Above the Sky

Above the Sky

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

The beautiful old hymn “Arise, My Soul, Arise” was written by the great hymn writer Charles Wesley. Let us use its five verses to focus our thoughts.

Arise, my soul, arise; Shake off thy guilty fears;
The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears:
Before the throne my surety stands,
My name is written on His hands.

Looking down through life’s experiences, storms appear. Some are mild but some really roar and claw at the soul. Even far back when darkness surrounded us, we knew the horror of serving a demonic trouble maker. Nothing went right and there was nowhere to turn for solace. We had no fear of God; we never knew of Him.

As a sinner we were being enjoined to come to salvation and by the power of the sacrificial blood shed on our behalf receive forgiveness and eternal life. Through the dark shadows that engulfed us, a spark of light flew from some believer into our heart. It was enough to let us see the love of God for the first time and we craved entering into the light. We began to learn of this man called Jesus and what he represented in the light dwellers. We learned that because “Christ . . . hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2), “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access” (Romans 5:1-2) Learning that sin was our bread of life and would melt away in the face of troubles we craved to to embrace our creator. Known as, the Father, by believers in Jesus. His son who alone has the power to forgive our sins. We have no need to fear rejection, for “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

We can arise and “come boldly unto the throne of grace,” and God the Father. We have no worry of being rejected because of a “surety of a better testament” (Hebrews 7:22) is “a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God” (Hebrews 4:14), and “who is [seated] on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Hebrews 8:1). Here He requests the Father’s “mercy, and . . . grace” on our behalf, for He knows us by our names which are already “written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27) “from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 17:8).

The life, far from the shadow of fear, doubt and worry, is lighted by the Grace of God, His son. Love light shined unchecked and no dark clouds can entangle us in sin any more. We are now set free from death and hell. If you will: Know God, know peace. Amen 07-11-1920 BLL