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Embracing or Denying the Power of God

Embracing or Denying the Power of God

Have you ever sung the old Christian hymn There Is Power in the Blood? Consider the first verse and refrain:

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
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.

Have you ever had to explain to someone who wasn’t raised a Christian what these lyrics mean?

Is there power in the blood of Jesus? If you said “yes,” do you mean the red corpuscles?

If we could find a piece of Christ’s burial cloth (which some allege is the Shroud of Turin) stained with His dried blood, would we obtain divine power to overcome sin? Is the power of God found in dead blood cells?

Jesus said the following to the Jews in Capernaum:

“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever” (John 6:53–58 NIV84, emphasis mine).

When Jesus said these words, was He speaking about cannibalism? The Jews apparently thought so and were offended.

What about today—what do we understand Christ’s words to mean?

 

The Metaphor

Is the power in the literal blood, or is the power in the One who shed His blood? And if the power is not in the literal blood, then what does the blood represent? How does one access the power?

The flesh and blood are symbolic of something else, and if we fail to understand the reality to which Jesus’ symbolic language is pointing, we are vulnerable to believing in the idea of Jesus, engaging in religion, and church but being devoid of the actual power of God. The apostle Paul warned that at the end of time, this would be the case and that we would need to be on guard:

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them (2 Timothy 3:1–5 NIV84, emphasis mine).

People with a “form of godliness but denying its power”—what does this mean? It means they do not deny the forms—the formulas, rituals, ceremonies, symbols, sacraments—they deny the power. In other words, they do not deny the “power in the blood,” they do not deny the symbol, communion ceremony, the Eucharist, or singing the song. But they do deny the truth, the reality, the actuality, the experience, the internalization of the life of Christ, for the Bible tells us that the life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). The power that is in the blood is the power of the life of Christ, not His red corpuscles. And the life of Christ is the lived-out truth of God that exposes and refutes the lies of Satan and wins us back to trust. This is represented by the flesh:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 14 NIV84, emphasis mine).

Jesus is God in humanity, and in Him is revealed the truth about God. He is the living Word of God. To eat His flesh means to take into our hearts and minds the truth about God that dispels the lies and wins us to trust. This is the eternal gospel, the eternal good news, that God is not like Satan has alleged, that God is not an imperial dictator who makes up rules and then uses His infinite power to inflict torture, pain, and death upon rule breakers. In Jesus, we see the majesty and glory of God revealed, that although He had all power, He never used it to advance self but only and always to serve. And even when the grossest evil and most abusive injustice was being perpetrated upon Him, He still would not use power to take freedom away from His intelligent creatures.

Why not? Because what God wants is our love, trust, loyalty, devotion, and friendship, and these can never be achieved through law and law enforcement, but only through truth, love, and freedom. In fact, any attempts to promote love through external enforcement, through punishment, only destroy love and incite rebellion. Thus, the power of God, the power in the blood, is the power of the truth and love of God fully revealed and lived in the person of Jesus Christ. This is the good news, this is the gospel, and this is the power of God that we may freely receive—just as Paul wrote:

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16, 17 NIV84, emphasis mine).

The power is in the good news about God that destroys the lies and wins us to trust; this is partaking of the flesh, which is symbolized by the bread. And once we partake of the truth and are won to trust, we open our hearts and the Holy Spirit brings us the life of Christ, which is symbolized by the blood. We receive a new life, a new identity, a new animating power—the pure, holy, righteous, life of love for God and others, which is the life (blood) of Jesus. As Paul wrote, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). We become partakers of the divine nature—the nature of love (2 Peter 1:4).

 

Applying the Metaphor

So how this works in day-to-day, practical life is that the Holy Spirit brings truth to human hearts and minds in ways we can understand that truth—truth essential for our healing and salvation, truth that leads us away from sin-sickness and back to Jesus for eternal life. This truth will always include truth about God, what Jesus has done, God’s methods and principles, but it will also include real-world, practical, applicable actions that each of us needs to take in our lives to experience healing of our hearts and minds.

We must first know that God is love, that He loves us, and that through Christ, He provides everything we need for our healing and restoration—and that with Jesus, our case is never hopeless. Then in that love, in the truth of who God is, the Spirit of truth will bring to our minds the truth about ourselves, where in our lives we are out of harmony with God, of things or people in our lives that are destructive, along with the truth about what is healthy and what choices we can make to harmonize our lives with the good, the right, the healthy.

We will find ourselves in various circumstances and situations in which some truth will be before us and we will know what our duty is; we will know what the right and healthy action is, and then the Holy Spirit will leave us completely free to decide what we will choose to do, choose to believe, choose to internalize into our heart.

And this is the key to accessing the power of God: We do not receive divine power to succeed until we choose to say yes to the truth and apply it to our lives.

