February 8
The Life Found in the Blood
"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement."
A precious co-worker by the name of Sammy stopped by my office to visit while he was recovering from open heart surgery. He had been out of work for a couple of months and was still waiting to be released from his doctor’s care so he could return to work. The recovery road had been long and hard. He struggled with minimal tasks having little or no energy at all to complete them. As he sat down in my office, we had the chance to talk about the details of his surgery and I was fascinated to hear it. I was a captive audience of one that day and Sammy’s story. God used his story that day to remind me that He is Jehovah Rapha on every level of our lives. Seasons of sickness can be the sweetest and most encouraging times in our spiritual walk as God teaches us that through our weaknesses He is made strong.
As Sammy was speaking of the goodness of God and how he could see His hand in every step of his ordeal, I could tell that something had changed about him on a very deep level. The surgeon that performed the heart surgery was a young Christian man who was a medical student at Emory University and just about to complete his residency. His plans were to return to India and use the skills and knowledge he had obtained for his own people. After Sammy’s surgery was over and he was alert enough to speak and understand what was being said, his doctor sat down to talk about how the surgery went. In explaining the details he spoke of the marvelous healing power of "the Master", God, and how He had designed the human body in such a way that it was impossible to deny His existence as Creator. How refreshing to sit and listen!
With excitement and beaming with a faith in God that was absolutely contagious, he explained to Sammy how they had to stop his heart from beating during the surgery. He described, in great detail, how they drained the blood sending it over into a machine that kept it warm while they worked on the heart. When the surgery was finished and they were ready to start the heart beating again they did but one thing; send the warm, life giving blood flowing back into the heart. The doctor went on to explain that all the heart needed to begin beating again was the blood; the power of life is in the blood! The heart would not beat without it! The heart needed a reason to beat!
It is the same for us in the spiritual realm precious friend. It’s the blood of Jesus that gives us life and reason for living. We were made to need the blood! Our life is found in Him and the work of Calvary. And when His blood is applied to our lives through faith in Him as Lord and Savior something marvelous happens; our heart begins to pulsate with new life, fresh power, might, hope, strength, faith, endurance, sustainment, might and purpose. We will never have real life until we have Jesus’ blood applied to the heart of our sin and all of our past, present and future. We were designed to respond to the blood!
YOUR HEART…HIS BEAT
Pearls of Grace is a book of devotions for the entire year, including a read through the Bible in a year calendar, broken down for every day. Beautifully written with encouraging words of hope and empowering words of joy and strength for every woman. Pam draws from the truth and richness of God's Word and gives real life examples in her down to earth style. A must have in your library, click here for more information.
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