JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Word of Encouragement is Blood.

In the Gospel, blood is the cleansing agent for our heart.  Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

This is why Jesus went to the cross, so that he might pay the price as a ransom to set us free from the death penalty. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. That includes each one of us.

But here is the good news for us to embrace, and this is why the message of the cross is the power of God for those who are saved in His grace.

First John 1:7 says, “If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” All of our sin is erased. All of our guilt is removed when we come into the light of His grace and truth.

Find encouragement in the blood of Jesus to make us clean before God in the Year of Endurance.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Connection, today’s Encounter with Jesus examines our restoration to God through His blood.

When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. God was providing a way for us to enter into relationship with Him through the blood of Jesus.

Hebrews 10:19 says, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings….”

The sacrifice of Jesus for us means that we have access to His throne of grace. We can pray to Him with a believing heart and have confidence that He loves us and hears the cries from our heart.

A daily connection with Christ enables us to draw near to God the Father and to live with confidence in Him.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Moment Of Celebration reflects on the significance of the bread and the cup.

In First Corinthians 11:23, the Apostle Paul wrote, “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’

Communion is a time of remembrance to the defining moment in history when the love of Jesus was poured out for us sacrificially so that we could live for His glory, live through His power, and live with Him in relationship forever.

Whenever we eat the bread and drink the cup of the communion table, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

The significance of the bread and the cup is a reason to be glad in the Year of Celebration.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – From Hebrews 9:22b.

“Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”

This foundational truth points us to the reason why Jesus came to shed his blood for us. We have sinned against a holy God, and cannot save ourselves from the wages of sin, which is death. Only a hand beyond us could rescue us-a hand that is holy and nail-scarred. Up until the time of Christ, the blood of bulls and goats were sacrificed, but that was not really effective to forgive people’s sins. The Bible tells us that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That sacrificial system was only a shadow of things to come, not the real deal.

Verse 26 says that Christ has now appeared at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. His blood, shed on the cross, was a sufficient payment for our sins. Because of what Jesus did at the cross, we have forgiveness of sins through faith in His name. With the guilt of our sins cleared away, the barrier has been removed, and we have freedom to walk with God as His follower and friend.

Trusting the blood of Christ for forgiveness is a vital sign of a changed life in the Year of Transformation.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com