Week 1 - Coming Undone
Worship
Today I encourage you to meditate on “Is He Worthy?” by UPPEROOM, Aaron Tedeschi & Ashley Bailey.
Scripture
Hebrews 10:19-23
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Devotional
Take a second to consider: Where does your confidence to approach God usually come from?
Unfortunately, many christians all over the world fall into a trap in which their confidence before God is driven by their own righteousness, religious success, or behaviour. For example, on days in which you feel as though you are behaving well, and pleasing God, you come into his presence with confidence but on days in which you have fallen into sin, and failed to do anything right, you feel too ashamed to approach God and neglect prayer and worship. Sound familiar? The main problem with this trap is that it is a two sided ditch - on the one side is despair over never being good enough to approach God with confidence, and on the other side is pride. It can be overwhelming, and begs the question of how can we confidently approach God everyday no matter how we are doing?
Fortunately, our confidence before God does not need to come from our behaviour! Rather, our confidence comes from the blood of Jesus. “Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus”. (v19) Yes we can always be confident in our approach to the presence of God! We do not stand before him in the robes of our own good works, rather, we stand before God always, adorned with the very life-blood of Christ.
Did you know that in the old testament the life of the animal was in the blood? In the same way, the blood of Christ represents the very life of Christ, who he is and his perfect righteousness. So when you come to God, you come washed by the blood of Jesus, and covered in his blood, which means that we are covered with his perfection, his standing with the Father, his very life. Because of this, we can approach God with confidence every day, not because we have done well, and abstained from sin for the past… however long, but because we are washed and covered in the very life-blood of the holy one, Jesus, the perfect spotless lamb of God who has taken away our sins through the cross! So “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (v22-23)
Prayer
Approach God in prayer today with confidence that comes not from your behaviour, whether you deem it to be good or bad, but in humility acknowledge that you approach by the blood of Jesus. Enjoy the presence and relationship with God today, giving thanks to Jesus that he has made a way for you to commune with the Father like this.