#151 - Plea the Blood!

Good morning! Praise God for Tyler's mini-laptop that he got for Christmas! (thanks mom & dad!) We've caught Tyler Jr countless times by our MAC laptop, and the part of the cord that plugs into the laptop to charge it.... I don't know how many times it has made it to Tyler Jr's mouth before we could catch him! Argh... so... needless to say... I guess that it may have made it to his mouth one time to many. We will be making our way to BestBuy today to see how to remedy our situation! We just speak favor and an easy outcome over the situation!

Well, this morning we are going to go back a little bit and have somewhat of a history lesson. Very good and powerful stuff though that CAN really add power to your life!!! We're going all the way back to Exodus. If you remember, God calls Moses to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt.... out of the slavery of the Egyptians. Moses was 80 years old and his "spokesperson" Aaron is 83! (HELLO! Talk about doing great things the 2nd part of your life! Are you older? Take note! Your greatest things you do for God may be yet to come!). You probably learned about the 10 plagues in Sunday school. So, Pharoah would NOT let the people go. Moses warns him, to no avail, so the plagues begin. All the water in the land is turned to blood, an infest of gnats come... also known as "blood-sucking gadflies" (yuck!), plague on the livestock, boils all over man & beast.... and the plagues continue to come. Well... all the while, if you remember, the land of GOSHEN, where God's people are, get NONE of these plagues. They are protected from these plagues while the Egyptians are enduring them all! Let's fast forward to what I really want to get to cover....

Exodus 12:11b-13 - It is the Lord's Passover. ¹²For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment [proving their helplessness]. I am the Lord. ¹³The blood shall be for a token or sign to you upon [the doorposts of] the houses where you are, [that] when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. ²³ For the Lord will pass through to slay the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood upon the lintel and the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to slay you.

Fast forward with me to Jesus going to the cross....

John 19:14-15 - ¹⁴Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about the sixth hour (about twelve o'clock noon). He said to the Jews, See, [here is] your King! ¹⁵But they shouted, Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him! Pilate said to them, Crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar!

I remember growing up and when us kids were little when my dad would leave for work, we would yell after him, "Bless the works of your hands! ---Blood of Jesus!" It was something we just grew up saying. "Blood of Jesus." I recall my sister getting into a car accident and remember her telling me that as her car was spinning, she just remember shouting, "Blood of Jesus!"

A phrase that in today's society, we don't hear it a lot. But, let's revisit Exodus & John. Do you see the similarities? Are you drawing the same conclusion I have drawn. With more study, I'm sure if we dug into the Greek and Hebrew... we would probably see even more. Often the old testament is a foreshadow of something that takes place in the new testament. And here.... the BLOOD is what SAVES the Children of God! The Blood is what brings life! That 10th plague that ran through the land, ultimately is what caused Pharoah to tell the Israelites to LEAVE! Get out of this land, you may go! You are no longer slaves to us! The blood on the doorposts SAVED the first born Israelites children, where the firstborn of the Egyptians dies on that night of Passover. BUT, because of the BLOOD, GOD's CHILDREN were kept safe! They were "PASSED OVER" by the destroyer!

We look at John 19... or really look at the whole life of Jesus. We look at what salvation really is, accepting Jesus' Blood, his death, believing He is God's Son and came to live and die that WE may be forgiven of our sins.... His death, His blood shed HAD TO HAPPEN for US, you and me, to have the opportunity for the "Destroyer" to PASSOVER US! Through Salvation, when we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are set free from death, hell & the grave. We know that our eternity, when our earthly bodies pass away, will be spent in Heaven! Dancing, rejoicing, singing!

So... I encourage you today.... as I remember hearing my mom say SOOOOO many times, "I plea the blood of Jesus over you!" Today, plea the blood of Jesus over you and yours! Verbally place of blood line around your home. As the Egyptians did on the doorposts of their home, the enemy could not enter!

Now a quick reminder.... keep sin out. Keep strife, offense, gossip.... keep those things out! We don't want to allow any open doors for the enemy. But, PLEA the BLOOD OF JESUS! There is POWER IN THE BLOOD! Jesus shed is blood for you and me! And when we believe, we can look forward to our time to come in Heaven!  

#70 - DON'T BE MOVED!

Top of the mornin' to ya. :) Can you hear my accent? Irish? :) lol. I sometimes sit around and say things that make MYSELF laugh. It's a good thing I can entertain myself. I laughed yesterday as I was recalling something that my grandpa often reminds me of..... he says, "Amy Jo... when you were little, it was so funny. You just looked up at me and said, 'Grandpa, I just like myself so much I can't keep from smiling.'" To this day, he is still tickled by that comment I made as maybe a 5 year old child. It is pretty funny! :) lol. "I just like myself so much, I can't keep from smiling." But, you know what, that's how we should be now! We should be so happy with life, with God, with who we are and where we are going (because we are Christians and are following a divine plan), we should be so excited because the FAVOR of God is all over us, ALL THE TIME, that we cannot keep from smiling. :-D ---- Maybe today... when you are driving down the road, or walking to class, to a meeting, to an appointment, while you are working out, cooking dinner.... just practice the art of SMILING. :) Just SMILE. You can just be silent. You don't have to talk. Just SMILE. If you need something to smile about, recall all of the "HIGHLIGHTS" in your life. Like movie previews, showing the best parts... go through your life and see the previews. Smile at the main events. Think on the best moments that you have lived up to this point. And... even smile at what is to come. How GOD is going to use you in mighty ways to bless and further HIS Kingdom. Like YOURSELF so much that YOU can't keep from smiling! Smile so that people ASK YOU, "Why are you smiling? Why are you so happy?" What a testimony that is, just from a smile?! :) 


Ok... let's roll today. 


