Worship

“Plead the Blood” by Chris Davenport, Brandon Lake, and Cody Carnes

Scripture

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” -Hebrews 10:19-22

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” -Jude 24-25

Understanding Our Position in Christ

I want to bring you in on a very personal and recent thematic journey I have been noticing God take me on. The message is something that I believe He is speaking to many in the Bride of Christ as of late. One morning, just a few weeks ago, as I was sitting with the Lord and He was ministering to my heart, I wrote these words by the counsel of His Spirit:

My blood doesn’t expect perfection, it gives you perfection to stand before Me blameless. My blood does the work—you do not. You just cooperate and allow Me to live My glory in and through you. It is not your doing, it is Mine. But the obedience in response to my work allows us to work together.

1 Thessalonians 5:23:

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. It is My victory, power, and finished work on your behalf!

Do you realize that as it pertains to our humanity—our human experience, born of sin, from the garden, and until the judgement seat of God, we can earn only one thing apart from Christ?

The one and only thing we can earn is death.

We can’t work for salvation, righteousness, holiness, or forgiveness. Even our righteous acts are like filthy rags before the Lord (Isaiah 64:6). (“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23, AMP).”) Death is essentially the one thing we work for and the complete result of living a life of sin with salvation found in no one. Then the cross came and changed everything!

From Genesis to Revelation, nothing else is earned in Christ. He does it all. How? Because of His blood!

The blood of Jesus turned us from earning death to receiving life, and Jesus did it all! His sacrifice was acceptable to God to pay for the sin of all of humanity. And all we did is receive this free gift and exchange the life of Christ with ours. How could anyone refuse this profound rescue of love?

Preparing Hearts for Ministry

As I prepare for ministry in South Asia, I’ve been taking communion daily, reflecting on Christ’s sacrifice. This practice helps focus our hearts on His finished work and allows Him to prepare us for His purposes. The blood of Jesus—a sacrifice that cost Him everything—gained us everything.

We now have direct access to God because of Christ’s blood. No more temple sacrifices are needed for cleansing. His blood ensures our immediate access to the Father, both now and eternally. As our High Priest, Jesus made the final sacrifice for sin and sat down at God’s right hand, making us perfect and holy (Hebrews 10:11-14).

The New Covenant Reality

I have been taking communion each day in preparation intentionally for my trip to South Asia this Thursday. I want to be clean and ready and have my heart prepared to partner with the Lord. He has been bringing things to the surface that He wants to free me from. I am banking on and basking in the power of the blood of Jesus. It was a sacrifice that cost Jesus everything, and in return, gained us everything. As I intentionally remember and worship and apply His body and blood, I find myself focused on what He did to an even greater degree.

We now have access to God because of the blood of Jesus. We didn’t work for it; instead, a way was opened to us as the veil was torn. It didn’t require our sacrifices in the temple in order to be cleansed. The powerful blood of Jesus assured us direct access to the Father now and for all of eternity. That precious blood poured out so we could stop striving and straining to try to attain access to God if we did everything correctly like the priests in the Old Testament. Jesus, our High Priest made the final sacrifice for sin and sat down at the right hand of God; it is because of this that we are made perfect and are being made holy (Hebrews 10:11-14).

As soon as the blood of Jesus was shed for us, the veil was torn, access to God was made, sacrifices in the temple ceased, forgiveness of sins ensued to those who would believe by faith and receive, and holiness and the righteousness of Christ was now our identity for those of us found in Him. We received sanctification and purification and perfection because of the blood. You and I are now adopted as sons and daughters and deemed priests and kings to rule with Him. The blood of Jesus transformed us from sinners to saints. We were washed and cleansed and now stand before Him blameless. All because of the blood. He did it all; we did nothing.

This is the glorious reality of the New Covenant. This truth must reset our hearts in worship and submission as we present ourselves as living sacrifices who climb up on the altar every day, longing to be consumed by all of Him.

There has been a prophetic word that “The Great Communion Revival” is coming to the Church. In my simplistic understanding, it’s a reset of the honor given to the blood of Jesus, where He is exalted and our worship shifts its gaze to the cross and resurrection. We begin to desire to remember and worship Him for all He did—that freedom is our ever-present reality and victory. I would dare to say that the power of the blood of Jesus has been hidden behind our striving and pursuits. Our good works may look righteous (and perhaps many are), but we aren’t living under the perspective of His sacrifice and the power of His life poured out, infused by the very Spirit of God. We think we can “earn” righteousness or favor, and we’ve been duped.

I could not do justice to encapsulate the multifaceted impact that took place in both the physical and spiritual realms when Jesus’ blood was shed. We finitely understand the doctrinal provisions, but to truly live out of the blood of Jesus takes a worthy refocus, learning, worship, and pursuit to grasp the depths of it. I believe we are being invited to deeply understand that we really did absolutely nothing. We can earn nothing that brings life. We bring nothing to the cross to make any substitution or worthy act of mention. We can certainly minimize, reject, or demean the cross, but the power of the blood is greater than our very comprehension.

The Ongoing Work of Christ

I want to give you this food for thought from the book, “The Power of the Blood” by Andrew Murray:

“He Himself will complete in us the sprinkling of the blood. Through the blood He has entered; through the blood He also brings us in. He will teach us the duties and our communication there. He makes our prayers, our offerings, and the duties of our ministry acceptable, however weak they are. What is more, He presents us with heavenly light and heavenly power for our work and life in the sanctuary. Just as His blood obtained access, His sacrifice of His flesh is the living way. As we enter, He keeps us abiding there and able to walk well-pleasing to God. As the sympathetic High Priest, He knows how to stoop to each one, even the weakest. That is what makes communion with God in the sanctuary so attractive; we find Jesus there as the High Priest over the house of God.”

I don’t know about you, but I really want to understand and live from the power of the blood. I want to know it, walk in it, pray from it, love with it, and boldly share Christ because of it. The beautiful and glorious blood of Jesus is ours from salvation to sanctification. It is what paves the highway to move from glory to glory and faith to faith. Will you join with me to press into Jesus to grasp the power of His precious blood?

“This life is for you and me. May the blood be all our glory, not only at the cross but also at the throne. Let us plunge deep into the living fountain of the blood of the Lamb. Let us open our hearts wide for its operation. Let us firmly believe in the ceaseless cleansing by which the eternal High Priest Himself will apply that blood to us. Let us pray with burning desire that nothing may be in our heart that does not experience the power of the blood. Let us unite joyfully in the song of the great multitude, who know of nothing so glorious as Thou hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood (Revelation 5:9).” –Andrew Murray, “The Power of the Blood”

Amen.

A few reminders:

• Will you join me on May 6 in Dallas for a Harvest Day?
• We are looking for six more women to head to Latin America, May 27-June 3. Email Becky ASAP if you are interested.

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