THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Speech Gifts: Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues - 2

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Why Tongues?

The Gift of diverse kinds of Tongues serves two purposes, One – it is our spirit’s prayer language and two – God can use the Gift of Tongues to speak to us and through us and that may or may not require the Gift of Interpretation of Tongues.

Tongues as Our Heavenly Prayer Language

You see beloved, when we pray in tongues, it is our spirit that is praying, our minds are totally clueless to what we are praying about and that really offends the flesh (the un-renewed mind as well as the human intellect).

² For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. – 1 Corinthians 14:2 NKJV

Our human minds want to be in control all the time just as they have been since the fall of man.

¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. ¹⁵ What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. – 1 Corinthians 14:14-15 NKJV

Praying with or in the Spirit and praying in Tongues are one and the same. As humbling as it for the mind to take a back seat, it is vitally important that it submits to the spirit; praying in tongues is one way in which our newly recreated spirit (indwelt by and baptize in the Holy Spirit) takes the lead in our lives. Our minds take their rightful place of subservience to our spirit and consequently our bodies would follow suit. No wonder the Word of God also tells us that when we pray in tongues we are edifying ourselves.

⁴ He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, - 1 Corinthians 14:4a NKJV

Every time we pray in the Spirit, that is, when we pray in tongues, we are building ourselves up in our most holy faith (Jude 20).   

Since it is the Holy Spirit who helps us to pray in tongues by giving us the words to speak out, we can rest assured that when we pray in tongues, we are praying according to the perfect will of God and we know that if we pray according to His will, He hears and answers us in the affirmative.

When we pray with our understanding we are limited in what and how we can pray but when we pray in the Spirit, we pray perfect prayers.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered. ²⁷ Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. – Romans8:26-27 NKJV

We are encouraged to pray in the Spirit always, and this we can effectively do through the Gift of Tongues.

¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— Ephesians 6:18 NKJV

Every believer who is baptized in the Holy Spirit should pray in tongues as much as they can and realize the benefits of doing so. However, this should be done privately or in a structured or orderly setting. We need to be considerate of others and of what is currently underway in our gatherings.  

The Holy Spirit does not force us to speak in tongues against our will, neither does He take control of our faculties and cause us to randomly speak in tongues and/or convulse, act weird and stuff. Reasons ranging from immaturity to incorrect teaching to traditions of men and or even outright deception could very well be the cause of such unseemly behavior.

When it comes to the Gift of Tongues, The Holy Spirit gives us the “utterance”, that is the “words” in a language unknown to us and WE do the speaking. Just like it happened on the day of Pentecost, it was the 120 disciples who did the speaking as the Spirit gave them the utterance.

So beloved, if you are waiting for the Holy Spirit to force your mouth open and to take control of your tongue and cause you to speak in tongues, you’ll be waiting in vain. If you are waiting to “feel” something, you might be disappointed at best or misled at worst.  

We must remember that our walk in Christ is one of faith; we do not go by what our five senses tell us, we live by what the Word of God says. It’s no different when it comes to the Gifts of the Spirit; we believe God’s Word and step out in faith. For fear of being deceived, many have shied away from this Gift of the Spirit. Meditate on His perfect and endless love for you and every ounce of fear will dissipate. Your Father is well able to keep you from being deceived, trust Him, He is so good! It is the enemy who doesn't want us to be able to pray the mysteries of God in our spirits and wreak havoc to his diabolical schemes.

We have the Lord’s promise of sending us the Holy Spirit; let’s believe that once we ask Jesus to baptize us with the Holy Spirit, He does it and so by faith, we can open our mouths and start to speak out the foreign sounding syllables that we hear in our spirits knowing that it is the Holy Spirit who is giving us the words.   

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The beauty of this gift, unlike the other 8 is that we can operate in it at any time, we can start and stop at will. No wonder the apostle Paul said He spoke in tongues more than the entire Corinthian church put together and that He chose to speak to the church in a known language and not in tongues so they could be edified (1 Corinthians 14:18-19). He also encouraged believers not to forbid speaking in tongues.

³⁹ Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. ⁴⁰ Let all things be done decently and in order. – 1 Corinthians 14:39-40 NKJV

TO BE CONTINUED>>>

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Speech Gifts: Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues - 1

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In this study we will look at both of these Gifts as they are somewhat interdependent on each other. Simply put, the Gift of Interpretation of Tongues wouldn't exist if the Gift of Tongues didn't exist. It is interesting to note that of all the nine Gifts of the Spirit, these two are the only ones not found in the Old Testament!  