Today's Scheduled Reading: Proverbs 16, Psalms 16, 46, 76, 106, 136, Proverbs 31:10-31


I'm going to give you my highlights of the scriptures that jumped out to me this morning in a different way. I'm going to run them all together. I really think it tells a story... check out this.....

IN JUDAH God is known and renowned; His name is highly praised and is great in Israel. Our fathers in Egypt understood not nor appreciated Your miracles; they did not earnestly remember the multitude of Your mercies nor imprint Your loving-kindness on their hearts, but they were rebellious and provoked the Lord at the sea, even at the Red Sea. Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake to prove the righteousness of the divine character, that He might make His mighty power known. To Him Who earnestly remembered us in our low estate and imprinted us on His heart, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever. Be still, and know, recognize and understand, that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth! I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; he who guards his way preserves his life. Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain because it is not lasting, but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised! (Psalms 76:1, 106:7-8, 136:23, 46:10, 16:8, Proverbs 16:17, 31:30)

How is HIS name in YOUR home? In YOUR life? God wants to be KNOWN! Not just in JUDAH, not just in ISRAEL, but he wants to be known in YOUR LIFE! He wants to be known in your home, at your address. 2121 Main Street, WhereILive USA. Put your address there! He wants to be KNOWN THERE! 


Look at it, a WHOLE generation FORGOT. A whole GENERATION forgot about the miracles that GOD DID! "They did not earnestly remember the multitude of Your mercies nor imprint Your loving-kindness on their hearts." Do you realize, WE are, right now, WE are a generation following His miracles....not only following them, but in the midst of them. He is STILL performing them today! Do you know what, He wants US to remember HIS miracles. Often, not only in the time of the Bible, but also just in times past, stories would get passed down from generation to generation. In order to REMEMBER. In order to REMEMBER. Remember what ancestors had done. To remember what Great, Great, Great, Great Grandpa Abraham had done. But, now, we do not just have stories, we have those stories in WRITING! The actual events written down exactly how they had taken place. Miracles. What God did in Egypt JUST to bring His people out of a land of slavery. Miracle after Miracle after Miracle! What GOD performed through Moses to bring out GOD'S CHOSEN people into a land flowing with milk and honey. We are a generation that did not live during that time, but we can STILL REMEMBER. Do you remember? Have the stories been passed down from your parents, from their parents, from their parents? Have the stories continued? Are you passing them down to your children? The great and MIGHTY works that GOD did so that HIS PEOPLE would have FREEDOM!!! Would be released from the slavery they experienced in Egypt. If you do not remember, NO FEAR.... the EXACT details of the story are ALL written down so that YOU COULD REMEMBER!!! So that you could pass it down to your children. 


Even though a generation had forgotten, had forsaken God, but needed help in a time of trouble....they had forgotten, forsaken and turned their backs on God. Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake to prove the righteousness of the divine character, that He might make His mighty power known. He SAVED and FORGAVE a generation that had forgotten Him. 


What does He want US to do? To set the Lord continually before us, to NOT be moved. Friends are pulling you down? Don't be moved! Your marriage has been rocky? Don't be moved! Your finances have been in trouble? Don't be moved! You've experienced a sickness? Don't be moved! You have lost your job? Don't be moved! You're trying to launch out with a business and you've had set-back after set-back? Don't be moved! You are trying to overcome an addiction? Don't be moved! 


WHY? WHY NOT BE MOVED? - Because MY GOD, YOUR GOD, THE SAME GOD of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, the VERY same God that sent the 10 plagues (In Exodus- frogs, lice, boils, locusts, hail, darkness, etc...) in order to FREE HIS PEOPLE. THAT GOD, is the SAME GOD of ANY problem you may be facing today! He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow! When Moses said, "LET MY PEOPLE GO." And Pharoah continued to say, "NO"... God was going to SHOW HIS POWER until HE WAS KNOWN! God was GOING to WIN, eventually, and HE DID! (Like now... if Tyler Jr is putting up a fight when I change his diaper... MAMA is going to WIN every time! One day he will be over 6 feet tall, but it's going to take a LONG time for him to be stronger than MAMA! :) ) 


REMEMBER! Do not be like the generation that forgot. Yes... even if you forget and get in trouble, whine, complain, finally cry out to God, yes out of His mercy may drag you out of your problem again. He will SHOW OUT His Power to be KNOWN! BUT, DON'T FORGET! Stop forgetting the GOD you serve! Stop forgetting that HE STILL is in the MIRACLE business! Whatever your situation, GOD CAN PULL YOU OUT! PRESS IN! Is it urgent? Is it a pretty important situation? Problem? Well, get serious! PRESS IN TO GOD! Press in like your life depended on it. PRESS IN and WATCH GOD SHOW UP! 


"The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; he who guards his way preserves his life." - You are on a HIGHWAY. Choose to TURN from evil. Choose to GUARD your way and what will happen? Your VERY LIFE will be preserved! Think about it.... what do preservatives in food do? They make your food last longer! They can be in your fridge or on your shelf for longer. While you are on this highway of life, TURN FROM EVIL, GUARD your thoughts, your mind, your eyes, choose careful your association, choose careful the movies or TV you watch, the internet sites you go on. BY GUARDING your way, you are PRESERVING your life so that while you are on the SHELF of life, you can LAST LONGER! 


GOD IS A GOD OF MIRACLES! DO NOT FORGET HOW MIGHTY HE IS! He is NOT to small for your problem! He is IN THE BUSINESS to clean up and fix things. HE can FIX YOU. He can FIX the problems you are facing! Just turn and go to Him!