{"id":5212,"date":"2019-12-01T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T15:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5212"},"modified":"2019-09-30T20:28:06","modified_gmt":"2019-10-01T01:28:06","slug":"choose-to-use-your-access-to-god-wisely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5212","title":{"rendered":"Choose to Use Your Access to God Wisely"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Choices change our lives\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hebrews 4:16 says, \u201cLet us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years\nago I heard a sermon about this verse. The preacher wasn\u2019t totally advocating a\n\u201cname it and claim it,\u201d \u201cblab it and grab it,\u201d or \u201chealth and wealth\u201d gospel,\nbut he did give the impression we should boldly ask God for what we want and if\nit\u2019s good for us, good for everyone around us, and just plain good \u2013 God will\ngive it to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well,\nthat\u2019s what I did\u2026 and guess what? God didn\u2019t give me what I wanted. Imagine my\ndisappointment! My faith was a bit shaken because I felt like I was taking a\ngiant leap of faith to make a request boldly. I also felt like my lack of faith\nprevented me from getting it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is\nour faith a bit wobbly when God doesn\u2019t give us what we want \u2013 when clearly we\nknow it would be the best for everyone concerned? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah\u2026but\ndo we really know what is the best for everyone? We may think we do, but maybe\nwe don\u2019t. God sees all and knows all. Only He knows what is best for everyone!\nIs it our lack of faith that prevents a request, or God\u2019s faithfulness to doing\nwhat is best that makes the difference? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\nwhat does it mean to come boldly before the throne of grace? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually\nthis passage isn\u2019t about our boldness \u2013 at least not the kind of boldness we\nassociate with this word \u2013 like being brash, brave, or daring. The whole\npassage is letting us know we can have an intimate relationship with Jesus\nChrist, our High Priest. We have direct access to Jesus Christ! We don\u2019t need\nto go through another person like a priest, a minister, a guru, a psychic, or\nan angel to get to God. This direct access thing is a big deal and was not really\npossible for the common man before the death of Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nOld Testament times, the High Priest was the mediator between God and the\npeople. Only he could enter the Holy of Holies in the temple (Hebrews 9:7). The\nHoly of Holies was a special place, considered the earthly dwelling place for\nGod\u2019s presence. A veil or thick curtain divided it from the rest of the temple,\nwhere man could dwell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\nwhen Jesus died for our sins, that veil or curtain was miraculously \u201crent\u201d or\ntorn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51). God no longer dwells in temples\nmade of hands (Acts 17:24). The way to God the Father is not through the temple,\nbut through Christ His Son, because Jesus is now our High Priest (Hebrews\n10:19-22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\nJesus, our High Priest, came to earth, lived among us, and totally understands\neverything we go through (Hebrews 4:14-16). He feels our pain. He knows our\nweaknesses and temptations. So when we talk to Him, He \u201cgets\u201d us! He\nunderstands us. He knows where we are coming from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore,\nwe can come \u201cboldly\u201d before Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nGreek word for boldly here is \u201cparrhesia\u201d and it means to be frank, outspoken,\nand even blunt. We can tell Jesus exactly how we feel. It\u2019s not about making\nbold requests we want God to fulfill like some big sugar daddy in the sky. It\u2019s\nabout being honest without fear of reprisal. It\u2019s about pouring our hearts out\nto the One who understands and having confidence in Him to do the best thing\nfor us. We come boldly to Him so we can obtain mercy and find grace to help us\nin our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider this<\/strong>\u2026 We don\u2019t have to\nworry that we are praying in the wrong way, at the wrong time, or with the\nwrong stance. We have a High Priest who looks beyond all that to our hearts.\nGod doesn\u2019t want to punish us; He wants us to realize how much He loves us! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One final thought\u2026<\/strong> You see, it\u2019s not our faith or lack of faith that makes the difference in our prayers; it\u2019s God\u2019s faithfulness! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Choices change our lives\u2026 By Barbara Dahlgren Hebrews 4:16 says, \u201cLet us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace\u2026\u201d Years ago I heard a sermon about this verse. The preacher wasn\u2019t totally advocating a \u201cname it and claim it,\u201d … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5212"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}