However, it is not the truth comprehended, cognitively understood, that matters; it is the truth chosen by the individual to be taken into the heart and applied by the will to the life that opens the individual to receive the divine power of God—the animating, motivating, and transforming power of God.

The demons believe the truth of who Jesus is, but they have closed their hearts to the truth and do not love and trust Jesus; thus, their cognitive awareness of the truth has no saving power for them.

Many addicts accept the truth that they have an addiction, even that the addiction is harmful and that their lives would be better if they were free of the addiction, but they have not made the choice to get into recovery, to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ. Thus, many will pray for deliverance from their addiction, but what they are actually doing is praying for God to change them before they have chosen for themselves to give up their addiction. They are praying for their feelings to change, for the power of God to deliver them from something to which they are still clinging in their heart. They have not yet chosen in their own heart to say yes to Jesus and die to the old ways. We do not get the power until we make the choice. But when we make the choice to say yes to the truth, we are never left to win the battle in our own power; the power to succeed is always supplied by God through the indwelling Holy Spirit, but that power only becomes accessible to us when we choose to follow and apply the truth by our choice.

So I encourage you to choose to spend time with Jesus every day, to internalize (ingest) His Word into your heart and mind and to daily invite the Holy Spirit into your life to empower you with the life, the love, the motivation, the power of Jesus and, moment by moment, choose to do what you know is the right, healthy, loving, truthful action that is your duty in governance of yourself. For the power is in the truth and love that comes only from Jesus, and we receive that by our choice to trust and to act in that trust upon the truth we know and understand—it is then and only then that we receive the divine power to succeed.

 

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Testimony 39

[This ministry is the] biggest blessing I have ever received! Your DVDs and lessons could not have come at a better time in my life. I have experienced in the past year many difficulties that, if it wasn’t for this wonderful view of God that I have discovered through this ministry, I would not have been able to respond in love and forgiveness. My heart is being transformed everyday by the Calvary-looking God you teach. Hallelujah!! I have tears in my eyes as I write, because my life has taken a complete turn from where I was heading.

I am from Central America. Most of my family is scattered in different parts of the world and all have the same view of God that I had growing up; a distant, exacting, and ready-to-punish-us-with-tragedy type of God. So, I have been translating lessons for my family and, to my surprise, they have also been sharing them with others! I can already see the difference. My brother has often said, “Thank you for sharing, I have never heard it this way!” My other family members are taking an amazing turn from a message of “repent or burn” towards a loving God, pleading to us that we won’t reject him because he loves us eternally.

Bless you for all you do.

Sofia S., Ashfield, MA, USA

 

Testimony 33

I was invited over a friend’s house to see the “God and Your Brain” seminar today. I became [a christian] 36 years ago at the age of 19, but have struggled with the concept of God taking His ‘pound of flesh’ out on His Son to be appeased. Wow. Your seminar has been an incredible revelation and breath of reason and fresh air! I have your book, “The God Shaped Brain,” and it is SO eye opening. Finally, after 36 years enlightenment has come! Praise the Good Lord! What can I say, but that the Real Gospel is truly “Good News!” Thank you for your efforts in giving the Gospel a clear sound!

Paul C.,  Springfield, MA, USA

 

Testimony 19

I truly believe that to know who God really is the first step to understand ourselves in a balanced and kind way, so the healing can take place. Your approach really makes sense – Thank you for your ministry!

A.M., Pittsburg, PA, USA

Testimony 35

I am so pleased with the response your message is receiving at my church from the middle-aged to the young adults. I have given out 100 copies of the first two seminars and there are more request every week. One of my [class members] came to me after viewing the series, grateful and impressed with how easy the message was retained. He had been a Seventh-day Adventist in fear all his life, and felt like the scales were removed from his eyes after viewing the seminars. I am so impressed by the change I see in members who have received this message, we are in one accord. However, I am sadden by the negative response of the older people. I am verbally attacked anytime I talk about imposed laws, but I believe my mission is to enlightened everyone I can. I watch your Bible Study Class on YouTube every Friday night and I feel like I am apart of the class. All of you are in one accord and I am so blessed to have found you. I pray that all of you continue to spread this message and I am committed to doing my part.

Clara S., Westfield, MA, USA

 

Testimony 67

I was introduced to Come And Reason by a friend of my mother-in-law, who gave me several CD’s of Dr. Jennings. The clarity of the message and recognition that God’s is a God of love was so clear, advancing beyond Dr. Maxwell’s message. However, grappled with Maxwell saying God used emergency measures for the fallen world. Now after several years of being a regular listener of the Come And Reasoning bible study class and attending Jennings’ meetings in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, things are becoming clearer for me. Design law versus imposed law has added so much to my personal understanding of theology. This message has really impacted my work in counseling so many people miserable because they are searching for and trusting human governments to create order and peace or believing in a God who says love Me or I will kill you. I am grateful that I have an alternative view to offer my clients that makes sense. I teach a bible study class on a semi-regular basis and I value the materials that Come And Reason so freely offers to aid me in presenting this vital message. Thank you for continuing to provide advancement in our very limited understanding of a Infinite God that is rational and believable.

