Saturday, October 17, 2015

To Love the Truth Day 16: He is my Advocate

Well Day 16 is a day late. I spent most of yesterday traveling and crawled into bed the minute I got home.  This 31 days in a row thing is every bit as difficult as I thought.

I owe much of what I am going to write today to the work of Kelly Minter.  I went through her "What Love Is" study this summer on 1, 2, 3 John and learned so much.  

I John 2:1-2 "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sings, and no only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

We have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ!  Jesus is our advocate.  

As a school counselor, I know a little bit about what it means to be an advocate. My primary role is to serve as an advocate for my students -- to fight for them in places where they cannot fight for themselves. I have access to resources they could never find on their own and my job title has legitimacy that makes people listen to me even if they wouldn't listen to a child. Though it doesn't always mean everything works out perfectly, I have a great deal of power. I can make things happen in situations where no one else could.

Jesus is our advocate to the Father.  The one who pleads our case in the heavens -- who argues for our defense -- when we have no way to speak up for ourselves in a meaningful way.

Kelly Minter lists four primary qualities of an advocate:
1) Holds a position that I do not
2) Has power that I do not
3) Is granted access to people that I do not have 
4) Has great influence

The all-powerful, all-knowing, all-merciful Savior of the world is our Advocate before the Father.  Rest in that truth today, friends.

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