Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow,
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What is my inheritance?
"This is my body; broken for you and this is my blood; shed for you."
What is received and what is taken? Or better: who is an heir and who is a thief? Sometimes wolves lay hidden among sheep that run in a flock. They know that the Shepherd will take them where they are going, and when they get there the wolf strikes. In the spirit of inheritance there are only sheep. The wolves are cast out into the darkness for they have taken what was offered as a gift. The truth is one cannot take from the lord or add to him anything. Because we love a God like this, who made everything from nothing, to whom all things are, and from whom all things are - because of this we can only receive. It is impossible for us to take. If we take, we take what is not. This is sin, and sin gives birth to death; and they are the enemies of God. How then do we inherit? What worth must we attain? Is it possible to earn any of what God has made? Apart from him we can do nothing, but this is not loss; for in him we bear much fruit, lasting fruit that sprouts up into eternal life.
We have received the spirit of adoption to be sons and daughters. If we are sons than we have an inheritance. So then, how and when do we receive? If the promise is from God and unassailable by the enemy, why is it not manifest now? I cannot say for certain, not on behalf of every man and woman. However this much is true: Jesus is author and perfector of our faith, he is mighty to save- mighty to save. He died and conquered the grave saving us from the enemy. This is what happened already. The Councilor - the Holy Spirit - leads us into all truth, and this is the present. In the future he will return, and all things will be restored; that which is to come. We are always being saved, from the beginning and until the end. The lamb was even slain from the foundation of the world. The question is now: How long, O Lord, how long? The answer to this is very difficult. No one knows the time set ahead except the father himself. There are signs for every season available to the discernment of the wise, but a season can also pass you by and later come again.
In the Exodus God promised to deliver Israel from slavery and take them to the land promised their ancestors. But when they escaped Egypt they did not enter into the land of milk and honey. They first lived in the dessert for 40 years. They were called to go, but not immediately sent to their destination. Even Abram was led in the same way: "Go to the land that I will show you." not "go to the land of Palestine" or "Go to the land of Egypt" but "Go to the land that I will show you." Get up and go somewhere, and then I'll tell you where you are. Again later with Moses : "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you; when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
Ok, first of all God skips the premise that failure is apart of the equation. Beyond assumption he knows that the people will be delivered. Secondly, his sign that he is with them is the whole thing. The escape and all are a part of his sign. In many ways the journey is as important as the destination. Now here's the question: what if Moses had no faith? Would Israel have been delivered? Surely, for it was God's will, but it might have passed to the next generation just like it did in the desert. At the end of his days Moses and the Israelites were at the cusp of entering into their inheritance, as they always were, but they did not learn the lessons of the desert. They escaped their slavery and left the land of Egypt, forever, but slavery and the land of Egypt had not left them. Many times God showed up and at many times they said it would be better to return to Egypt. God provided manna everyday, enough for that day, but still the Israelites gathered more than they needed. God told Moses to speak to the rock and instead he broke it with his staff. Over and over again they failed to learn this lesson: God provides. They had been freed from slavery, but they were still slaves. They must still learn to be sons and daughters. We enter into the inheritance when we put faith in this reality; God provides. In this way we are proved by God's strength and glory to be his children; knowing and obeying his voice in faith.
When the spies came back to Joshua there were two reports: "We cannot do this." and "We can certainly do this." Both were true. What is impossible with man is made possible with God.
"I am the gate. Who ever enters through me will be saved, he will come in and go out, and find pasture."
The cloud goes ahead of us and is a pillar of smoke by day and a fire by night. Where it sets down we set down. When it gets up, we get up. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death... even in the desert we will follow the voice of our lord.
What can save us?
Nothing but Jesus
What can lead us?
Nothing but Jesus
How will we get there?
He is the way and the truth and the light. Believe and receive the kingdom of God which is at hand.
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