Delight Yourself in the Lord Devotionals

A New and Living Way - Hebrews 10:19-25

There are so many things calling for our attention today. I think that many of us aren't at church for that very reason. There is so much to do! So much to experience! And what happens when a church is so rigid and structured that the presence of God cannot be felt? Who would want to spend more time there than they absolutely have to?

I think part of the reason that we aren't running to church the way we run to concerts, why our worship isn't as energetic as we are when singing along with our favorite bands, and Christ isn't talked about as much as the heartthrob we last saw on the screen or the latest celebrity gossip, is that we haven't tasted and seen the goodness of God, we haven't entered into His courts with thanksgiving and praise, we haven't sat beside Him at the fountain in the garden...in other words, we haven't fallen in love.

I know that there is a transition that must take place in our hearts. We need to leave the "I love God" mentality and crossover into the "I'm in love with God" part of the relationship. Without that, what will hold you to Him? Fear and blessing will only take someone so far in that journey. This is why our churches are compromised and our services are empty.

Whose fault is it? Is it God's or Holy Spirit's or Jesus'? Is it the Pastor or the Worship Team or the Media Team? Is it yours? I believe that it is a lack of understanding and a lack of mentoring. When I fell in love with Jesus Christ, it was because myself and some other young ladies were mentored into what that meant and what that looked like by a beautiful group of young ladies from Yuma, Arizona.

Through that "encouragement of love", we were eager to attend church as often as the doors were open, which was five days a week. Not only were we eager to be there, but we joined together in homes and worshiped, encouraged, and prayed as a small group. When the devil came and began to rob us of our passion through distraction and angst, we allowed him because we weren't prepared to fight for our love.

"Therefore, believers, since we have confidence and full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus, by this new and living way which He initiated and opened for us through the veil [as in the Holy of Holies], that is, through His flesh...let us approach [God] with a true and sincere heart in unqualified assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." Hebrews 10:19-20, 22, AMP

In other words, let's not waste the time we have to come to Him and fall in love with Him, a gift beyond description paid for by Jesus' precious blood. Amen.

Read all of Hebrews 10:19-25, Amplified Version, here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A19-25&version=AMP