Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Confidence”
Our Bible verse for today: “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.” Hebrews 4:16 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Thanks to Jesus we can enter into God’s presence with confidence.”
I love The Amplified Bible and use it frequently in my own study. The Amplified Bible is a translation of the Bible which uses all the English words necessary to capture the full meaning of the original Biblical languages. Doing so often results in clumsy and complex sentences in English, but the benefit is that all the English words needed to fully communicate the intended meaning are used.
In the Amplified Bible Hebrews 4:16 reads like this:
“Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy (for our failures) and find grace to help in good time for every need (appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it).
In Old Testament times the people of God approached Him with fear and trembling. So much so that once each year, when the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies (the inner most sanctum of the Temple), they tied a rope around his ankle and bells to the ends of his robe. The purpose of the bells was so that the other priests, waiting outside, could hear him moving inside the Holy of Holies and therefore they knew that God had not struck him dead. If the noise of the bells stopped, they knew he was dead and then the rope could be used to pull his carcass out without anyone else having to risk their own lives by going in to retrieve him.
But in the New Testament Jesus has made it possible for the people of God to approach God with boldness and confidence. We are welcomed at the throne of Grace. God the Father smiles at our approach, opens His arms, and joyfully welcomes us. Jesus made that possible for us.
As you go to your private times of prayer, and to the gathering of your church family this Sunday, do so with the sure and confident knowledge that God welcomes you and He is glad you have come.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 