Grey clouds around us in our neck of the woods.  Mt. Hood was out with its white against the grey clouds behind it, Mt. Adams was covered with clouds. 

Temperatures in the low 50’s, but very little wind.  We will be finishing up with the greenhouse this afternoon and Carla will be ready to put those tomatoes, peppers and whatever else she has in it.

She left the Fuchsias outside last night, but covered them up.  It was down to 32, but they seem just fine.  She is looking forward to getting those out, also, they are pretty and attract more hummingbirds.

------------------------------------

Hebrews 10:16-22 “ This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

¹⁷ And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

¹⁸ Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

¹⁹ Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰ By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

²¹ And having an high priest over the house of God;

²² Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”  KJV

The Jewish people, before Christ’s death and resurrection, had to go to the temple at least once a year, offering sacrifices through the High Priest in order to have their sins forgiven.

Sacrificing, each year, and sometimes more often, because the death of an animal and its blood was insufficient to last for eternity, it could not take away their sins.

They had to go through an intermediary, the High Priest, because they could not come before the throne of God without him.

But once we, Jew and non-Jew alike, recognize and accept the sacrifice of Jesus, the Christ, as ours in the remission of our sins, we can go to Him every day, as often as we wish and through Him have access to God the Father.

Jesus, as our High Priest, lived a real life, walked and taught among the people, was tempted and refused to sin.  He demonstrated His love and His examples live on today through His Word. 

Hebrews 4:15-16 “ For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”  KJV

“boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,”   “come boldly unto the throne of grace,”

Not arrogance, not prideful, but with a confidence that He will listen to us, that He will extend His hand and help us, with the assurance of a man that knows that what he is doing he is doing with permission and the full authority of the authority over him.

I can remember the first time, as a Reserve, I put the uniform of a police officer on.  I was nervous, even though I would be riding with a regular officer, even though I wasn’t expected by the department to know everything, the public really couldn’t tell the difference between me and the regular.

At that time there was no training, at all.  You rode and learned by osmosis IF the officer did any talking at all.  Usually you talked about other things, while occasionally he might explain something, you usually just stood in the background and hoped you didn’t do something wrong.

Not a real confidence booster.

As time went on, I became more comfortable and I could do some rudimentary tasks, traffic control, ‘guard’ duty at a crime scene, helping with initial interviews of non-serious incidents, etc.  But, I would have to defer almost all questions to the regular.

When I was hired it wasn’t much different.  The third night on the force it was just me and the sergeant.  He put me in a car and told me to keep out of trouble.  It was a calm night with no calls, so I managed to do so.

However, I did have a training officer assigned who started my training in earnest, explaining, teaching, watching so I could improve my knowledge, skills AND confidence.

I then attended the Academy, which gave me much more information and training giving me more confidence on both the laws and the enforcement of them.

Some officers came on the department with self-confidence and many did well – but for others it was a bravado that didn’t set well and often their over confidence got them in trouble.

One of the best advices I received came from my first training officer.  He was well respected and had an air of confidence that immediately made people trust him.

He said in most situations we go in low-key, quietly try and get people to calm down.  You are the one wearing the uniform, you are the one in charge.  If they don’t obey, then you can always become more assertive or aggressive, but if we do so from the very first we have nowhere to go, once you have to reach that level you can’t back down and that can lead to some violent arrests.

There are, of course, times you can’t do that, you have to go in with the full weight of your authority and your ability to take control of a very bad situation.  But, time and time again, his wisdom proved valid and we were able to complete whatever our task was without escalating the problem.

One of the things I quickly learned and tried to pass on to all those officers I trained, was your tongue is the most important muscle in your body, if you use it correctly you can calm down almost any situation.

A good officer has confidence in his authority, his bearing shows it and because of it people will accept him as the one in charge.

Boldness before the Lord, or boldness in witnessing to others doesn’t mean we go in with an arrogant or demanding attitude, it means that we have confidence in who we represent, in who our God is and that He will support and guide us in our requests for His help and mercy and will reinforce our witnessing, through the Holy Spirit working within those we witness to.

Thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus, we can have the confidence to enter into God’s presences with the knowledge He has forgiven us and only wants the best for us as we serve Him.

We can indeed walk boldly into His presence, now.

Later, Art (-: