grace needed

the cry of the heart

“Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.”

Psalm 25:16

the promise

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

the throne of grace

Dear Heavenly Father,

We come before you to confess that we have doubts. Some of us doubt you love us, others doubt the truth of Scripture, and still others doubt our salvation.

We come before you to confess that we have fallen short of your expectations. Some of us have sinned, others have been unfaithful, and still others have been poor stewards.

We come before you to confess that we are burdened with life. Some of us are worried, others are afraid, and still others are lonely.

We come before you to confess that we are seeking your will. Some of us want your will to be done with our health, others want your will to be done with our finances, and still others want your will to be done with our relationships.

We come before you to confess that we need you more than ever. Some of us need your healing power, others need your comfort, and still others need your wisdom.

We come before you to confess that life is meaningless without you. Some of us are in awe of who you are, others in awe of what you’ve done, and still others in awe of what you will do.

We come before you to confess that you are King of kings and Lord of lords. We all acknowledge you as Lord, we all acknowledge you as Savior, and we all acknowledge you as the author and perfecter of our faith.

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”1

1  Hebrews 4:16

acting the part

He fooled a lot of people, including my employer, who allowed him to work with elementary school kids. And he fooled the local police, who then hired him to protect people.

Eventually the entire city became aware of his dark secret when he was arrested for molesting a child.

As I think back to when we worked as peers, I remember agreeing with co-workers how weird it was for him always wanting to be around kids. It was one thing to like kids and enjoy them, but there always seemed something a little odd about him. And yet, back then—25+ years ago—background checks were rare and if you could do the job, well, that’s all that mattered.

The man obviously wasn’t what he appeared to be.

But that got me to wondering how many of us are. That is, how many of us—followers of Jesus—are what we appear to be?

For instance, we may be one thing at church on Sunday mornings, but entirely different persons elsewhere.

Sunday mornings we’re all dressed up, carrying our Bibles and on our best behavior. No coarse joking, gossiping or cursing in church. Uh, uh, no way. Not here. Not at church.

But as we drive away the metamorphosis begins to take place and is complete by the time we get home. We’ve morphed back into the real us. The ones who, well, aren’t as holy, godly and on fire for the Lord as we pretended to be earlier.

Does any of this sound familiar? Does reading this make you feel a little uncomfortable? If so, you need to force yourself to keep reading, even if you don't want to. And why? Because your spiritual health is important.

Remember when Jesus confronts the Jewish religious leaders at the end of His earthly ministry? In one encounter He calls them “hypocrites” six times. Here’s just a sampling:

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”1

Did you know that the Greek word translated as “hypocrites” means actors or stage players? In other words, Jesus is calling them pretenders.

·         They’re pretending to be religious.

·         They’re pretending to be lovers of God.

·         They’re pretending to be something they’re not.

What about you? Are you pretending to be something you’re not? Are you acting the part on Sunday mornings, only to return to the real you the rest of the week?

Again, does reading this make you uncomfortable? If so, it could be you’re acting hypocritically. Maybe, just maybe, you’ve been pretending to be something that you’re not.

Please don’t get me wrong. This doesn’t mean you’re in the same league as the two-faced religious leaders. And it certainly doesn’t imply that you’re in the same category as my co-worker who was a child molester.

But if you act one way at church and then another way during the week, well, it sure sounds like you’re doing a little pretending to me.

You may fool me and everyone else at church, but you’re not fooling God. The outside of the “cup” may be clean, but the Lord sees what’s on the “inside.”

What’s the solution to your problem? Step one is admitting your hypocrisy. Is it easy? Heck no. But that’s where you have to start.

Step two isn’t much easier: You need to forget outward appearances and focus on your inner man or woman. You need to concentrate on the “inside.” Ask God to forgive you for your hypocrisy and tell Him you want to be changed from the inside out.

Mean it. Commit to it. And then watch the Lord go to work.

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”2

1  Matthew 23:25-26

2  Hebrews 4:16

emergency

I dialed 911 and it rang and rang and rang, but no answer.

Panicked, I tried yet again, with someone finally answering. Unfortunately, the woman got a little testy with me and eventually transferred me to someone else who actually took the time to listen: A car was swerving all over the highway endangering other drivers, including myself. I shared my opinion that the guy was drunk.

After hanging up, part of me was satisfied that, who knows, I might have saved someone’s life. But another part of me was disappointed and, yes, downright irritated at how the 911 call went.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t emergency calls supposed to be answered promptly? And shouldn’t the operators/dispatchers be good listeners, and calm and re-assuring to those who are calling? I don’t mean to be critical, but the fact is none of those things happened when I needed help. I hung up with a bad taste in my mouth.

Aren’t you glad that things are different when we call our heavenly Father with an emergency?

In my experience the Lord answers my calls promptly, listens carefully and is always kind in His response. Perhaps most important of all, He has all the resources that I so desperately need.

Fortunately, you don’t have to take my word for it. You can know it for a fact: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”1

If you’ve been following this blog you know I’ve been calling in a lot of emergencies to my heavenly Father these days. And I’m here to tell you, He’s coming through in a big way.

What about you? What’s your emergency? Do you need mercy and grace to help you in your time of need? Then approach the throne of grace with confidence.

In other words, give your heavenly Father a call. He’ll pick up. I promise.

1 Heb 4:16