Speaking in Tongues, as it is commonly called is a supernatural ability to speak in an unknown language by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is important that we understand that these unknown languages are real languages both human and angelic, no wonder some Bible translators called them “different kinds” of Tongues. On the day of Pentecost people of different nationalities heard these Jewish disciples speaking in their native languages praising God (Acts 2:5-12). The Apostle Paul mentions “tongues of men and of angels” in 1 Corinthians 13:1– so there are also “tongues of angels” a.k.a “heavenly language”. Speaking in unknown tongues is one of the signs that Jesus said will accompany those who believe in Him:

¹⁷ And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; - Mark 16:17 NKJV    

We know from Scripture that the early disciples did not speak in tongues until they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and those who were baptized in the Holy Spirit after the day of Pentecost spoke in tongues. Here are a few examples:

The 120 disciples on the day of Pentecost:

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. – Acts 2:4 NKJV

As Peter preached at Cornelius’ house, the Holy Spirit “fell” on them and the Jewish believers who came with Peter were astonished. Why? Not because Cornelius and his household gave some moving testimony about how they felt they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, no, there was indisputable evidence which spoke to that fact…they spoke in tongues.

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. ⁴⁵ And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶ For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. – Acts 10:44-46 NKJV

One more example, again in the Book of Acts, as Paul traveled through Ephesus he met some believers and asked them if they had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Today, many believers would be offended at such a question, no wonder we pretend everything is good, it’s not a big deal and then we are shocked by the fruit of many a saint – fear of man will prove to be a snare…but I digress… Anyway, long story short, Paul eventually laid hands on them and they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and they all spoke in tongues and prophesied.

⁶ And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. – Acts 19:6 NKJV

So we clearly have Scriptural precedent that Speaking in Tongues is the initial evidence of one being baptized in the Holy Spirit. And even as the people marveled at the 120 disciples speaking in languages they have never learned, glorifying God, Peter preached the Gospel to them and said:

³⁹ For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is to and for you and your children, and to and for all that are far away, [even] to and for as many as the Lord our God invites and bids to come to Himself. – Acts 2:39 AMP

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Every believers from that day on is included in this promise, so everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord and Savior is qualified to receive and use this gift.

Notice one thing: In all these instances, they spoke in real human languages that they (the speakers) had no prior knowledge of; they hadn't learnt these languages!

Now, I know there are those who would quickly bring up that verse that says, “do all speak in tongues?” Yet others would claim “Now that we have the Bible, tongues have ceased” to try and explain away why they do not speak in tongues all the while claiming to be filled with the Spirit. By the Grace of God we will address these and other like objections as we go along.

TO BE CONTINUED>>>

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Speech Gifts - Prophecy

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The Gift of Prophecy is the ability to speak to others by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to help them grow, to encourage them and to comfort them. The Gift of Prophecy reveals and expresses the heart of God towards people.

³ But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. – 1 Corinthians 14:3 NKJV

This gift of the Holy Spirit is available to every believer and it is one gift we are all encouraged to desire earnestly.   

¹ Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. – 1 Corinthians 14:1 NRSV

We see this gift in operation in the Book of Acts and in the epistles, every time believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke in tongues and prophesied. It was so then, it is so now and we should not settle for anything less than the Scriptural standard and precedent already set by the early church.

What the Gift of Prophecy is Not

The Gift of Prophecy cannot be operated as man wills; it is the Holy Spirit who initiates it. The Gift of Prophecy is not meant to replace the written Word, if anything it is to confirm the Scriptures. The Gift of Prophecy is not for foretelling future events, neither is it to be sought for directional purposes. The Gift of Prophecy is not for bringing correction, rebuke or pronouncing judgment. It should not be confused with the Ministry or Office of Prophet which entails more than exhortation, edification and comfort and is outside the scope of this study.

Prophesying

This gift, like every other gift of the Spirit, manifests differently in different members of the Body of Christ. Each one of us is unique and the Spirit uses each one of us the way we are (with our uniqueness, quirks and all), so imitating how another person is being used by the Spirit is needless, to say the least. Just be yourself and deliver the prophetic utterance that the Holy Spirit gives you. Remember this, it takes faith to step out and deliver a prophetic word, actually our life in the Spirit is a life of faith from start to finish. We walk by faith, not by our five senses.  

