Do You Trust In God’s Life In Us?
Good Morning Friends,
Get some disappointing news? Well, your disappointment can become God’s appointment if you lean more on Him and stretch your faith just a bit more. Accepting the love of God in the form of the Blood of the Lamb is such an act of faith. The blood of Christ was shed for you. Do You Trust In God’s Life In Us?
Scripture: Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.
John 19:34 (NRSV)
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly; the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 (NRSV)
A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days. And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death. Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you with great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
Revelation 12:1-12 (NRSV)
Message: Today’s lectionary brings us a passage from the Psalms that was sung during Passover and a passage from Revelation that reminds us of the sacrifice on the cross but is also a disguised story of Christmas and the birth of the church. They combine to form an interesting meditation during this time just after Easter. I add to it a passage from John. The one theme that connects them for me is the Blood of the Lamb. Blood is attributed in Scripture a mysterious sacredness which belongs to life. We see a combination of water and blood in the birth and death of Jesus. We see it in the story of the Passover…a labor and battle for life. Here we might realize that God reserved blood to himself with the double power of both a sacrificial atonement and a curse when shed pointlessly. The theology of the Cross complements the theology of the Body demonstrating that life is in the blood whether on the door post during the Passover in Egypt or on the Cross of Calvary. Here the blood of the Lamb functions as the blood in our body but now spiritually as we experience salvation and the bringer of life with other believers. Here the blood of the lamb carries all the poisonous wastes we produce so that they might be removed from us. Here the blood of the lamb transports the breath of life into our spiritual cells so we might live into the Kingdom as we sing to God’s glory. Thankfully in the breaking of bread and the drinking of the cup, the blood of the lamb also carries spiritual food to our body to keep us from starving. The blood of the lamb even carries the joy of our emotions through hormones helping to keep our body in balance. We experience in a spiritual way, the blood of the lamb as it distributes heat to warm us on a cold day and to cool us on a hot day. And the blood of the lamb defends us spiritually so we might live to fight the good fight. Life is in the Blood. Rejoice this day because Jesus overcame death and brings us life.
Pray that we have ears to hear. Pray that when defeat seems imminent, He will lead us to victory. Pray that despite all the problems of life we find joy. Pray that this day we wake up in the joy of a new day…pray we dress up with a smile that comes from knowing God. Pray we stand up for our belief in Jesus….Pray we look up to Him for our every need…Pray we reach up to Him when everything else fails…pray we lift up to Him all of our burdens and cares with gratitude. Pray in the power, with the promises, in the presence, with pardon, passion and peace that we be about promoting God. Pray we remember that God’s nature is love. Pray we not be so sure of ourselves that we fail to be sure of the Lord’s way. Pray we never take God’s gifts for granted. Pray we rejoice for we have food on the table. Pray we accept the blood of the Lamb. Pray we trust in the Lord.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 