Good Morning and Happy Monday, friend!
If you are like me at all then you really do not like Mondays. and if you are even more like me than your husband works in ministry and gets Mondays off and gets to sleep in so waking up is 10x harder.
Maybe not. Well today I just wanted to share with you about what our pastor preached on on Sunday because it really made sense to me and I loved it.
Hebrews 4:14-18
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
He talked a while about how back in the day the high priest could only be in God's presence once a year and he had to dress a certain way, and do certain things, and he got in and out of there as fast as he possibly could. Then when Jesus died the huge curtain was torn and the presence of God was released and it changed EVERYTHING. Now anyone can approach God the Father because Jesus the son is our high priest and he goes before us.
I can't imagine if I was alive back then I wonder how I would react, would I want to serve a God that I didn't feel I could approach or that was relate able. I wonder if I would have a fear of the Lord that I sometimes don't (if I am being honest) because today we can just approach God at anytime and I think I lose that fear and reverence.
The two things I took away from this are
1)Praying is a privilege. I need to really remember that a huge privilege is it to approach the THRONE of The Creator of the Universe. Several people in history did not have that opportunity and I am very blessed and I need to never take that for granted.
2)We can approach the throne with CONFIDENCE. So not only do we have the understanding that God is amazing and we GET to pray to Him, we can go confidently because He has a throne of GRACE. Not a throne of critics, or a throne of grammar experts, or a throne of someone who doesn't care about or us sympathize but a throne of Grace.
I don't know about you but that makes me SUPER happy! I hope you have a great great Monday and let me know if there is anything I can be praying for you about!
Also, if you like worship music and blogs you should check out my husband's set list blog it's super good! And let him know what ya think and tell him I sent ya ;) Husband's Blog
m-k! i think about that idea so much - how inaccessible God used to be and the walls that were destroyed when Christ died on the cross. also. i'm a youth & creative ministries pastor and i lead worship yesterday morning and was like "ughhh why can't i just find a blog of people posting their set lists so i can get inspiration?" soooooo there's that.
ReplyDeleteanyway. i often wonder if it makes God sad that we are so casual with prayer, you know? like… "oh let's pray over this hamburger," and it's just kind of 'God is great, God is good…" because he sacrificed SO MUCH in order for us to come to him whenever.
i love this post. <3
well I am just so glad we found each other :)
DeleteI know it is so tricky to me because we are told to present EVERY request to God. Like our food, our simple little worries etc etc but when I stop and think I'm like man He is the God of the UNIVERSE. Ya know?? It's kinda crazy. There has to be a balance somewhere. It's a lot of think about.
I'm glad too!!! ;D
ReplyDeleteyeah! but how much of it is genuine desire for God to bless our cheeseburger and the hands that prepared it and how much of it is just silly ritual? I think that's the thing... I hate when people text me "how are you today?" and I tell them and then they don't respond- why invite me into a conversation if you don't really care about my part in it? I think of it like that sometimes. like we kind of text God a "hey sup" but have no plans to really engage.
sooo much to think about
oh that is such a good point. I think I need to focus on my attitude and my reason for approaching God more than what I am going to say.
Deleteyes yes. me too
DeleteI love this! You're so right that prayer is a privilege.. it's always been a weakness of mine but these are such encouraging words! Thanks, friend! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Katie! :) It really hit me hard on Sunday when our pastor was going over this. Thanks for your thoughts!
DeleteLove these beautiful reminders about the great opportunity we have through prayer! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I loved hearing these from my pastor that day and they have really stuck with me since. Thank you for stopping by!
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