Some practical ways of receiving prophecy include visions (open and/or inward), hearing words (inwardly and/or audibly), on-the-spot unction, etc. – the thing is, the Holy Spirit knows exactly how to communicate with each one of us. Let us not fall into the soulish trap of trying to manipulate the Spirit to speak to us according to our preconceived ideas or even past experiences.   

We will never be able to prophesy paragraphs and chapters until we are faithful in giving out the “one word” or “one liner” prophecies that the Spirit gives us. If we are faithful with little we will be faithful with much, if we are unfaithful in little we will be unfaithful with much, that’s a Scriptural principle. Faithfulness is always rewarded with increase, no wonder it is a Fruit of the Spirit, a trait every Spirit filled believer should manifest consistently.

In prophesying, do not go beyond what you have received – to do so even with just a few choice words – as harmless as it may seem, is a form of pride and if not checked may eventually lead one into deception.  

⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; - Romans 12:6 NIV

Judging prophecy:

It is important we understand that there is a huge difference in the way prophecy was handled in the Old Testament and the way it is handled in the New Testament. In the OT, they were not instructed to judge or weigh prophecy but in the NT we are. In the OT if a prophecy didn't come true, the one who gave it would lose their life for they are deemed to have spoken presumptuously. In the NT we judge the prophecy and either accept or reject it.

Why such a difference in handling prophecy in the two Covenants? To answer that we need to understand that in the OT, the Holy Spirit did not abide in people continually, He just came upon Prophets, Judges, Kings, Priests and a select few for a specific purpose and season. In the NT, we are born again by the Holy Spirit, He recreates us and dwells in our spirits, we are one with the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17) and after Jesus was glorified, the Holy Spirit was given and came upon us from the day of Pentecost, empowering us to be witnesses for Jesus, He came to be with us forever, He doesn't come and go like in OT times (John 14:16).

Now we all have the Holy Spirit, we all have access to God, we all can hear God, we all can be led by the Spirit and He desires to have fellowship we each one of us, not a select few on behalf of everyone else. That’s one reason a NT believer today isn't supposed to run around chasing prophecies from other believers, the Holy Spirit in you yearns to talk to you, spend time with Him through studying the Word and prayer, cultivate a relationship with Him, hear His voice and be at rest.

Now when the Holy Spirit speaks prophetically through an individual, we can all confirm His voice and we should. We know we have an enemy who would jump at any opportunity, using any available vessel to lead us astray; that’s one main reason we are to weigh and judge prophetic utterances.  

In some circles, because of abuse, the Gift of Prophecy is somewhat thwarted and frowned upon while in others there is a prophecy for everything, everyday, every-single-time they gather (obviously I’m exaggerating ) but you get the idea! Either extreme is unscriptural and therefore not good, the written Word of God is our standard.

¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies. ²¹ Test all things; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil. – 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 NKJV

In the New Testament we are instructed to test everything and to hold on to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:20) therefore we are to judge prophecies, failure to do so can result in dire consequences to the hearers. The Apostle Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit instructs us to weigh prophetic utterances. We are to judge the prophecy, not the one prophesying. The written Word is our main guideline for judging prophecies.

Any prophecy that violates the written Word must be rejected promptly and the one who gave it should be lovingly and carefully shown why, if they are a new believer or a novice at operating in the Gift of Prophecy and they genuinely missed it and are humble enough to accept correction, then it’s a learning curve for them, they should be encouraged not stifled.

²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. ³⁰ But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. ³² And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. ³³ For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. - 1 Corinthians 14:29-33 NKJV.

If the result of a prophetic utterance by the Gift of Prophecy is fear, confusion, condemnation, shame, manipulation, control, intimidation, guilt or anything like that, rest assured it did not originate from the Holy Spirit and should not be received by God’s people.

Any prophetic utterance that focuses on man at the expense of the testimony of Christ is at best soulish, at worst – outright demonic in origin. Sadly, these are the kinds of prophecies rampant in many charismatic circles today, you know, the ones that go something like this…”you shall be the greatest and everyone will come to you blah blah blah” or the more subtle but equally destructive "because you've fasted and prayed for seven days I will do blah blah blah...". You see beloved, the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy (Revelations 19:10), He is central, He is the focus, once we know and understand that anything we are and everything we receive from God is based on what Jesus did and not on what we can do, we will swiftly sift out these flesh tickling, ego boosting utterances masquerading as prophecies. More on this when we get to the "Gift of Discerning of Spirits"  

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Beloved, of all the nine Gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12, the Gift of Prophecy is the one we are encouraged to desire earnestly (1 Corinthians 14:1). Let us, therefore passionately desire to be used by God to edify, exhort and encourage others through the Gift of Prophecy. How do we do that? It all starts and ends in Love; as we love others with the love of God that is in us, that has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), we will find ourselves walking in faith which will result in us receiving words of edification, exhortation and comfort to impact lives and glorify Christ our Lord. 

