Blood of Jesus

Jonah said “No!” but Jesus said “Yes!”

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
"But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord..." Jonah 1:3a ESV


When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah decided he had a better idea. Maybe he even asked God if He had read the news about how bad Nineveh was. When we consider how evil and violent the people of Ninevah had been, I can sympathize with Jonah. It would be as if one of us were asked to attend a Ku Klux Klan meeting and tell them they were completely wrong, needed to repent and start loving blacks, Jews and others they didn’t approve of. “No! I think I will just pray for them from here God!” might easily be our first response. Jonah even went so far as to distance himself as far as possible from obeying God by taking a cruise to the opposite end of the known world. He was a guy who took disobedience to a whole different level. But God had another idea and as the book of Proverbs tells us, “Man may make His plans, but God has the last word.” Proverbs 16:1 (my translation). God prepared a fish to swallow Jonah, take him back to his starting point by the scenic route and give him a second chance.

Jonah getting a second chance at obedience was good, but even better is the news that, while Jonah had said “No!”, Jesus said “Yes!” When God sent Jesus to the stable of Bethlehem, Jesus could have asked to stay safe and warm in Heaven seated next to the Father: but He didn’t! He freely chose to grow up in a poor village, be misunderstood, rejected by the religious leaders, arrested, spit on, beaten and nailed to a cross. Jesus prayed in the Garden, “…“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39b ESV

And the wonderful news for me and you is that because Jesus said, “Yes!” our sins are forgiven. Because Jesus said, “Yes!” we are given even a better second chance than Jonah. Because Jesus said, “Yes!” we have a home in Heaven if we will put our faith in Him and follow Him. Have you said “No!” to God? I am so glad that God doesn’t take “No1” for a final answer but through the Cross, He offers us a chance to say, “Yes!” to His grace, forgiveness and will for our lives! Will you say, “Yes to Jesus today?

Washed in the Blood

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 ESV

When I first became a Christian, the old HYMN “Are You washed in the Blood?” was popular in our church. it soon became my favorite because it was lively and easy to sing, and it expressed the joy I had in my newfound life. It is strange to think of blood washing something, because blood stains are some of the hardest to remove. But God doesn’t do things according to our way of thinking. In His plan, the blood of Jesus Christ is the perfect cleansing solution for the sin stains on our hearts. But how does it work? How can the blood of Jesus wash away my sin? Today’s verse explains that we have to begin by walking in the light. In other words, we must be honest with God. We need to come to God without pretending and confess our sins to Him. He knows the truth anyway and sent Jesus to die so that we could be forgiven. Secondly, we learn that when we are honest with God, we can begin to walk with Him. Since God always tells us the truth, if we will tell Him the truth, we begin our new journey with Him. Last of all the Bible tells us that walking with God means more than just trying to keep up with him like a toddler rushing after His parent. It means having fellowship with Jesus Christ. He is the one whose blood washed away our sin because He wanted us as His children and friends forever. Since we have His promise that He wants to have a relationship with Him, what are we waiting for? One year as we drove through rural South Carolina we noticed a sign on a small church with a great question:

“Mosquitoes know there is power in the blood. Do you?”

Nothing But the Blood

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13 NLT

I still remember the “I Found It” campaign, launched by Campus Crusade back in 1976. Billboards, bumper stickers and even lapel pins sported that phrase. The intent was to stir conversations, that would give Christians the opportunity to share the message of Christ. It was an interesting approach, but its message that, before being saved, we were searching for Christ and had somehow found Him, doesn’t line up well with the Bible. The entire Gospel is rather about Jesus coming as a shepherd searching for His lost sheep. He didn’t come because we were looking for Him, but because He was looking for us. The Good News of salvation is that the Holy Son of God, gave Himself as an innocent sacrifice for people like us, who had rejected Him. On the cross, as His blood poured down its timbers and touched the ground, a miracle occurred, a door opened wide, and a love story was told. Through the blood of Jesus, God reached out and claimed us as His own. “How can I be included?” you might ask. The answer is that, if God can redeem a failure like Peter, who had denied Him at His trial, a hater of Christians like Paul, and a doubter like Thomas, who demanded to put His hands on the nail prints before He would believe, then He can redeem you and me! In fact, I can’t find a thing, until He finds me first, not because of what I have done but through “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus!” Last Sunday, we introduced that hymn into our growing songbook at the nursing home. I hope you will enjoy listening to our simple rendition of this classic, coupled with the more contemporary Maranatha song, “White as Snow.” Have a blessed day everyone!