The Glorious Honour and Privilege of Being Able to Go Confidently to the Throne of Grace!

27 Apr 2025 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hebrews 4:16.       Let us therefore come boldly (confidently) unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

And it’s the first Sunday after that marvellous and miraculous Easter Sunday, where Christ rose triumphantly from the dead, and it was such a great moment in the annals of man’s history, such a glorious opportunity for mankind, that we’re still celebrating it. (smile) And we’ll be celebrating it for a long while yet! (smile) 

Today though, we’ll sing a song that only Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection makes possible. The song is aptly titled “Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace” and was written by Daniel Herbert (1751 – 1833), a congregational minister who served at Sudbury in Suffolk. It is a passionate and comforting call to all who feel the weight of their sin to come and find mercy at the feet of Christ. And in these uncertain and difficult times, many of us are feeling not only the weight of our sins but also the weight of the whole confused and disaster-prone world in which we currently live. 

So let’s offer up our sweet sacrifices of praise in a mid-tempo version, being sincerely thankful for the throne of grace that we have such open access to. Singing: ‘Come boldly to the throne of grace, Ye wretched sinners come, and lay your load at Jesus feet, And plead what He has done. How can I come? Some soul may say, I’m lame and cannot walk; My guilt and sin have stopped my mouth, I sigh, but dare not talk. Come boldly to the throne of grace, Though lost, and blind, and lame; Jehovah is the sinner’s friend, And ever was the same. 

He makes the dead to hear His voice; He makes the blind to see, The sinner lost, He came to save, And set the prisoner free. Come boldly to the throne of grace, For Jesus fills the throne; and those He kills, He makes alive; He hears the sigh or groan; Poor bankrupt souls, Who feel and know, the hell of sin within; Come Boldly to the throne of grace; The Lord will take you in. Come Boldly to the throne of grace; The Lord will take you in…the Lord will take you in…Yes the Lord will take you in…take you in’ 

And that’s the living truth my people! Regardless of your problems, your sins, your guilt or whatever, if you come sincerely to Jesus, He WILL TAKE YOU IN! No doubt about it! But you now have to come to Him, because He’s already done His work, dying and rising from the grave so that you can have the wonderful options of salvation and eternal life. It’s available to whosoever who comes and asks for it. 

But getting back to our hymn for today, the basis for it is found right there in the Bible, in Hebrews 4, which states: ‘Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into (through) the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession (confession of faith). For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched (sympathize) with the feeling of our infirmities (weaknesses), but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly (confidently) unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’  (Heb. 4:14-16) 

Oh my faithful brethren, what a magnificent scripture! Firstly, it assures us that Christ our high priest is in heaven after completing His earthly work. And in so doing, He was tempted in all ways and manners like we are, but did not sin. Therefore He can empathize with our temptations and mistakes, unlike the other so-called gods who have no practical experience whatsoever of human life and problems. But our Jesus does! That’s why we can confidently go to the throne of grace seeking grace and mercy anytime we so desire. 

And all God’s people said a loud and thankful, ‘Thank You Jesus!’ Yes friends, do we ever owe Jesus a bunch of thanks for all that He’s done for us. We can never offer up enough thanks to satisfy His selfless sacrifice, neither can we ever make up for it. He knows that, and thus all He really wants from us is to genuinely accept Him as Lord and Saviour and live the life that He desires of us; one that’s sanctified and set apart for His purpose only, encouraging others to come to know and LOVE Him like we do.   

And there are some individual scriptures that parts of the song bring to mind, like: ‘Ye wretched sinners come, and lay your load at Jesus feet,’ That surely reminds of Jesus’ ‘Great Invitation’ where He so graciously and generously offers: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly in heart (gentle and humble): and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt.11:28-30) 

Now there’s no greater invitation in this world, but unfortunately an amazing number of people have turned it down. Only to their own eventual demise. Then there’s the line that says: ‘Jehovah is the sinner’s friend, And ever was the same.’ Here’s what Jesus said to the disciples, and consequently to us. ‘Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.’ (John 15:13-14) 

And what about this line? ‘The sinner lost, He came to save, And set the prisoner free.’ Yes my fellow believers, that’s exactly what Jesus came to do, as He said that day when He lunched with the tax collector Zaccheus. ‘For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.’ (Luke 19:10) Then to amplify that statement, in Luke 15, Jesus tells the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son (Prodigal Son), where the owners of the sheep and the coin, or the father never gave up looking for what was lost. And He offers this sentiment: ‘I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just (upright) persons, which need no repentance.’ (Luke 15:7) 

And there’s no better scripture on Jesus’ earthly role to close with than this one where He read from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue of His hometown of Nazareth. ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set them at liberty that are bruised (oppressed). To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’(Luke 4:18-19) 

And after he closed the scroll, with all eyes on him, He solemnly informed them: ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears (hearing).’ (Luke 4:21) And so it was friends, Jesus fulfilled all that He came to do. The rest is now up to us. Please, let’s not disappoint Him, and make all His selfless sacrifice go to waste! Much LOVE!

