“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God,”
Hebrews 10: 19-21 NIV
The Law from the Old Covenant meant the high priest could only enter the Most Holy Place, where God resides, once a year. Jesus came as the ultimate High Priest. His sacrifice gives us direct access to God. We come before God with confidence. The Greek word for confidence is parresia.
Parresia means boldness; we can be assured that God wants us to come before Him. That He wants a relationship with us that includes Him in everything we do. Parresia means frankness; God wants us to be honest when we pray. We can pour out our hearts to Him. We can speak plainly; we don’t have to worry or be fearful and think that we may say the wrong things. It means assurance; we can know without doubt that God hears us.
“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.”
10:22 NIV
“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.”
Hosea 6:6 NIV
More than trying to follow rules and laws of religion, He wants us to earnestly seek him. God would rather for us to draw close to Him and mess up and require grace and mercy. As we establish this intimate connection, He begins to shift our desires, wants, and needs. He begins to heal our hearts. The results are that we are being made whole in God. More than just trying to stay away from things, we begin to want the life He wants for us.
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23 NIV
My God I was just having conversation about this with a friend and I said I use to want the life that I wanted from me but now I want and pray for the life that God has for me at 50yrs old I realized this. Thank you so much for sharing.
It is a life so much bigger and brighter than we could ever dream for ourselves!
Amen, reminds me of those verses…
Mark 9:23-24 KJV
[23] Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. [24] And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
https://bible.com/bible/1/mrk.9.23-24.KJV
God truly does care and I am thankful he made me a believer! I choose to continually believe even when it makes no sense to me!
Even our faith is a gift from God!
I find this really interesting and want to know if you can expand or provide me with more information on how to heal my heart .
Get honest about how you feel and take it all to God. See a therapist and ask for help; realize this doesn’t have anything to do with who you are as a person. We all need help. Realize that hurt and pain isn’t your fault but it is your responsibility to repair. Practice self-compassion and forgiveness. Forgive others that have caused you pain, because you need to release it to be open to better. Realize that joy is a general sense of wellbeing and it doesn’t mean you’ll be happy all the time.
“My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10 NIV
Jesus came so that we could thrive in this life. What do you need to thrive?