Have you personally applied the blood of Jesus?

 7 Feb 26

Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One

Readings:

Leviticus 1

Leviticus 2

Leviticus 3

Matthew 24:23-51

Without shedding of blood there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22). 

Have you personally applied the blood of Jesus?

The Book of Leviticus uses the term “blood” over eighty times. Moses writes, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). Blood derived from an animal sacrifice provides a temporary covering for the sinner. The Day of Atonement specifies that on the tenth day of the seventh month, the High Priest would offer a sacrifice for his own sin, and then for the people (Leviticus 16). These repeated sacrifices point to “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). As Paul states, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). 

Employment Point: Believe in Jesus’ finished work to have His blood applied to your life.

———————

Reflections

Perhaps a fun fact here, that the blood in our body carries oxygen. Without enough blood in our body, one will feel breathless from the result of lack of blood, because it is the transport medium of oxygen. Without oxygen, we cannot live.

Come to think of it, Jesus give His blood for us to live. His blood is the one that gave us life. The true oxygen that gives us life, and the breath in our lungs. Everything is a precious gift from our Lord. Praise You Father! 🙌🏻

““ ‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. “ ‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect.”Leviticus‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬, ‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• noted here the offerings were all male, because it symbolises strength, perfection and to prefigure the sinless, substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The firstborn are most precious, signifying the best was given to the Lord.
• Noted too how the offerings were being dealt with. They are not burnt simply, but skinned, cut or the birds had their heads wrung, crop and feathers pulled out, wings torn open. All sounded rather cruel to them. It also signifies how much it meant as an offering. Even for the grain offerings, it has to be the finest flour, perfect, sinless, and everything a human cannot but only Jesus can. Thank You Lord.

The splashing of blood in Leviticus 3 for fellowship offering reminds me of the pass over.. reminds me in Exodus where people are splashing blood on their door frames and God saved His first borns.. all His people are saved by the blood just like we are all saved by Jesus’s blood.

““Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24‬:‭42‬-‭44‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• we have been warned from His word that nobody will know when He is coming again. It will be like the times of Noah and everybody going about doing their own things. It will be a day where the Lord says it’s enough and decided to come and reclaim what is His. 
• Here, we are warned and also told to be watchful. We need to always be on standby mode.

““Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24‬:‭45‬-‭46‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• I think we all want to be the faithful and wise servant that does what we were told.. so let us keep watch so that we are prepared when He comes

————————

The Discipline of Dejection

BY OSWALD CHAMBERS

February 07

But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day. — Luke 24:21

The disappointment the disciples express in this verse points to an important truth: it’s possible to have the facts right and to come to the wrong conclusion. The disciples had the facts right about Jesus, but they’d grown impatient and dejected, replacing bright hope with dashed hope and a sense that Jesus had failed them.

Spiritual dejection is always wrong and always our fault—not God’s or anyone else’s. Dejection is often a sign of physical sickness, and spiritually it is the same. Spiritual dejection springs from one of two sources: either I’ve satisfied a lust, or I haven’t. To lust after something is to say, “I must have it at once.” Spiritual lust makes us go to God with demands, instead of seeking God himself.

What have I been hoping God will do? Am I irritated that it’s already the “third day” and he hasn’t done it? It’s easy to imagine that my feelings are justified; hasn’t God promised to answer my prayers (Matthew 21:22)? Whenever I find myself reasoning like this, insisting that God answers prayer, I can be sure I’m offtrack.

We look for visions from heaven, for earthquakes and thunder that “prove” God’s power, and we feel dejected when we don’t see them. We never dream that God is in the people and things around us. If we do the duty that lies nearest, we will see him. One of the most amazing revelations comes when we learn that it is in the commonplace things that the deity of Jesus Christ is realized. When we understand this, we are filled with wonder, and the spirit of dejection fades away.

Leviticus 1-3; Matthew 24:1-28

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him.

—————————

Reflections

Perhaps spiritual dejection stems from the fact that we are having unrealistic or unreasonable expectations from our Lord. Even though our Lord the Father said we ought to be child-like, He didn’t say we should also have child-like tantrums.

In our personal prayers or even during intercession, we praise the Lord, we give Him thanks but we also ask for things. When we ask, what motives do we have in our hearts? What kind of answers do we seek? Do we pray along the lines of His will be done? We know that He has the power to give and take away. He too, has the power to heal or destroy. Do we have a say in the outcome? No. But can we stand in the gap to ask the Lord to be merciful? Yes.

Often times we pray with expectation. Not wrong but we too need to understand only He can decide what is best. I have witnessed for myself how healing was not granted to someone who has to have her feet amputated. She begged the Lord, prayed about it but the Lord did not heal. Instead, she learned a different kind of life. Her faith grew even stronger than before and she finally made sense of why she was not healed and made to go through the painful ordeal.

Friends, we worship a Lord who is love and has compassion for His people. He is not someone who rejoice when bad things happened to us. He grieves with us, walk with us and allow certain things to happen in order to shape us. Each of us has a different kind of journey or learning as a believer. I felt the more we go through all these, the heavier the responsibility that He will call upon us to fulfil. So friends, be encouraged. “because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