… faith doesn’t make it easy…faith makes it possible…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   21 April 2024   1 Peter 5:7.

21 Apr 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 Peter 5:7.     Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Wake up people, it’s the Lord’s day! Time to make our way to His sanctuary, to gather in fellowship, offering thanks and praise, while having our souls and spirits rejuvenated by His awesome LOVE, grace and mercy! And today’s song of praise and worship is an interesting one, written in the later years of the twentieth century by Kansas born Christian musician, Army Air Force Pilot, Moody Bible Institute Attendee, John Willard Peterson (1921-2006) The hymn is titled ‘No One understands like Jesus,’ which is the gospel truth, and it’s one in which we all can find comfort and solace from our worldly problems, just like the author found them when he wrote the song. 

The story goes that Peterson was employed by a gospel ministry when a supervisory position came open, and he was led to believe that he would receive the promotion, but instead someone from outside was brought in to fill the position. Obviously he was disillusioned and discouraged but tried not to get bitter. Then one night he happened to meet the said man, who, though he seemed to be a pleasant person, that night made several hurting and caustic remarks to Peterson. 

And according to Peterson: ‘Later that evening, after returning home, I was sitting in our living room thinking about the events of the past days and about the bitter experiences of that evening. I began to feel very alone and forsaken. Suddenly, I sensed the presence of the Lord in an unusual way and my mind was diverted from my difficulties to His faithfulness and sufficiency. Soon the thought occurred to me that He fully understood and sympathized with my situation–in fact, no one could ever completely understand, or care as did He.’ And that’s how this immortal, most appropriate song for hurting hearts was born. 

So let’s sing it now, raise our voices in sweet, sacrificial praise, in a soulful gospel fashion, echoing all the sincerity and truth it contains. Singing: ‘No one understands like Jesus. He’s a friend beyond compare; Meet Him at the throne of mercy; He is waiting for you there. (Chorus: No one understands like Jesus When the days are dark and grim; No one is so near, so dear as Jesus– Cast your ev’ry care on Him!) No one understands like Jesus; Ev’ry woe He sees and feels; Tenderly He whispers comfort, And the broken heart He heals. (Chorus) 

No one understands like Jesus When the foes of life assail; You should never be discouraged; Jesus cares and will not fail! (Chorus) No one understands like Jesus When you falter on the way; Tho’ you fail Him, sadly fail Him, He will pardon you today. (Chorus: No one understands like Jesus When the days are dark and grim; No one is so near, so dear as Jesus– Cast your ev’ry care on Him!  No one understands like Jesus When the days are dark and grim; No one is so near, so dear as Jesus– Cast your ev’ry care on Him! Cast your every care on Him, Cause no one understands like Jesus.’ 

And as we said before, that’s the gospel truth! No human being can ever reach the level of understanding that our Lord and Saviour has for us! And I like how this commentary shows the appropriateness of the song in all of our lives. It says: ‘All of us go through periods when we feel all alone, and nobody seems to care.  The problems seem so heavy, and we wish that we just had somebody who could help us through the fog that we face.  The difficult times that we are now living in have brought new, heavy tensions.  Unemployment, bills, mortgages, illnesses, family struggles, fears, terrorism, loss of freedoms, uncertainty – heavy burdens to bear.  Unfortunately, during the past year three acquaintances of mine have committed suicide to escape their troubles.  A hymn by John Peterson has often been a comfort to me when I have faced these seemingly “impossible” pressures.’  

And no doubt it has also been a comfort to many more of us, especially in the trying and troubled times that we’ve recently been through, and are still going through. So what’s the scriptural basis for the song? Peterson says that as the song came to him he began to write the comforting words from Psalm 55: The Plea of the Fearful, where Bruh David solemnly advises us to ‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer (permit) the righteous to be shaken.’ (Ps. 55:22) Now that’s another surefire promise that the Lord will always keep! 

Then Peterson, turned to Peter, who had witnessed the perfidy of Judas, and also his own denial of Jesus three times, but then went outside and wept bitterly (John 18:15-27) He echoes the words of Bruh David. ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.’ (1 Pet. 6-7) And nobody knew this better than Peter, because Christ eventually forgave him for his denials. 

Christ is also our best friend as the opening verse of the hymn intimates. Remember Christ’s words to the disciples: ‘Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.’ (John 15:13-15) And there you have the greatest bond between friends, the sharing of knowledge, then Jesus went out and laid down His life for us all! You could not get a better friend than that! 

And I believe there’s no better scripture to end with today than Jesus’ Great Invitation, where He invites all and sundry to come to Him, regardless of our trials and troubles. Thus, He says: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly in heart (gentle and humble): and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt. 11:28-30) Yes my fellow saints, let’s remember those most inviting words and take advantage of them, because we will certainly not find that kind of faithful and true invitation anywhere else. Much LOVE!

…Blessed be God…even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…the Father of mercies…and the God of ALL Comfort… (2 Cor. 1:3)

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