God uses four powerful tools to change you into the person He has destined you to be. These divine workings can be at work in your heart constantly even when you are busy at work or getting needed rest.
God is living and He is powerful. When He called you, it probably didn’t take you long to realize you were going to have a difficult time measuring up. Many new believers often complain that, after accepting Christ, they feel overwhelmed with all that is required of them. Unfortunately, there is a real lack of understanding of the resources God has provided us as children to do His will. Living for God is difficult when attempted with one’s own strength, ability and resources. In fact, it is not just difficult; it is impossible. Even if we do very well (like the older brother in Luke 15), we still fall short of what God has called us to. This is a lesson in the school of discipleship that all of Christ’s followers must learn: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
These four secrets are all brought to you courtesy of the cross of Christ. Let’s look at the first secret, what it accomplishes and what it takes to have it at work in your life.
The Blood Of Jesus
Let’s quote one my favorite authors and one of my favorite books, Andrew Murray in “Living the New Life”.
“It is sin that is the cause of our misery. It is sin that provoked God and brought His curse on man. He hates sin with a perfect hatred and will do everything to root it out. It is to take away sin that God gave His Son – that Jesus gave himself.” [Chapter 10 - A Savior from Sin]
In the proceeding three chapters of this guide for new believers, Andrew Murray outlines how God has completely dealt with our problem with sin and how we must bring our sins to God. I will give the quick synopsis.
(1) Come to Jesus with every sin. Christ is ordained by God to take away your sin. Don’t hide it. Don’t ignore it. Don’t try to be better. Bring your sin to Jesus and ask Him to take it away.
(2) Believe it is Jesus in you that overcomes sin, not you. Surrender your powers to His ultimate and gracious power. His life in you will repel sin from you and crucify old desires for the forbidden.
(3) If you fall, confess your sin specifically to Jesus. Let your confession be a surrender to His righteousness in you and a forsaking of unrighteousness at His feet.
(4) Believe in His forgiveness. Jesus has the power to forgive. Jesus desires to forgive. Jesus promises to forgive.
[Even now, you may feel the Lord Jesus knocking on your heart to give something up. Right now, the very best thing you could do while reading this post is get reconciled with God. So go ahead. Do what was just discussed here.] Ok. feel better? Wow. What a Savior who loves us. He wanted you to read this. He wants you close to His heart, not separated with sin in your heart.
(5) There is a difference between forgiveness and cleansing. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” The KJV states “cleanse us”. The promise is to both forgive and cleanse.
Dirty in the Back Yard
Imagine yourself as a kid who went out to go play in a mud puddle after your mom specifically told you not to. You eventually have to come back home and you arrive at the door covered in guilt. Sincerely, with a puckered bottom lip, you utter the somber words “Mom, I really screwed up today and did exactly what you told me not to do. I am not worthy to be your son anymore and all I ask is that I could live with the dog in the garage.” Pity fills your mom’s heart as she couldn’t ever imagine you living with the dog in the garage. Besides your dog doesn’t even live in the garage and the dog just had a bath. So she says, “I forgive you.”
Ok. At this point everything is cool between you and your mom. But there is still one problem. You are still filthy. Forgiveness removes the guilt of sin. Your mom grabs the hose and has a hoot spraying cold water on your little rebellious body. After washing you clean and toweling you off, you are ready to come back into your Father’s house.
God’s Cleansing Instrument of Choice
The water hose in this illustration is the Blood of Jesus and thankfully it is not cold. And God doesn’t really have a hoot hosing us off. The sacrifice of His only Son was no light matter and our sin truly does break His heart. The Cross was the ultimate expression of His love for you. The scripture makes it clear that the Blood of Jesus is living. Let’s go back to Andrew Murray:
“Forgiveness and cleansing are both through the blood of Jesus. The blood breaks the power that sin has in heaven to condemn us. The blood also breaks the power of sin in the heart which holds us captive. The blood has a ceaseless operation in heaven from moment to moment. The blood has likewise a ceaseless operation in our heart – to purify the heart from the sin which always seeks to penetrate from the flesh. The blood cleanses the conscience from dead works to serve the living God. The marvelous power that the blood has in heaven, it also has in the heart.”
The Blood of Jesus can be at work in us constantly. First, we must ask. God has conditioned His workings on earth to prayer. So ask in prayer for the Blood of Jesus to go to work in you. Second, have faith. Trust God’s word on this one. It will be according to your faith. God has conditioned prayer to faith. With faith, prayer is answered.
Today, ask and believe God to activate the Blood of Jesus in your heart to cleanse, remove and disable sin in your life. Believe me, you will be amazed. Once I was in the dumps and I prayed for this and found myself just hungry for God and His Word over the next few days. I wasn’t trying to psyche myself out to get into the Word or enter into prayer. The desire was just there and I knew it was the Blood of Christ working in me, crucifying my sinful desires to live apart from God.
In the next few weeks, I will share the other 3 divine resources God has provided for us that can be constantly at work in us, changing us to be more and more like Christ.
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