. In your journal, it says, “What action will I take today in response to this truth?” And my prayer is that you will say, “I will come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. I will storm the throne room of Heaven and fall on my face before God and say God; I need you. Or I praise you, or I thank you. Or I repent. Please cleanse me of my sin, Lord. Please make me right with you again.” Choose your response and write it in your journal.
And then, write a prayer to close this time with God. And you can do that right after I pray. Let me pray, and you can get right to your journal or right to your mediation and application and response time.
Let me pray through this really quickly.
Heavenly Father, you have given us a great High Priest who has beat sin, death, and the grave and has ascended into heaven. Jesus, you are our great High Priest. And so, Lord, we hold firmly to our faith in you. And Lord Jesus, we know that you understand our weaknesses. We know that you have experienced anything that we can experience, Lord; you have experienced it, and you have paid for every sin in our place on the Cross already. And so, Lord, we pray that we can come boldly before your throne, that we can see you as a gracious God ready to forgive, ready to receive us, Lord. And there at your throne of grace, we will receive your mercy and find grace to help in the nick of time, Lord. We need you. Jesus, thank you for being our great High Priest. In your precious name, Lord, amen.
Alright, guys. That’s a great devo today; those are great verses. Again, if you have your Alone With God journal, write in it. If you don’t, write in any journal. If you don’t write in a journal, then take some time focused on your Bible, talking to God. Just have a real conversation with the Lord about these verses.
Again, you can get information on everything that we do at Word By Mail at wordbymail.com. This is a twenty-two-year-old Bible teaching ministry. There are over a thousand verse-by-verse Bible teachings on the Word By Mail phone app. You ought to grab that – get to your app store and download the Word By Mail phone app. You can watch the messages on Roku or Apple TV at the Word By Mail channel. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram. You know – all the places. Connect with us. And you can text us – you can always text us at (877) 790-WORD. (877) 790-9673.
Thanks for joining us today as we dig into God’s Word. I pray your day will be tremendously blessed. And we’ll have something for you here tomorrow. See you then. Bye-bye.
Posted in Devotions, Journal Guides, Month 1 Week 2
Tagged with Alone With God Journal Guide, Daily Journal, Journal Guide, Come boldly, Throne of God, High Priest, Grace, Mercy, Month01-Week02
Tagged with Alone With God Journal Guide, Daily Journal, Journal Guide, Come boldly, Throne of God, High Priest, Grace, Mercy, Month01-Week02
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