He is Risen
25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
One truth that Pastor Mike declared today was that because Jesus is risen, He is now our advocate!
He speaks on our behalf in the presence of God the Father. Those issues that pull you down, that you find really difficult to articulate because they are so deep are declared before the throne room of grace and mercy…perfectly.
Perfect communication. (Contrast this to society’s legal arena, and the difficulties that exist in getting someone to advocate your case for you)
Why do we let our very concerns that Christ is advocating for before God the Father, become the very things that keep us from receiving His help?
Here are some of my thoughts on this:
- We desire instant gratification. Because God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and, ever present, we assume that our problems will be solved quick.
- We have not learned the practice of waiting in His presence.
Some solutions:
- Regarding instant gratification: it doesn’t always happen. Remember the story of the paralytic (Luke 5:17-26)? Though Jesus cured him in an instant, he was suffering for a much longer time. Is our focus so much on the instant cure that we don’t reflect on the journey that he went through to get to that place?
- Regarding waiting in His presence: The rushed-ness of our society makes it inconvenient to even think about talking time to meditate, to pray, to journal. But, God’s word is very clear that those who wait upon Him, will find strength. (Isaiah 40:31)
Christ is our Advocate and we have all the tools at our disposal to experience His advocacy. But, because we struggle, at various times, with things like this, we can easily falter.
We need each other! At 9AM each Sunday Morning, our Discipleship Journey meets to consider life issues -like this- in the context of Scripture. Consider yourselves welcomed.
Blessings on your journey
-Michael