Precious Blood for Troubled Times
To quote Oscar Wilde, “And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.” Our days are getting shorter, temperatures are dropping through the night and we are scampering to be sure we take time to enjoy the last warm glows of summer. It’s also time for our children to return to school.
As children return to school all across America, we are making it a priority to take time to pray over our children, teachers, and school administrators in our community. We were raised to believe we have a civic duty and responsibility as Americans to improve our neighborhoods, communities and our nation, but for Christians, our responsibilities exceed going to the polls to vote and paying our taxes.
You’ll remember in our last letter to you we shared about the increase of lawlessness in our society and the necessity of Christian believers to realize our prayer life must be more than petitions and pleadings. It must also include exercising of our authority in Christ. It’s our right and our responsibility.
This month, we especially want to focus on the safety of our children and our schools and tell you how you can make a difference in protecting the schools in your community and help you teach school children everywhere how to protect themselves. We have some very clear instructions from the Bible as to how Christians can prevail over the turmoil and darkness of this world affecting our lives and those of our loved ones. Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb….” The power of the blood of Jesus (the Lamb of God) is the greatest single mystery in the Bible. In his book, The Power of the Blood of Christ, Andrew Murray says, “There is no single scriptural idea, from Genesis to Revelation, more constantly and more prominently kept in view than that expressed by the words the blood.”
God spent thousands of years explaining and teaching the principles of the Blood so that when the spotless Lamb appeared, in the fullness of time, mankind would have some understanding and could receive its power.
Let’s begin our study of the overcoming power of the blood with the account of God’s mighty deliverance of the nation of Israel who had been enslaved 400 years under the powerful hand of Pharaoh of Egypt.
First of all, let’s remember God made a covenant with Abram (read Genesis 15) and promised him that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the sky. We read in Genesis 15:13-14, “Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.”
Most of us know the story of how Pharaoh of Egypt feared the strength and numbers of the Hebrew slaves and instructed Hebrew midwives to kill all the male babies. When Moses was born, his mother hid him in a basket in the river where Pharaoh’s daughter discovered him and took the child as her own and raised him. But God’s hand was upon Moses, and when he was 80 years old, after fleeing Egypt and living and marrying while dwelling in Midian on the backside of the desert, God instructed Moses to return to Egypt as the deliverer of the Hebrew slaves.
He and his brother Aaron carried the command of Almighty God to Pharaoh, ruler of Egypt to “Let my people go….” After nine warnings and the accompanying plagues that befell the land of Egypt, God carried out the tenth plague. Then Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; ‘and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the hand mill, and all the firstborn of the animals. ‘Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again” (Exodus 11:4-6).
Before this final plague, God gave specific instructions for the Israelites. They were told to take a one-year-old lamb without defect from the sheep or the goats for each family and to slaughter the animal at twilight. They were to take blood from the animal and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they were to eat the lambs:
“For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. ‘Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:12-13
In His book Andrew Murray explains, “God was teaching them that life can only be obtained by the death of a substitute. Life was possible for them only through the blood of a life given in their place, and this life could be taken hold of by the sprinkling of that blood.” Here we see the powerful principle of sprinkling the blood.
Although most of us cringe at the sight of spilled blood, we must not ignore the powerful influence of the blood as it pertains to God’s invincible ability to protect us and our loved ones, neighborhoods, schools and communities.
Every school shooting has impacted us greatly, but the voice of the father of a teenage daughter who died in the Lakeland, Florida, school shooting in February of 2018, still has an unforgettable effect on us. This grief-stricken father told President Trump, “Fix it.” and that “… he would never see his daughter again.” “It should’ve been one school shooting, and we should’ve fixed it.”
More than 215,000 students have experienced gun violence since the Columbine shooting in 1999, and there have been 50 mass murders or attempted mass murders at a school since that time. One hundred and forty one children, educators and other people have been killed in assaults and another 287 have been injured. In 2018 alone, there have already been 17 shootings — the highest number during any year since at least 1999.
