Cross

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?”

Would Taste For the Sins of Us All

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
In the garden the serpent showed me the fruit
With a beauty and fragrance within
But I did not know that its razor-sharp seed
Lay hidden down under its skin

It glowed with desire and was sweet to the taste
With a promise of wisdom and powers
But its poison-tipped blade cut right to my heart
Leaving sin among withering flowers

Oh where is the healing, and where is the balm
For my heart and my soul and my mind?
A pathway to carry me all the way home
And the Father who I left behind

Then suddenly I saw I was there at the cross
And I wept at the wound in His side
And the nails and the crown and the noise of the crowd
And His blood that flowed down like the tide

 I saw in His hand was the husk of that fruit
Filled with vinegar and bitter gall
That was pressed to the lips of my Savior that He
Would taste for the sins of us all
Would taste for the sins of us all

They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, 
he would not drink.” Matthew 27:34 KJV

"Would taste for the sins of us all"
by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright © 2025
All rights reserved

God Gently Stooped

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The sixth day in morning
The Lord God stooped down
Ans scooped clay from the earth
To form man from the ground
He bent down lower still
To breathe life into him
Then smiled to see – Man’s first day begin

Then one night in Bethlehem
He stooped down once more
And came into our world
Above a stable floor
Then bent lower still
To give His life for us
Breathing out His last– On Golgotha’s hill

Then friends came to take Him down
And laid Him in the tomb
Gently wrapped in cloth
Then left for their home
But God bent once more
To where Christ lay alone
Gently stooping down – Rolling back the stone

God Gently Stooped
by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright 2023 All rights reserved