He Has You

Several years ago, I was standing outside a prison Chapel waiting for the inmates to come for a class. Before it was time for the inmates to arrive, one inmate who was not in this class came. He had a pass to come see the Chaplain. He was not sure why the Chaplain had asked to see him. I let him know that the Chaplain normally is not there on Saturdays.

I asked him if he was a Christian, but he was not. We then began to have a long conversation. He told me that he had been in prison a good portion of his life. He said he was a leader in his unit over the other Hispanic men that were part of that unit. He had never been to a church before.

He wanted to know what Christianity was all about. I told him about Jesus and how He had died on the Cross to save us from our sin. I told him how once we accept Jesus as our Savior, that the Blood of Christ covers our sins, and we are then covered by His righteousness. He was listening very carefully.

This is the foundation of your faith: Christ did it all on the Cross, and you cannot add anything to it. “and through him [Jesus] God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross” (Colossians 1:20 NLT).

This man asked me, “what was so special about the Blood of Jesus? What made it any different than the blood from a chicken?” We shouldn’t be offended when someone doesn’t have reverence for our Lord as they just don’t yet know Him and who He is. Never strike someone in the dark for what they cannot see, but simply turn on the light.

You cannot earn your way to heaven because the only currency God will accept is the blood of His Son Jesus. “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood” (Romans 3:25 NLT).

I let this man know that Jesus was God come to earth. Jesus lived a perfect life and then gave up His life willingly to save us. His blood has the power to save us from all sin and from death. Jesus was not just a man, but God who became a man that He would save all people, making them right with God.

Stop trying to redeem yourself because you don’t have the right type of blood. “…you were not redeemed with…your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

This man stayed for the class that day and paid close attention to all that I was teaching. He was asking hard questions, and I was answering each one. My Brother Pastor Arnold was listening from the back. Arnold was a powerful deliverance minister. By the Holy Spirit, we were ready to minister to this man.

Confess with confidence that you are loved and forgiven. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Romans 5:8-9 NKJV).

At one point, the man stood up and was pressing into who Jesus really was. Arnold walked over to him and laid hands on him, and this man collapsed in that instant to the ground. He did not get up for several minutes, and so we continued with the class.

Your first great deliverance is from the bondage of sin. Your second great deliverance is from the bondage of self. The first comes by the blood of Christ alone. The second comes by the power of the Holy Spirit alone. “But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13 NLT).

When this man got back up, he was calm and sat quietly, listening for the rest of the class. It was a divine appointment that we met him. I don’t know what God did in his life after that, but I know he had an encounter with Jesus. Don’t worry about all of God’s plan, only the part He has for you.

When you are standing in the light, darkness cannot come near you. “But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ does, then we have wonderful fellowship and joy with each other, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from every sin” (1 John 1:7 TLB).

Friend, the Blood of the Lamb is yet powerful and able to save us from our sin. The precious blood of Christ is the good news to a dying world lost in the darkness of their sin. Be a vessel for the Lord, and never squander an opportunity to spread the good news of Christ crucified.

Never doubt the Father’s willingness to forgive you. “He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins” (Ephesians 1:7 NLT).

Blessings to you,

Paul Balius