Ignite Revival

What a wonderful study this last week on trusting the wisdom and ways of God. I stand in awe that Jesus not only trusted His Father but was obedient to His Father when He was told, “My Son, it is only through your sinless blood that Connie’s sin can be covered, you must die so that she may live." Jesus trusted His Father, and now in faith, am I willing to trust in Jesus! Through His obedience I now have, “Life Eternal and can live with, “The Power of God through the Blood of the Cross." Jesus trusting His Father unto death on our behalf is a very serious matter to God. The truth is, Jesus did not deserve to die for us and we must remember to not make light of something that God holds so dear. May we always remember that we should have been the ones to die on that Cross. We did not have to pay for our own sin and if we can, by faith, trust Him with something as important as our redemption, then maybe we need to trust Him in the less important things of this life. Our bloodstained gospel is not just something that some man has imagined up in his mind like some of the other world religions, it is much more real than that. It requires a genuine faith in what we believe to be the truth and a life that is committed to serving our Lord. God’s unfailing love is behind it all and we should be compelled to share our faith and that unfailing love with others. I have been tempted through this study to change its title to, “Life Eternal” The Power and Love of God through the Blood of the Cross. I may do that! The reality is that both the power and the love of God should be working through us daily and then the fruit that it produces should be shared with those around us. Both the love of God and the Power of God are needed for us to be usable vessels that are consecrated to God.

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As believers, we need to not only place a significant emphasis on the love of God but we also need to continue to place a significant emphasis on the value of the precious Blood of Jesus. We need to take seriously the importance of the “Power of the Blood” and believe in it’s ability to continue to transform and change the lives of those around us. The precious Blood to the “perishing” if accepted, will redeem them. To those of us that are “saved” the precious Blood, if accessed and applied, will continue to work alongside the Holy Spirit in great power transforming us into the image and likeness of Christ. The application of the blood of Jesus to our lives, as believers, provides us a safe place where we can actually be spiritually transformed. As Hebrews 10:14 states, “Because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made Holy." Although we have been redeemed initially we are also according to 2 Corinthians 3:18, . . . ”being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."  But part of being transformed is first realizing our need to be transformed.

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Like salvation, this is also a choice and not all believers desire to be transformed. I am afraid that I have met too many Christians today that look at their salvation as just some kind of life insurance. They want the security Jesus offers, but they like their life just the way it is. They have no interest in being truly transformed into the image of Christ. So many people today mistakenly think that they are 'saved' just because they believe in Jesus or because they are a member in their local church. This leads them to pay little attention to their lifestyle. Yes, they may have stopped those major sins, but to follow closely the teachings of Jesus? That, to many, would be legalism. Yet all the writers of the New Testament are strong on this point of obedience to the written Word of God and a life transformed in the likeness of Jesus. There is a difference between just “believing” in something and “genuine faith." Genuine faith in Jesus produces real transformation in the life of the believer. The apostle Paul writes, "You were taught to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Eph 4:22-24. The precious Blood of Jesus was shed for the remission of all our sins but it doesn’t stop there in the life of a believer. It is the precious Blood applied to our lives daily that will continue to give us the power to overcome the challenges and temptations that we face. We must understand, that it is in the midst of our weakness that we need the power that comes from the Holy Spirit and the precious Blood of Jesus. We need the Blood and the Holy Spirit working together on our behalf.

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We are all guilty of sometimes opening doors that should not be opened and Satan is always right there waiting to take advantage. If we are not careful and don’t have a daily concern and interest in being transformed we can and will become spiritually disabled. We can end up right back where we started. However, if we have a full understanding of the power that lies behind the Holy Spirit and the precious Blood coupled with a desire to be transformed by them both, we will have the ability to replace our faulty thinking with thoughts and lives that are obedient to Christ and capable of carrying out His purposes. Not only is He with us always but He has given us the promised Holy Spirit. Remember the Spirit! We have all we need to overcome the power of the enemy, but we must always be on guard. Our inclination will always be to return to the sin nature that is within us so we need to be always watchful and fully aware of our need for the covering of the Spirit and the Blood. This is all the power we need to continue in battle and it offers us the ability to fight victoriously the war that is waging against our soul. The appropriation of the Blood of Jesus and invitation of the Holy Spirit daily upon our lives can be a powerful tool in the transformation process and is what will bring about our victory.