We believe there is a way to fix this lawlessness affecting our schools and our intention is to arm you with the power of the Word of God and the power of the blood of the Lamb that you might take your place of authority in your community and teach your children to do the same. Do you realize you have rights as a born-again child of God? We believe we have rights and we exercise these rights on a daily basis and we implore you to do the same. Unless we have a revelation of the power of the blood of the Lamb and make use of our God-given authority, we are operating in a weakened condition as Christian believers.
As the Israelites took the blood of a lamb and applied this blood to the door posts and lintels of their homes and stayed inside behind that blood, we too can apply the blood of the Lamb.
Romans 3:26 tells us to have faith in the blood and Revelation 12:11 says we overcome by the blood of the Lamb. We must open ourselves in faith to receive the full, mighty, heavenly effects of the precious blood of Jesus in a greater way than we have ever experienced. In that blood dwelt the life of the Son of God. The eternal life of the Godhead was carried in that blood. Leviticus 17:11 explains, “For the life of the flesh is in its blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to take away your sin: for it is the blood which makes us free from sin because of the life in it.”
When the blood of Jesus (His life) was sacrificed, the life-blood of God was released into the earth which obliterated the power of sin and death. Within the blood of Jesus is the eternal power of God. The ceaseless, constant, never-ending, never failing, never waning, power of God! You can activate what the blood of Jesus has provided by releasing your faith in His blood.
Do you understand there is an experience of life in another arena that is often referred to as the unseen realm? There was a rebellion in heaven initiated by Lucifer and defeated by Michael and the remaining heavenly hosts. Satan and his demoniac hosts were cast down to the earth. In this unseen realm was a war between light and darkness, good and evil. This war still continues within our earthly life and it will have an effect upon our life to a certain degree until we understand the principles of overcoming by the blood of the Lamb.
Many years ago we were taught to “plead the blood,” “honor the blood,” and to “make much of the blood” of Jesus. Today the practice of applying the blood is a fundamental part of our life. Pleading is a legal term conveying the idea of arguing in support of a claim, or in defense against the claim of another. Isaiah 43:26, the Basic English Version of the Bible says, “Put me in mind of this; let us take up the cause between us: put forward your cause, so that you may be seen to be in the right.”
In the Old Testament they physically applied the blood of the Passover lamb upon the door posts and lintels of their homes. New Testament Christians spiritually apply the blood of the Lamb by speaking. You may find it interesting to note that blood has a voice. In Genesis 4:10, the Lord asks Cain, “What have you done?” after he murdered his brother. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.” Think about it, if the blood of Abel still speaks, how much more powerful is the cry of the blood of Jesus?
This month we have included a tract entitled “Honor the Blood.” Please take time to read and study this powerful information. It will strengthen your faith in the blood and empower you as a believer to be a restraining force over the powers of darkness that would seek to hurt or harm you or your loved ones. The Bible tells us we overcome by the blood of the Lamb. Lift up your voice and apply the blood of Jesus. This precious blood is the effective answer to thwart the sinister attacks of Satan.
We are also including some small cards with simple prayers for children and a declaration a child can make about the power of the blood of Jesus. If you do not have children, give them to your grandchildren, nieces and nephews or the neighbor’s children. Let’s not sit back and allow darkness to bring destruction to our families or communities. Plead the blood of Jesus over your schools, your children, your finances, your homes, your lives. Release the power of God to foil every plan of the devil. We are overcomers through the ability and power of the blood of Jesus!
We urge you to take this message to heart and to teach your loved ones the powerful practice of pleading the blood of Jesus. Let’s band together and commit to make our homes, our families, and our communities a safer place for generations to come.
Thank you for your continued prayer and sacrificial gifts to this ministry. And if you need prayer, please text or email us with your requests. We promise you we will stand with you in faith and release the power of the blood over your situation and needs. The blood of Jesus is the eternal power of God!
We really do love and care about you,
Bob and Katherine Dickerson
