Episode 81 - Hebrews 10:19-20 (Opened... Jesus opened the way for you, my friend!)

Well hey there everybody - hello again. Welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. I am really excited to be here with you all today. I have this optimism that is rooted God’s Word, His promises to us, and it is a growing optimism in spite of what seems like dark days in our world. God is good. And He has not abdicated His throne or lost even the tiniest iota of His power, His prominence, His total preeminence in all things. That has me pretty excited today.

 

So, let’s get started discussing some of the things our good, good God has promised to us. 

 

This is episode 81. And it is sponsored by the soon-to-launch YouTube channel “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.

 

The book of Hebrews is a game changer for anyone who reads it and applies it, appropriates it, just simply believes what is written there. 

 

We are looking at Hebrews 10 verses 19 & 20 ( NLT) today. 

 

Let me read the verse to you first from the NLT.

 

19 And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death,[b] Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.

When was the last time you pondered the incredible direct access that you have to God? 

I mean, really thought about that fact. It’s the absolute truth for all Christians, and it is something that the Hebrews from the Old Testament, the descendants of Abraham, would have staggered to believe. It is incredible what we have been gifted with. 

So, when was the last time you really thought about it? 

 

Today, that’s what we are going to do.

 

Dear brothers and sisters. 

I love that! We are dear to the Lord and we ought to be dear to one another, too. 

When someone uses the word dear to address another someone, it is indicative of devotion, genuine love, and heartfelt concern for the other person (so often our conversations are only focusing on our concern for me myself and I, right?) 

 

And so, dear brothers and sister (talking to you today, my friend!) we can boldly (boldly! With boldness!) enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.

 

Do we think enough, say enough, pray enough for the fullness of every blessing God has given to us through the blood of Jesus to be made 100% true in our lives? If we would pray more while standing firmly on the power of the blood of Jesus, what mountains would move? 

 

The appeal here is that we would know that we are in the Beloved, we are dear to our Father, we are close to His heart because He loves us so much! And that we would boldly enter the Most Holy Place (think of the OT Holy of Holies, where the High Priest entered just one time a year - that’s where we are told to boldly enter - with no restrictions or limits on how often we can enter). And we can enter because of the blood of Jesus. The hymn that says there is power in the blood - it is spot on correct. 

Okay let me read that first sentence to you once more - I challenge you to really think on this as I read - what does this mean for you today? 

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.

You can enter, my friend. But the word “can” reveals it’s up to you. I can’t make you. God won’t make you. If you can do something, you also can not do that thing. 

Will you? 

Today will you boldly enter the Most Holy Place, where the powerful blood of Jesus gains you entrance? 

The second verse says this - 

By His death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 

 

Opened.

Jesus opened the way for you. The way to something new, as in before the death and resurrection of Jesus, this was not possible! The way to something life-giving.

 

Most people like being part of something new, trying something new, especially if the new thing is a good thing. This is not just a good thing - it is the ultimate good thing, it is the Good News, and so we should get excited about it! 

But when the new thing we can experience is also life-giving, well then that ups the ante, doesn’t it? 

How many things do you know of that are actually, really life-giving? I mean, like they come with an iron-clad guarantee that they will meet the promise of being life-giving? 

Not hoped for, not wished for - this is a promise, this is a covenant our God has made with His children. 

 

Look, if you are not entering the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus and praying right there in God’s throne room, before His throne of grace, and experiencing all that He wants to give you (I mean, His word says it is life-giving, so if it’s anything less than that you are walking away from your prayer time with, then can I remind you that God has much, much more for you? So much more! If God Almighty says something is life-giving, then by golly that is what He intends for it to be and if that is not what you are experiencing, then the devil is ripping you off in your prayer time, or you have not fully taken advantage of this amazing promise perhaps, or you may not be entering boldly…) 

 

Get your boldness on when you go into your prayer closet, into your war room, sit down with that prayer journal, pray in your small group, with your spouse, on your drive to work in the morning. Get your boldness on! Be bold!

 

God says it, or I would never, ever dream of spurring you on to get bold when you enter His presence to pray. 

 

What needs do you have? And are you boldly entering the Most Holy Place of your Father and expressing those needs to Him with confidence and trust that He will hear you and answer you? 

 

Take your every need to your good Father and be bold about it. You walk in there, my friend, and you pray your prayers with love and adoration and trust that will only be bigger and bigger, increase more and more, because you stand praying with boldness. 

 

My acting boldly does not limit or shrink my grasp of God’s holiness, of His power, of His sovereignty and His perfection in all that He does. No! The opposite happens when I boldly enter His throne room, the Most Holy Place. When I enter under the blood of Jesus into the Most Holy Place, I better grasp His holiness. If I am in the Most Holy Place, I will of course better understand how holy my God actually is! And I will pray bigger, bolder prayers because a holy God can’t do otherwise than answer prayers in His justice, in His mercy, in His power and His righteousness. I see more clearly how holy our God is and I expect Him to move and act out of His holiness. So, I pray better. I pray more holy, more God-honoring prayers. I will leave the Most Holy Place with a more tender heart, I’ll love people better, I will trust God more with circumstances and situations and thus strive less in my own strength. I will be different, because I have been in the life-giving place. 

 

Aren't these two verses from Hebrews just fantastic? 

 

And just think, this is all for you. 

 

Can I encourage you today to spend some time praying boldly and see if it doesn’t bless you abundantly? 

 

Thank you so much for being here today - I am so thankful for every download, every listener. 

 

I have a couple of things to mention here - first, I am participating in a Christmas blessing giveaway (a group of us are joining forces for a cash giveaway this December so be on the lookout for more details and also, would you pray we can reach a total of $1000 to give away? Please pray for that amount, or even more, if you would!) 

Also, I will be guest hosting on another podcast in December and I am really excited about it. What a blessing it will be! And I will share a Christmas devotional on that website - so keep your ears peeled for info about that coming up really soon. 

 

Last thing - I mentioned my upcoming YouTube channel earlier. One of the topics that gets a lot of searches on YouTube (because it basically is a search engine, right?) is God’s promises. Isn’t that awesome that people are searching to learn more of what God has promises in the Bible? 

And I am going to share on that topic on my channel. I hope to have it launched sometime before November 15th (pray that happens - it’s a lot of work to finish up but I believe the Lord is leading me this way so here I go!) I will still have this podcast, nothing will be changing with The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. Just adding another outlet, but it won’t be a copy and paste of these episodes. I plan to start with ten minute videos about God’s promises. And if I can get to 1000 subscribers, I am gonna add a community tab to my channel and that is a way to have a better connection with people on YouTube. So just dropping this here for ya - when the channel goes live, I sure do hope you will consider becoming a subscriber. 

 

Okay, that’s it for my announcements and I want to remind you to boldly enter today, and to remember the power of the blood of Jesus that was shed for you. Pray big! And let God bless you with all the life-giving blessings He wants to. It’s a lot - so make some room, get some space available to be blessed. 

 

Thanks for joining me today & I will be back here next time for episode 82.

 

Bye-bye! 

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