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In truth, the shedding of Jesus’ precious Blood opened up for us a whole new realm of relationship with our Heavenly Father. Two wonderful things happened during our salvation experience, not only was the “state” of our condition changed, but our “status” changed. First, Christ’s death changed our “state” from sinners with a death sentence in need of a Savior, to those redeemed with a Savior. Second, our “status” changed from children whose father was Satan, to sons whose Father is God the Most High. Christ’s death and the shedding of His precious Blood, changed our “state."  His resurrection, changed our “status”. The Biblical terms for our state and status being changed is justification and sanctification. The change of our state is justification which is where the whole saving process begins. The change of our status is sanctification which is where the saving process goes on and on. This is where the miracle of transformation takes place. During our transformation process, we need to every day, ask the Lord to refresh us with the power that lies behind His precious Blood and His precious Holy Spirit. This will increase our ability to serve Him. By Jesus bearing the punishment of our sin even unto death, Jesus conquered the power of sin and has given us the ability to do so also. He robbed the enemy of victory and made it possible for us as believers to experience, “The Power of God through the Blood of the Cross." Faith in Christ’s Blood and His name, gives us a spirit-led, faith-filled life so we can triumph over sin in our daily walk. God has a specific purpose for us and He wants us to continue to remove anything and everything that would prevent that purpose from being fulfilled. We need to remember that we are now called to be consecrated and set-apart priests ready to serve Him. We are responsible for spreading His message. As believers we are to take our relationship with God and the responsibilities that He has called us to very seriously.

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In the Book of Leviticus Aaron and his sons were to be consecrated and set apart for God’s purposes. They were called by God, just as we are, to accomplish their priestly duties. After the High priest consecrated a ram for sacrifice, Moses sprinkled its Blood on the altar and put some of the blood on the tips of Aaron and his son's right ear, right thumb and also their toes. This sprinkling of blood on their bodies signified the consecration of their whole body and their whole lives to the Lord. This is exactly what we need to allow the Holy Spirit to do with us. We are to be consecrated by the sprinkling of Christ’s Blood on our whole body. Why? By doing so, it is setting us apart for His service. Our ears represents what we hear. When we listen to the radio, television, CD’s, DVD’s, conversations of others, etc., it affects tremendously our thought life and will influence how we think. We will either think like Christ or we will think like the world. We need our ears consecrated and protected daily with the precious Blood. Everything that enters our minds must be filtered through the precious Blood and the Holy Spirit if we are going to be of any use to Him. Our thumb being consecrated with the Blood is a representation of every work and skill that we are capable of doing for the Kingdom of God. It depicts our actions. Everything we set our hands to do should be done for the glory of the Lord through the Blood of the Cross and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our toes being consecrated represents where we go. It stands for our purpose and plans as well as our daily walk with the Lord. Everything we say, everything we do, everywhere we go needs to reflect the power, nature and purposes of God. We don’t have to physically kill an animal and place its blood on our bodies as Moses had to for Aaron and his sons because Jesus accomplished that for us. But we in faith, can apply daily the precious Blood of Jesus to our lives consecrating ourselves to Him. Paul says that we are, "to put on the full armor of God” and we often times remember to do that. But along with putting on our spiritual armor we need to consecrate our ears, minds, eyes, hands and feet.