Blessings beloved,

I am your brother,

Patrick

Up Next>>> Speech Gifts: Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - An Introduction

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The Holy Spirit recreates our spirits when we are Born Again, that is when we believe in Jesus and what He has done to save us and confess Him as our Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit then takes residence in us. Our spirits become one with Him, but that is not enough for effective service. The early disciples believed in Jesus but still needed the baptism of the Holy Spirit to be effective in fulfilling their callings.

If the early disciples who spent three years with Jesus preaching, healing the sick and casting out devils were commanded not to do anything until they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, what makes some Christians today think we don’t need the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Or that we “got it” at salvation, when salvation and baptism in the Spirit are two distinct events.

If baptism in the Spirit happens at salvation, why then did Peter and John go down to Samaria after they heard people were saved and were instrumental in getting the Samaritan believers baptized in the Holy Spirit? (Acts 8:14-17) Or, why would Paul ask the Ephesians believers if they had received the Holy Spirit after they believed? And when they said no, He got them baptized in the Holy Spirit? (Acts 19:1-6)

Beloved, if you are Born Again, and haven’t been baptized in the Holy Spirit, don’t delay any longer, the promise of the Holy Spirit is for you and the Lord Jesus is the One who baptizes us in the Holy Spirit just as John the Baptist said “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luke 3:16) Jesus Himself said He will send the Holy Spirit when He ascends to the Father and that the Holy Spirit will be with us and in us forever. Jesus promised us the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

Today we are baptized in the Holy Spirit because Jesus has already been glorified. There is nothing we can do to earn it, it doesn’t depend on our performance but on Jesus’ promise to us. Jesus said:

¹³ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” – Luke 11:13 NRSV

When we ask the Lord to baptize us in the Holy Spirit, He gladly answers “Yes”. And once we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, we are ready to be used in any and all of the nine Gifts of the Spirit as He sees fit.

The Gifts of the Spirit are essentially manifestations of the Holy Spirit; they are expressions of God the Holy Spirit in, to, through and for His people. It is the will of God that we know and receive these Gifts, for through each gift we get to experience His love and see His supernatural power demonstrated in our midst.

There are Nine Gifts of the Spirit recorded in the New Testament and by God’s grace we will endeavor to study each one of them. The Word of God encourages us to not only know these gifts but to also avail ourselves as vessels through which the Holy Spirit can manifest these gifts to impact us and others today.

Our main text as we go through these gifts is 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

⁴ There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶ And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. ⁷ But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: ⁸ for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. – 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 NKJV

We will divide these nine gifts into three groups of three gifts each as follows:

1. Speech Gifts – Prophecy, Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues
2. Revelational Gifts – Word of Knowledge, Word of Wisdom and Discerning of Spirits
3. Power Gifts – Faith, Gifts of Healings and Working of Miracles

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The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are for building up the Church and Jesus is the one who said “I will build my Church…” (Matthew 16:18) I submit to you that He manifests Himself through these Gifts using His Body – the Church, to do just that. We do not own any Gift, the Spirit uses us as He wills but we have to be willing as well for He will not force Himself upon anyone, neither will He coerce or manipulate anyone into submitting to being used by Him in any of His Gifts.

Up Next =>>> Speech Gifts: Prophecy

WE FOLLOW… HE MAKES US

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As He launched His earthly ministry, Jesus called out His first disciples who were fishermen with these simple words.

¹⁹ Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” – Matthew 4:19 NKJV

To the others like Matthew the Tax Collector He simply said “follow me” (Matthew 9:9)

He asked them to do only one thing and that was to “follow Him” and He promised to “make them” fishers of men as long as they followed Him.

Today, the Lord is calling out to us by His Spirit who is within us. He is calling us to follow Him and He will make us whatever He wants to make us. Our part is to hear His voice and to follow Him, we are not tasked with the duty or responsibility of making ourselves anything, He is the potter, we are the clay; He is the one who “makes” us into different vessels fit for His use, as He pleases. However, if we fail to follow Him it’s our loss, we miss out on what He would've made us.

In order to follow Him, we must hear His voice. The Good News is we can and do hear His voice because we are His sheep, we are in Christ.

