CONFIDENTLY DRAWING NEAR -- Monday:
In view of the greatness of our High Priest, and His thorough competency to identify with us in our need, we are exhorted to confidently draw near to our God.
Such an admonition would be pointless if: (1. Jesus were not accessible, (2. If He were not qualified to help us, and (3 If He were not disposed to aid us in the battle against sin. We can come confidently, i.e., expecting to receive what is required to resist the devil and successfully run the race.
Your personal effort is not enough! It is true, we are admonished to "resist the devil, and he will flee from us" (James 4:7), but that is not sufficient! That exhortation is preceded by these words, "Submit, therefore, to God . . . " You might imagine that "submit" is confined to obeying some commandment relating to moral purity. It is true enough that you are to keep yourself "pure." Make no mistake about that (1 Tim 5:22). But that is not the heart of the matter.
At a much higher and more effective level, you submit to God by taking advantage of the High Priest and Mediator He has appointed for you. Coming close to Him with confidence to appropriate mercy and find grace, is an act of true submission.
One of the great deficiencies of much emotion-based religion is its approach to overcoming the devil. I have heard far too often this subject approached as though Satan were afraid of us, and runs at a threat or shout from us. While there is some element of truth in this view, it is certainly not a full representation. Even though you are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), and are "the sons of God" (1 John 3:1-2), and even though you have been translated into the "kingdom of God's dear Son" (Col 1:13), and have become "partakers of the Divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4), you are absolutely and totally dependent upon Jesus.
If you think for one moment that you can launch out against the devil in your own strength, and because you bear the family name, you had better think again! That view is simply wrong, and is not to be embraced by anyone!
Not even Jesus approached the adversary in self-confidence! "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One Who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission [fear, KJV]" (Heb 5:7, NIV). You will never overcome the devil until you have learned to draw close to God, through Christ, to "obtain mercy and find grace to help, in the time of need."
Some are satisfied with an academic approach to mercy and grace -- but that will not sustain you in the hour of need or trial! Mercy and grace are to be appropriated by the individual. They are to be transferred from a reigning High Priest to a suffering saint! They come from the "throne of grace" to the arena of trouble and temptation. What is more, they cannot be obtained whole the needy one remains at a distance from the Lord. They are only received when we come close to the Him.
I am convinced that many prayers for Divine intervention are a waste of time. They are uttered from an unacceptable distance -- from the outer court, so to speak. The mercy and grace of God are there to be had. They are freely and willingly dispensed by the Lord Jesus when they are needed. But you have to come close to get them. He will not throw them to you, but He will personally give them to you if you will confidently come close enough to receive them!
Let us once and for all have done with any and every form of religion that allows people to keep at a distance from God. Systems of religious thought and religious enterprises that permit their constituents to live with stunted spiritual appetites, and personal lives that out of contact with God are to be forthwith and hastily abandoned. They are under the curse of Almighty God. The Son was exposed to the fierceness of spiritual warfare in order that He might succor those who are in that arena.
The Father has seated Jesus at His own right hand in heavenly places. That is the place where mercy and grace are dispensed. They simply cannot be obtained anywhere else. Come therefore. Come near with a bold and confident heart! You will see, Jesus will give you mercy, and grace to help in the time of need. If you can see it, the "time of need" is NOW – now, in this "day of salvation" in which you can be nourished (2 Cor 6:1-2).
As long as you are in this world, you will never make it out of the zone of need! This world is where you NEED to draw close to God, and do so confidently! He has given you every reason to believe He will receive and bless you, strengthen and keep you. You are engaged in a race you cannot finish by yourself, without coming confidently to the throne of grace. So draw near with a confident heart to the throne from which mercy and grace are freely and willingly dispensed. They are for you.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You for a gracious High Priest who can be touched with the feeling of my weaknesses. I praise You for revealing Your desire for me to come close to You. In the name of Jesus, I ask for confident boldness to do precisely that.