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There is another member of our body that is very important and needs to be consecrated unto the Lord and covered with the Blood of the Lamb every day. Our tongue! Our tongue can be one of the most deadly weapons and the enemy will use it against us and others at any opportunity given him. The Bible says that life and death are in the power of the tongue. When we ask, by faith, for the covering of Christ’s precious blood over our tongue we are asking the Lord to guard our mouths against wrong speech, lies, anger, gossip and any idle words that we are prone to speak against ourselves as well as others. Our tongue is a major contributor to those “subtle sins” we talked about in Study #5 and it needs to be controlled by the Spirit and the Blood. It is quite possibly our greatest enemy in the battle we wage on a daily basis. A tongue that is filled with any of the above cannot bring life and cannot praise God in purity. James the brother of Jesus wrote, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” Our praise is contaminated and is of no interest to God if we can’t get our tongue under control. Jesus said in Matthew that we will have to give an account for every idle word spoken. If we surrender to Christ’s power by applying His blood in faith to our tongue we will have the ability to take an unruly tongue and make it an altar of praise.

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When we commit to being consecrated and truly transformed into the image of Christ we are fulfilling much of the purpose of the redeeming Blood of Jesus. We were purchased for God that we may love Him and serve Him only, not serve ourselves and our selfish desires. When the Israelites of Moses' day sacrificed their sin offering they did it according to Leviticus 4:31 which says, “The priest shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the fellowship offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” The Lord wants each of us to cut away and burn those things that quench His precious Holy Spirit. To cut and burn on the altar anything that would hamper our sanctification, consecration, transformation and praise. All the things that are not pleasing to the Lord we should offer upon the altar and let it become nothing less than a sweet aroma pleasing to the Lord. We must be willing to hand over our lives to God in order to experience the purifying and renewing power of His precious sinless Blood. Remember the Blood! In doing this we can be no less than a reflection of Christ to other people, a reflection of God’s power and His unfailing love. May our hearts long for transformation.

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The admission to the inner circle of intimacy is the outcome of deep desire. Only those who count it

a prize worth sacrificing anything else for are likely to attain it. We are now, and will be in the future,

only as close to God as we really want to be.

Oswald Chambers

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Our Journey

through the Word

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1. What is our “state” when our faith is in Jesus and His precious Blood.? 1 Corinthians 1:2, 30; 6:11; Ephesians 1:7;

Colossians 1:14

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2. What is our “status” after salvation? Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 3:26-29, 4:1-7

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3. What does the scripture say about a witness of three people? Deut. 17:6, 19:15; Ecclesiastes 4:12; Matthew 18:16

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4. What is the truth that the Spirit, blood and water testify to? 1 John 5:1-7 What do you think that it means by the water, the blood and the Spirit?

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5. Is the Blood of Jesus a witness to what Jesus has accomplished on the Cross?

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6. What are some things God was able to do through the Blood of Jesus His Son? Acts 20:28; Romans 3:25, Romans 5:8-11; Ephesians 1:7-10; Hebrews 9:12-14; 1 Peter 1:18-23

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7. What had to happen to everything that was being consecrated to God? Leviticus 1:5, 11, 4:5-6, 17-18, 8:23-24, 30,

Hebrew 9:18-22

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8. What can the Blood of Jesus do for us? Colossians 1:13-14, 20, Hebrews 9:14, 10:19-22, 12:22-24, 13:11-12; 1 John 1:7

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9. What does the Bible say about our tongue? Proverbs 18:21; Matthew 12:36-37; James 3:1-12

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10. What are some things we are to do and offer continually to God through Jesus? Romans 12:1; 16; Ephesians 5:1-2;

Hebrews 13:15-16; 1 Peter 2:5, 9

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11. What does God’s tell us about His power in our lives and how we are to be effective for Him? 2 Peter 1:3-11

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12. What did Paul say about the Gospel in Romans 1:16-17? What is revealed through our gospel?

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13. What are some things that will help us overcome the enemy? John 16:13-15; Romans 13:11-12; 2 Corinthians 6:6-7, 10:4-6; Ephesians 6:10-18; Revelation 12:11. Can you find other scriptures?

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14. What has God called us to be? 1 Timothy 3:14-15; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 1:6, 5:10, 20:6

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15. Paul makes a plea regarding transforming our lives in Romans 12. What does it mean to be transformed?

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16. Are there any major barriers in your life that may be holding you back from your continued transformation in Christ?