The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Greatly Loved, Graciously Beckoned"
"We come by His merits, based upon His person and work. Or we do not come at all. "
Although Daniel did not possess the full revelation of God's grace and truth in the Lord Jesus Christ, this "greatly beloved" Old Testament saint knew the heart of how God relates to us, and our singular hope of how we respond to Him (Daniel 10:11).
"O my God, incline Thine ear, and hear; open Thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Thy name: for we do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousnesses, but for Thy great mercies" (Daniel 9:18).
Daniel affirmed approach to God based on the Lord's abundant mercy rather than the illusion of our own righteousness. As the Apostle Paul declared, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand" (Romans 5:1-2). Such grace has always been the way to God, even by the saints of the Old Testament. Thankfully, in Christ the Blood-stained path to the throne lies clearly before us. We come by His merits, based upon His person and work. Or we do not come at all. On our best days of faith and faithfulness, we come by the Lord Jesus. On our worst days of waywardness, we still may come if we approach with a humble, trusting heart fixed and focused on the Lord Jesus. He is our way at all times, our fount of "great mercies" whereby our Heavenly Father receives us as "accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).
Consistently realizing and availing ourselves of such grace nurtures genuine devotion to God and communion with Him. "We love Him because He first loved us" (I John 4:19). When we come by Christ and His atoning sacrifice, the Holy Spirit enables us to overcome both pride and despair. We approach the aptly termed "throne of grace" with bowed heart and head, but also with "boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him" (Hebrews 4:16; Ephesians 3:12). Thereby, the love that beckons us also motivates our responsive love that blesses the heart of our Father. Grace and mercy alone fuel within us the commitment, affection, and self sacrifice whereby genuine desire to come to God arises within our hearts. Daniel, greatly beloved and graciously beckoned, discovered such freely offered Divine goodness. He greatly loved and gratefully responded, as will we in the bright light of grace in the Lord Jesus that confirms our way to God as available and accessible through "Thy great mercies."
"For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."
(Ephesians 2:18)
Weekly Memory Verse
The Root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.
(Proverb 12:12)
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