Jesus our Lord said:

²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. – John 10:27 NKJV

So, as His sheep we not only hear His voice, but we follow Him as well. We follow Him wherever He may lead us, and He leads us by His Spirit that is resident within us – the Holy Spirit, who leads us all the while witnessing with our spirits that because of Jesus’ finished work and our faith in Him, we are God’s children, holy, righteous and accepted in the Beloved.

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. – Romans 8:14:-16 NIV

We are no longer to be lead outwardly by the OT Law or by some man-made set of rules and regulations for us to be accepted by God, we are now led inwardly by the Holy Spirit who knows the mind of Christ in any given situation we may find ourselves in. As we walk in fellowship with the Holy Spirit and follow His leading, we will not have to worry about “making” ourselves anything, He will “make” us what He created us to be seemingly effortlessly. 

Should we try to “make” ourselves anything we will at best end up being frustrated and miserable, for without Him we can do nothing.

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Beloved, I’m not advocating complacency or apathy in any way, shape or form. One cannot truly follow the Lord’s leading and remain apathetic, ineffective or indifferent in how they live and love on others. I must also hasten to add that being constantly active and involved in everything is not necessarily proof that one is following the Lord’s leading.  

Christ has graced each one of us uniquely and it is He who knows how and where we fit best in His Body – the Church and we can only find our place and be at peace as we follow His leading.

Jesus said “follow me and I will make you…”

My part is to follow Him, His is to “make me…”

And we know that He who has promised is faithful and He will do it! 

Blessings!

THE BLOOD OF JESUS 101

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According to God, the life of a creature is in its blood and that is why from the very beginning, when God gave man animals as food, He forbid the eating of animals with their life blood still in them (Genesis 9:4) . Later, the Jews of old were told not to drink blood or eat meat with blood still in it. The life of that animal was in the blood and in the same way the life of a human being is in their blood (Leviticus 17:11-14). When blood is shed it means a life is “shed”; it is either taken away or forfeited or offered, whichever the case may be.

From the time of the Old Mosaic Covenant, the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies with Blood once a year to make atonement for the people’s sin. He would sprinkle the blood on the Mercy Seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant. This was a shadow pointing to the substance – Jesus, the Lamb of God and our High Priest who would come later.

When Jesus went into the true Holy of Holies in Heaven with His Blood to atone for the sin of the entire human race, that Old Covenant practice was effectively done away with, as a shadow of what was to come, it had already served its purpose. Jesus sprinkled His blood on the Mercy Seat once and for all – never to be repeated again, it is done, and sin has been fully, conclusively and decisively dealt with by God, it has been put away for good. (Hebrews 9:24-26)

The Lord Jesus told us exactly what to do with His blood and what it would accomplish in us:

⁵³ Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. – John 6:53-56 NIV

These words of the Master offended many people, remember they had been taught for generations not to eat blood, and they certainly weren't cannibals. They didn't get the spiritual significance of what He was telling them. Even His disciples said of His words “this is a hard teaching, who can accept it?”. Many of them left Him, that’s how offended they were:

⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. – John 5:66 NIV

You see beloved, we've gone the other way, we repeatedly plead and plaster the blood of Jesus on stuff, this shouldn't be so. We are to drink it, as it were; His life is in us and has now become ours. We are one with Deity; we are not to call on the Blood of Jesus superstitiously, as a charm to protect us or our stuff as some of us have ignorantly done in the past. We are kept safe by His Name – Our Strong Tower! We are protected by the power of God through faith (1 Peter 1:5)

Let’s not forget this truth: In Him we live and move and have our being. We are in Him already, how much more protected can we ever be?

For far too long we have been listening to the lies of the enemy who seeks to distract us from believing the truth that we are complete in Christ. The devil wants us to keep on living beggarly, lacking, unfulfilled lives; second guessing our Father’s love for us, doubting His Word and ultimately being ineffective in doing what we've been called and equipped to do.

If you are in Christ and He is in you, then you have eaten of His flesh and drank of His blood and His

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blood is cleansing you as you live your life, fellowship and interact with other saints. And as His blood is cleansing you it is ushering you into the Father’s presence at all times so that you can stand confidently before your Abba Father, without feelings of guilt, shame or condemnation and live your life from that place of victory.    

The blood of Jesus was shed for the remission of our sins, and it inaugurated the New Covenant of which we are beneficiaries.

²⁷ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, ²⁸ for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. – Matthew 26:27-28 ESV