Devotionals for January 27, 2023
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READ
Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
REFLECT
Our troubles are not foreign to our Lord. We do not worship a God who is “unable to sympathize.” Jesus experienced all the worst parts of human life. In fact, He may have, by virtue of His purity, experienced them far more painfully than we do. We have all sorts of sinful ways of medicating the human experience when it becomes painful. We go to things in our life to soothe us. Jesus did not do this but chose to experience the weight of human suffering without anything to anesthetize it (think of his denying the wine offered to him on the cross). In this way, who knows better than He what we need and what it is like to need it? He sees you. Right now He sees your struggle and He looks sympathetically upon you. He loves you and invites you near the throne of grace. We can live confidently knowing that whether we have much or we have little, we always have “mercy and grace to help in time of need,” because we always have Christ. Let this reality encourage you.
APPLY
Q: What does it mean that Jesus was “tempted as we are, yet without sin?”
Q: Where in your life do you most need the mercy and grace of God?
Q: How can you offer what you have been given to others?
SING
“Graves into Gardens” by Elevation Worship, Brandon Lake
PRAY
"And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one."
Lord, let us rest in your mercy and grace, believing that you truly are the good priest who meets our every need! Amen.
READ
Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
REFLECT
Our troubles are not foreign to our Lord. We do not worship a God who is “unable to sympathize.” Jesus experienced all the worst parts of human life. In fact, He may have, by virtue of His purity, experienced them far more painfully than we do. We have all sorts of sinful ways of medicating the human experience when it becomes painful. We go to things in our life to soothe us. Jesus did not do this but chose to experience the weight of human suffering without anything to anesthetize it (think of his denying the wine offered to him on the cross). In this way, who knows better than He what we need and what it is like to need it? He sees you. Right now He sees your struggle and He looks sympathetically upon you. He loves you and invites you near the throne of grace. We can live confidently knowing that whether we have much or we have little, we always have “mercy and grace to help in time of need,” because we always have Christ. Let this reality encourage you.
APPLY
Q: What does it mean that Jesus was “tempted as we are, yet without sin?”
Q: Where in your life do you most need the mercy and grace of God?
Q: How can you offer what you have been given to others?
SING
“Graves into Gardens” by Elevation Worship, Brandon Lake
PRAY
"And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one."
Lord, let us rest in your mercy and grace, believing that you truly are the good priest who meets our every need! Amen.