Fruit Roll-ups

(fggam.org)

As I was praying over a dear friend this morning, God nudged my memory and I recalled having a discussion with a friend many years ago. This friend was feeling attacked by someone else we knew from church. An illustration came to mind about the precious Blood of Jesus.

This Blood is the only thing that can cleanse us from sin, it’s our “ticket to Heaven”. It provides a whole lot more for us, though. It provides for our every need. The Blood of Jesus fulfills every promise God made to us in His Word. It provides deliverance from spiritual afflictions, brings life to our spirit, gives us physical healing, protects us from the enemy and more.

Appropriating all the blessings this Blood provides is our job. Jesus did the work on the Cross that makes available the blessings of salvation, but it’s up to us to take those blessings and believe they are ours, to walk in them and to apply them to our lives.

If I buy you a brand-new car and drop the keys in your accepting hands, the car won’t do you a bit of good if you never put the key into the ignition, turn the key and drive off. You’ll still have the car, but I didn’t spend my money on a gift you refuse to use...

(choosingchia.com)

So, here’s my strange analogy. Way back when I got this revelation, Fruit Roll-ups were a new thing. Kids and adults alike seemed to love the fruity snack. Supposedly made of fruit juices (I have my doubts), they’re a sticky substance, rolled out into a flat sheet, then rolled up into a roll and packaged for convenience.

In my mind’s eye, I could see my grown friend lying on a huge, spread out Fruit Roll-up, then rolling over and over, folding the gummy, sticky substance over themselves until they were covered completely. To touch them, I’d have to poke through the Fruit Roll-up. Bizarre? Perhaps, but, the image was to illustrate that the Blood of Jesus completely covers us.  The enemy has to poke through the Blood to get to us.

Unlike the roll-up, the Blood of Jesus is strong. There’s nothing stronger. I can easily poke my finger through a roll-up. But though the enemy try repeatedly, he cannot break through the Blood of Jesus. That’s our permanent protection, promised and delivered by God, Himself.

We can feel beaten up and worn down by all the poking the enemy does to us, but he cannot get through.

When we stop spending time in God’s Word and talking with Him daily, we weaken, but the Blood of Jesus is still as strong as it was the day He poured it out for us. Even when we spend time with God, the enemy is still trying to poke through, but His Word encourages us and tells us the truth – that the enemy is lying to us, again.

We need to get it into our understanding that the enemy cannot take us out. If he could, he would have done so already. All he can do is lie to us, hoping to deceive us into believing we’re sick or oppressed or afraid or confused, etc.

Begin to praise God in the midst of your circumstance (and get back into His Word!), believe God. Then, laugh at the mess you thought you were in. God will show you your breakthrough as you praise Him, as you acknowledge His protection and promises fulfilled to you.

Complaining, whether internally or to others, about the negative garbage the enemy is throwing at you will only help it to stick to you.

(wccowboychurch.org)

Trust that bloody roll-up of Love, trust in God’s provision. He’s not a man that He should lie to you. (Numbers 23:19) He’s provided every single thing you need to live a prosperous life; to live life abundantly. That’s what He sent Jesus to do for you!

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus  Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." -Hebrews 13:20-21 (NKJV)

A Sneakier Kind of Crisis

(quora.com)

What kind of a crisis goes unidentified; unlabeled?

A health crisis might be faced when we or a loved one is given a frightening diagnosis.

An emotional crisis might rise up against us when suddenly a rug is pulled from beneath us; life takes a turn in an unexpected direction.

A financial crisis may loom over us if we lose our job, or if some insurmountable expense is hurled our way.

But, how do we define a crisis we feel sneak upon us, with no tangible beginning and no see-able cause?

Sometimes we just feel as though we’re going through something that rattles us or throws us off course, when nothing around us has realistically changed for the worse, at all.

We might call it depression – or oppression. We might simply call it a case of the blues, or a pity party. We could refer to it as “falling off the wagon” – when we’ve cleaned up a part of our lives for a significant period of time and we relapse. But, how does that relapse happen when we can’t point our finger at an action that caused it; the trigger that caught us off guard?

(stevensstrategic.com)

What about when this “crisis” occurs due to something in our subconscious that we’re not even aware that we’re carrying around with us?

If I was drowning, trapped in a car that was rapidly sinking and filling with water, surely I’d be in a panic. But, the ecstasy I’d experience should someone rescue me would be hard to put into words. So, right here, right now, I won’t look for that description.

My car, so rapidly sinking and filling with water, was my mind. I felt as though I was trapped there, spiraling to the bottom of an abyss too dark to fathom.

(newsongwomen.com)

When rescued, I took on new life.

Even my email address exudes the victory as resqued1. I once displayed a vanity plate on my car which read, FORGVN1.

In my enthusiasm, I allowed myself to believe it was a one-time rescue; that I’d never be trapped in a car like that again.

But, the truth is, I’ve need to be rescued most every day. On the days I seem to sail through without a hitch, I surely ride on autopilot in my own vanity or on the tailwinds of a recent victory of some sort.

Daily, I need to immerse myself in the Living Word of God, or again I’ll begin to sink into a frailty I prefer to leave behind. I sink, not because I cannot swim, but because I have an enemy that would tie a weight around my neck to pull me from joyful freedom, only because he sees God living in me, thriving and lifting up the very hearts of those around me. He hates that.

(allsaintscharlotte.com)

Yet, oftentimes I allow myself to “forget” where my strength and joy comes from. As if I could forget to eat or breathe, no; I’d die. I ponder, how can I have so much disregard for the spirit in me?

Ah, no. I am the spirit in me.

So is this then, a lack of regard for my very self? I am not merely flesh and blood; that simply houses who I am. I’m not only the thoughts I think and beliefs I hold dear or the fears that sometimes seek to take control; that would be my soul, what makes me unique among humans.

Yes, the spirit I am, lives in this mortal house; why do I allow the needs of the house or the soul to usurp my need spiritual need for nourishment?

O foolish Helen! Who has bewitched you? …. How are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? (See Galatians 3:1-5)

Though I exhort you all to remain in the Word of God, how do I sometimes think I can get by without it? Forgive me, Lord!

(pinterest.com)

I am God’s forgvn1 and His resqued1 – but, it’s a daily thing; moment to moment. I need to remain connected to the very Source that gives me life and rescued me. And in this, yes, God is faithful. He will always draw me into His arms and hold me and empower me and forgive me and fill me with His joy. He believes in me, even when I stop believing in myself. He lifts me up and surrounds me, in His Word.

  

(etsy.com)