Each man can interpret anothers experience only by his own.
Henry David Thoreau
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it. (Hebrews 4:16 NLT)
How can we come boldly to the throne of God when weve been beat up and are crawling? Well let me tell you, it can be done. When were hurting bad enough, even if we have to crawl we will move away from the source of the pain. That is if we want to live. Im not talking so much about physical pain as I am about the pain that comes from living our lives only for ourselves. The quote from Thoreau, Each man can interpret anothers experience only by his own, is the way I interpret coming boldly to the throne of grace and what led me there. There are consequences when we live our lives only for ourselves. In my case the fruit of my selfishness was substance abuse, which led to addiction. This led to what I would call a state of being spiritually lonely. When I was in the grips of my addiction I believed in God. There was no doubt in my mind that God existed and that I could turn to God at any moment and receive deliverance and healing. The problem was that it was easier to continue in my pitiful existence. Even at the very bottom thoughts of turning to God brought spiritual shame. No one ever led me away from God, I walked away of my own choice, and I knew that no human power could relieve me of the bondage that I had put on myself. I had walked into a spiritual prison and shut the door myself. As I began to crawl and made the first effort reaching for a better life, God reached the rest of the way and touched my broken heart. I boldly crawled and was lifted up. I am forever grateful for the grace of God. At this point I want to tell you of something I saw last night. Our church has been in revival for the last four days. Last night was the final service. We have seen many great healings and deliverances take place in the last few days. At the very end of the last night of the revival two young people came forward and confessed being in the grips of addiction. I saw the mighty hand of God sweep over them as they boldly came to the throne of our gracious God. It took courage on their part to get up and humbly come to the front. I have learned from my experiences that coming boldly to the throne of grace, is a process that must be continued daily in my life. I am humbled this morning as I enter into a new day receiving new mercy. God has done for me what I could not do for myself JRE
Three pertinent ideas:
(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, page 60
Henry David Thoreau
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it. (Hebrews 4:16 NLT)
How can we come boldly to the throne of God when weve been beat up and are crawling? Well let me tell you, it can be done. When were hurting bad enough, even if we have to crawl we will move away from the source of the pain. That is if we want to live. Im not talking so much about physical pain as I am about the pain that comes from living our lives only for ourselves. The quote from Thoreau, Each man can interpret anothers experience only by his own, is the way I interpret coming boldly to the throne of grace and what led me there. There are consequences when we live our lives only for ourselves. In my case the fruit of my selfishness was substance abuse, which led to addiction. This led to what I would call a state of being spiritually lonely. When I was in the grips of my addiction I believed in God. There was no doubt in my mind that God existed and that I could turn to God at any moment and receive deliverance and healing. The problem was that it was easier to continue in my pitiful existence. Even at the very bottom thoughts of turning to God brought spiritual shame. No one ever led me away from God, I walked away of my own choice, and I knew that no human power could relieve me of the bondage that I had put on myself. I had walked into a spiritual prison and shut the door myself. As I began to crawl and made the first effort reaching for a better life, God reached the rest of the way and touched my broken heart. I boldly crawled and was lifted up. I am forever grateful for the grace of God. At this point I want to tell you of something I saw last night. Our church has been in revival for the last four days. Last night was the final service. We have seen many great healings and deliverances take place in the last few days. At the very end of the last night of the revival two young people came forward and confessed being in the grips of addiction. I saw the mighty hand of God sweep over them as they boldly came to the throne of our gracious God. It took courage on their part to get up and humbly come to the front. I have learned from my experiences that coming boldly to the throne of grace, is a process that must be continued daily in my life. I am humbled this morning as I enter into a new day receiving new mercy. God has done for me what I could not do for myself JRE
Three pertinent ideas:
(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, page 60
