| by Nathaniel Burson (Big Sandy, Texas) |
|---|
| Do you? Can you truly go BOLDLY before the throne of grace? Without fear? This is a time to be honest with yourself. Aren’t there usually some nagging concerns in the back of your mind when you pray? What if God were here now… in front of you… Would you be nervous? Would you be concerned that he might be mad at you? If so, then you are not ABLE to be BOLD, and you must ask yourself… WHY. You are scared in the presence of God because you KNOW you do not measure up to His expectations! When you have done all the chores your earthly parent asked you to do, you need not fear his retribution… you are only nervous around him if YOU KNOW you have not met his expectations! It is no different with your Heavenly Father! Adam and Eve were very bold before God in the beginning; why shouldn’t they be? God had no reason to be angry with them, and THEY KNEW IT. Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Notice! They could be BOLD – they were not ashamed! Genesis 3:6-8 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. They hid themselves, they could no longer BOLDLY go before God, BECAUSE THEY HAD SINNED! 9-10 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Notice, Adam makes an excuse for hiding himself… But God immediately gets to the heart of the matter… 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? He knew that being naked was not the real reason they weren’t bold before Him – they had been bold before, and they were naked then – the reason was, they had sinned! Sin is what keeps you from being BOLD! But it is not just sin itself… it is UNREPENTED-OF sin. See, once you repent… that is, change, and STOP the sin… you know you did. It is not an issue anymore. You will do better tomorrow, and you forget about it. Your heart knows this, and you can be BOLD again! This was a part of the old testament sacrifice laws as well. In most cases, when you were unclean, you were unclean JUST UNTIL EVENING (Leviticus 11, 15, etc.). These laws were a SHADOW, or a TYPE of things to come (Hebrews 10:1). Today, when you mess up, ONCE you repent, you are unclean UNTIL EVENING. Then it is a new day! What you did yesterday should not, in any way, interfere with your conscience. It is over – done! Christ’s sacrifice paid for it, (IF you repented), so MOVE ON! Adam and Eve did not repent of their mistake, so they were ASHAMED in God’s presence. Too many of the Church of God are ashamed in His presence for the SAME REASON! Revelation 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. How do you buy this gold from God? 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent! Could it be any simpler? If you want to be BOLD, if you do not want to feel NAKED, and DIRTY before God, REPENT! Dig through your soul, and ISOLATE, and EXAMINE, and JUDGE your actions, your thoughts, your very HEART, and find out WHAT, SPECIFICALLY, it is that prevents you from being Bold… and FIX IT! Then you will not BE ashamed. LEARN the lesson of Adam and Eve! James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Only you can do this, and only you can fix this… and ONLY YOU can live with your choices. Ask yourself… Right now, WHAT AM I DOING that makes me ashamed in front of God? Do you ever doubt that God will answer you – be honest now… do you? The solution is simple. Ask yourself this question: “Why wouldn’t He” if the answer is “Well, I honestly can’t think of any reason”, then you should have no doubts. But if the answer is something like “Well, I listen to Rap music… God might not like that…” then the solution is easy – stop listening to Rap music! Then you will HAVE NO DOUBTS! This is the way, the ONLY way, to truly be BOLD before God! So do some spiritual housecleaning, get rid of ANYTHING God would not like, and ASSURE yourself that you’re doing what YOU KNOW you should DO. Boldness need never be a problem for you again. Let us therefore come BOLDLY unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) |
Views: 0
Sign up to Receive [The "New" Church of God Messenger] weekly newsletter: