What Do You Believe?

It’s January. A time for resolutions, words of the year, diets, and starting fresh. We boldly declare to the world, or at least our dog, how we intend to change for the better in the days to come. But can I ask a question? In the midst of all this decision making do we stop and ask God for direction and help? 

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. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 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. Hebrews 4:14-16

Let me break this down a bit for us. Paul was saying, considering we have someone who can continually cover for our sins (that’s Jesus) let’s keep trusting in him! Jesus understands our individual failings since he struggled against the same stuff without giving in. Now we can come directly in front of God himself… imagine!!! Because it is there that we will not get the punishment we deserve but INSTEAD favor and love when we desperately need it most. 

Last time I wrote for this blog I talked about God giving us more than we could handle because we were meant to handle it with HIM (you can read that here). But so often the stresses of dealing with this world are too much and we struggle to find our help in God. This is when we tend to turn to things that we are now trying to resolve to change through the formation of resolutions, words of the year, diets, and starting fresh.

Sweet friends. We are all so so human but Jesus understands and tells God about what it’s like so he can have compassion for our troubles. Do we believe this? Do we feel in our hearts the overwhelming love our Father has for us in sending Jesus so that he could know firsthand how fragile our hearts are and forgive us? Hold firmly to this belief and it will turn our hearts to him. 

This year has just begun. Take yourself boldly before the throne of God. We are promised mercy and grace so don’t be afraid! Ask God to show you the places he wants to change. Ask him to help you rely more on his strength and less on doughnuts. Tell him of your fear and ask him to give you his peace. Show him your sadness and ask for his joy. Walk right up to that throne and tell God you are exhausted and ask for his power. You will find undeserved favor for it all. 

What do you believe? Jesus came to save your soul but also to empower you today. Take hold of who you are in Christ. A mighty warrior for the kingdom of God, bringing his truth to the world through the restoration of our own hearts and minds.