Precious women of God,
My heart is so full this morning as I write. What a wonderful weekend we had in the presence of God together at The Flourish Conference last weekend! It was such a joy to see women hungry for the Lord, hungry for His presence, hungry for His Word! As I reflect on all I saw and experienced at Flourish, Hebrews 10 comes to mind.
Brothers and sisters, we are not afraid to enter the Most Holy Room. We enter boldly because of the blood of Jesus. His way is new because he lives. It has been opened for us through the curtain. I’m talking about his body. We also have a great priest over the house of God. So let us come near to God with a sincere heart. Let us come near boldly because of our faith. (Hebrews 10:19-22a NIRV)
My daily reading has recently been in Leviticus and Numbers which describe in great detail the different sacrifices, offerings, and festivals the Lord required of His people so He could dwell among them. With every passage, I found myself more and more grateful for Jesus and all that He accomplished for us at the Cross on our behalf.
Before Jesus' sacrifice, only the High Priest was able to enter the Holy Place where God's Presence was, and that only once a year. It is said that He had a rope with a bell attached to his ankle because if any sin was found in him, he would die in the presence of God's holiness. I imagine one does not enter the presence of God boldly when there is no certainty that one will come out again!
As we meditate on these verses in Hebrews, we are reminded of the wonderful gift we have been given to come boldly to the throne of grace because our sins--every one--has been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb!
We can come boldly, with confidence, and know we are welcomed by the King of Kings. Sadly, too often, we take for granted that we can come into His presence boldly and we do not come often or at all. The accusations of the enemy that we are not good enough hold us back. While it is true that on our own we are not nor could we ever be good enough, by the blood of the Lamb we are made clean. He is perfect, so we become perfect in the Father's eyes.
Sweet sisters, let us enter the presence of the Lord boly. He bids us come. He is waiting there. He has made a way for us to come. Even more, He delights when His children delight in Him!
Our hearts have been sprinkled. Our minds have been cleansed from a sense of guilt. Our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold firmly to the hope we claim to have. The God who promised is faithful. Let us consider how we can stir up one another to love. Let us help one another to do good works. And let us not give up meeting together. Some are in the habit of doing this. Instead, let us encourage one another with words of hope. Let us do this even more as you see Christ’s return approaching. (Hebrews 10:22b-25 NIRV)
It is only by these bold encounters with the Lord that we experience His transforming work in us that enables us to reach out in bold encounters with others to point them to Him. We cannot, but He can.
Let us not be satisfied with less!