Week 1 - Coming Undone
Worship
Today I encourage you to start your devotional meditating on the finished work of Christ, listening to “My Stoning” by Elenee Young.
Scripture
Revelation 12:10-12
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
Hebrews 12:24
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Devotional
I am sure it is no surprise to you that you and I have an accuser, Satan. The scripture teaches us that he accuses us day and night in God’s presence. It is also true that satan accuses us, to us, and that he accuses others before us, fuelling discord, gossip, jealousy and un-forgiveness.
However, isn’t it wonderful to know that even though the enemy attempts to accuse us before God, bringing up our sin as condemnation against us, that we are able to conquer the accusation, and the accuser himself, “by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their (our) testimony”! Even though we may have fallen deep into sin and shame in our lives, and we have become all too well acquainted with the words of accusation hurled against us, the blood of Jesus speaks a better word. Where satan says ‘sinner’ the blood says ‘forgiven’, where satan says ‘rebel’ the blood says ‘child’, where satan says ‘condemned’, ‘guilty’, ‘deserves punishment’, the blood of Jesus cries out ‘forgiven’, ‘acquitted’ ‘shown mercy’!
Our true testimony is that there is real power in the blood of Jesus. Even though the devil has accused us day and night for all the sin we have committed in thought, word and deed, we have been able to find freedom, joy and redemption in the one who shed his blood for us. Because of Jesus’ powerful intercession for us, and his redemptive work on the cross, our lives become proof there is true power in the blood of Jesus to cleanse us and make us new!
Prayer
Spend time in prayer today thanking Jesus for the cross, and praying that the power of his shed blood would reign in your life, that you too might have a testimony of the power of the blood which sets you free. If you feel condemned and ashamed, thank Jesus for the blood and come into his presence freely and with gratitude.