JESUS MET EVERY CLAIM OF GOD ON YOU

When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, God instructed them to set up a tabernacle as a place of meeting between Him and them. Near the door of the tabernacle was an altar. It speaks of the claims God makes on the righteousness of man. For this reason, an offering had to be killed, its blood sprinkled all around on the altar and its body burnt on the altar before one was counted worthy to go into God’s presence.

The sprinkling of the blood of a bull or goat all around on that altar meant that the Israelites were under the covering of the blood of that animal. Even when they sinned, their sins were covered by the blood until the next sacrifice.

The blood speaks of Jesus’ blood shed for us at the cross. Yet, His blood is worth so much more than the blood of bulls and goats because His blood is effective forever! In fact, His blood has met every single claim of God on man to the point that God is so completely satisfied that He now enjoys the savor of rest in what His Son has done.

You too can rest knowing that God is fully satisfied with you because of Christ’s perfect sacrifice. Even if you fall into sin, you can turn to the blood of Jesus. Your sins are not merely covered by His blood, like how the blood of bulls and goats covered sins. No, your sins have been washed away by His blood (see Revelation 1:5)! In fact, your sins and lawless deeds God remembers no more (see Hebrews 8:12; 10:17)!

Jesus was your perfect offering placed on the altar of sacrifice. By just one offering of Himself, “He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14, KJV). Jesus has not only sanctified you or made you holy, He has perfected you forever! Today, you can enter boldly into God’s presence because He sees you the way He sees Jesus. He sees you perfected forever because you are in Christ!  (Article & Picture; courtesy of Joseph Prince Ministries used with kind permission).

NO EVIL SHALL BEFALL YOU

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. Psalm 91:9–10

When I was a student, I took on a part-time job in a factory that manufactured refrigerators. Like any teenager, I had just wanted to earn some extra pocket money. It wasn’t a complicated job. I was part of an assembly line and all I had to do was use an electric drill to create an opening and to fasten a condenser securely onto the back of each refrigerator. I would be buzzing away on the power drill all day, earning my keep.

At that time, I had the habit of carrying a small booklet around with me. It was my little booklet of Bible memory verses, and I would read from it and speak the Word of God three times a day. During that period, there was one particular verse in Psalm 91 that I would confess every day: “No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling” (Ps. 91:10). It was my daily confession in the morning before I left for work, and during my break times, my coworkers would see me sitting in some corner, confessing this verse. It was a very powerful revelation for me, and I really wanted His Word, and in particular this truth of God’s protection, to drop into my heart.

One day, as I was assembling yet another refrigerator, I lost control of the power drill. It somehow slipped out of my hands and the drill went straight toward my stomach. Everything happened really quickly. The power drill, which was spinning at full force, hit my stomach… and it just bounced off. Some of the workers there who saw what had happened ran over, concerned for me. It was then that I realized I was completely unharmed!

The only thing that came to mind at that moment was the Scripture I had been meditating on. That day, the verse, “No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling” came alive for me. I give thanks for the Lord’s divine protection over my life when I was a teenager. Don’t you just love our wonderful and beautiful Savior! As you meditate on and declare His promises in His Word, I believe you’ll also see His saving and delivering power working on your behalf.  (Article & Picture; courtesy of Joseph Prince Ministries used with kind permission).

PUT THE SPOTLIGHT ON JESUS' FINISHED WORK

PUT THE SPOTLIGHT ON JESUS’ FINISHED WORK

I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.

Romans 7:9–10

In 1942, C S Lewis wrote a brilliant book entitled The Screwtape Letters. It tells the story of a senior demon teaching a junior demon how to exploit man’s weaknesses and frailties. Along the same lines, I would imagine that Romans 7:9 is probably the most studied and memorized verse in hell. All junior demons would be taught this verse and the lecture would be titled, “How to bring about a revival of sin”! According to Paul, when you introduce the law, there will be a REVIVAL OF SIN! And that’s not all. Apart from reviving sin, the law also kills and brings death! Isn’t it amazing, then, that there are well-meaning ministers who preach strongly on the Ten Commandments, thinking that imposing the law would cause sin to be removed?

According to Romans 3:20, “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” In other words, without the law, there would be no knowledge of sin. For instance, you can drive at any speed that you like on a road that doesn’t have a speed limit and nobody can accuse you of speeding. But once the authorities put a speed limit on the same road, you now have the knowledge that if you drive beyond say, 70 miles an hour on this road, you would be breaking the law.

In the same way, Paul said, “For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Romans 7:7). That is why the enemy always pours accusations on you using the voice of a legalist. He uses the law and the commandments to show up your failures, to put a spotlight on how your behaviour has disqualified you from fellowship with God, and to constantly point out how you are undeserving of His acceptance, love and blessings! The enemy uses the law to heap condemnation upon you and give you a sense of guilt and distance from God. He knows that the more condemnation and guilt you experience, the more likely you are to feel alienated from God and to continue in that sin. The only way out of this vicious circle of defeat is to put the spotlight on the finished work of Jesus, who by His death at the cross took your condemnation and qualified you to receive God’s acceptance, love and blessings forevermore.