Dear Friends,
My sisters were Southern Baptists, so the hymn “There’s Power in the Blood” was a regular part pf family sing-alongs. Just in case you aren’t familiar with this wonderful song (written by Lewis E. Jones in 1899), here is the last verse and the familiar refrain:
Would you do service for Jesus your King? There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood; Would you live daily His praises to sing? There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.
Refrain: There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r In the blood of the Lamb; There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r In the precious blood of the Lamb.
The following cartoon, posted on Facebook by Dennis Coad of the Christian center of Missouri uses this hymn to identify a worthy goal.
One of the core Scriptures concerning salvation is Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV): “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Continuing his explanation to the Ephesians Paul wrote, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
There is power in the blood of Jesus, but we sometimes get overpowered by everyday concerns. We know that God has prepared good works for us to do, but we feel powerless to know His will, let alone do it. We can turn to the Scriptures and be encouraged by a verse such as Psalm 16:1, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
During morning devotions we may pray Psalm 143:8 – “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life,” or we may repeat the familiar 3rd verse from the 23rd Psalm, “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
In the end, mosquitos that bite us may not go away singing “There’s Power in the Blood,” but we wouldn’t be surprised if they buzzed away humming “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”
Verse for the Week: John 15:15 “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
Blessings, Your Friends in Christ
Because He Loves Us Press 