Dr. Roger D, Arlington, TX, USA

 

Testimony 30

God lead me to your book “The God-Shaped Brain” while I was searching for another book about the brain and then to your interview about your book on HeartWise Ministries [where] I found out about [Come And Reason Ministries]. I’m now devouring the webcasts of your Bible studies. I have been so greatly blessed and I thank God so much for your courage to speak the Truth in love no matter what. Listening to you contrast the two opposing systems (laws) and digging deep to unearth the hidden treasures in the Bible makes me so incredibly happy and I feel very blessed to be part of your Bible Study Group although I live far away. I am just so excited that there is a group of people that is spreading the Truth about the character of God and it saddens me how few realize what our Father in Heaven is really like.

Kessy B., Australia

 

Testimony 43

Two years ago I stumbled upon your book, “Could It Be This Simple,” and then found “The God-Shaped Brain” videos on YouTube, your bible study class, and the ‘Come And Reason’ mobile app. I shared your book with a friend and after nine months of showing love, patience, and kindness this person has been changed by the love of God, too. The same love that healed me, I now express to other women in tangible ways, such as to a Baptist woman with high anxiety and childhood trauma. She was extremely happy and relieved when I shared about the so-called “judgment of God” and burning in hell. She had no desire to serve a God that was so harsh. I have repeated the phrase dozens of times to her. “What we believe has power over us, but we have power over what we believe…”

This message that you are sharing has changed my life. I will continue to serve other women and bring this message of God’s healing love to their lives by sharing your books, YouTube videos, and The Remedy Bible app. Keep up the good work. Don’t be discouraged. God is doing a mighty work in and through this ministry!

Jill L., Midwest, USA

 

Testimony 57

You have helped make sense of thirty two years of confusion. The material you freely provide reorganized so much of my life into such a beautiful pattern that has always been hinted at from within, but misguided with my training and what I was experiencing externally. My filipno parents, who were converted from Catholicism to SDA, were sincere and did their best to raise me the right way and I have deep respect for them. However, being immigrants and not understanding the language made for a difficult transition as I was growing up, which also applied to my spiritual growth as I learned the patterns of religion. I have been listening to as many bible study classes and reading blog posts as my time in a work truck will allow, searching for the practical applications of where spirituality and reality meet, and I thank you for helping me find that. You have helped me reach a point in which I can truly say that I love God, that I believe He loves me, and, like David, I delight in His law. God bless.

Emmanuel V., Calgary, AB Canada

Testimony 65

I have been tuning into your weekly study classes for a while now and wanted express my appreciation for the teachings that ha been a huge blessing in opening up the true message of the word. Viewing scripture under an imposed law theory always, without fail, raised more questions, concerns, and conflicting scripture interpretations that were discouraging at the very least. Looking at scripture through the design law lens has brought more truth to light for me personally and an understanding of our Heavenly Father that places Him “above all others,” where I am now more than thrilled to witness and serve Him.  I “stumbled” across this ministry a year or so ago and would only watch a few minutes at a time. But the more I listened and the longer I paid attention, the more my spiritual eyes were opened to the ever present truths of scripture. The comprehension of the great controversy and it’s origin by the lies perpetrated and perpetuated throughout the Bible on the attack of God’s character and government is truly priceless. Keep up the Good Work! Your servanthood is desperately needed in such a time as this!

Jeff D., Reading, MA, USA

 

Testimony 45

I have been confused for years about what [christianity] calls [its] most disgusting teaching. It has never made much sense to me and for that reason has been evermore empty. I have listened to your class off and on and have struggled determining what is truth, because of the resistance design law encounters in the church. So, I thank God for your ministry. What you teach makes sense. It’s logical and backed up by the power of love. I have never seen that in Christ until now. I am astounded by the insight that is found when we look at God’s ministry through design law. All strength to this message, as I believe it to be the power of God.

Brendon S.

 

Testimony 74

Thank you so much for opening my eyes. I’ve been through a lot of ministries that just didn’t show the love of God that I felt he was. You have helped me to begin the process of true healing. I thought I was “too far gone,” now I know there’s hope in Jesus, because he loves us beyond what we can comprehend. Thank you again for all you do. I truly appreciate it and pray more people find you (physical at your studio and through this website).

Dalio M.

Testimony 21

I am absolutly on fire with the message at Come and Reason! I can’t get enough! I’ve read your book, blog, and articles. I’ve listened to your Bible study podcasts, your radio show, and your series – all excellent! It wasn’t until the past couple of years that I have I like I’m becoming “healthy,” with more to share with others than just beasts and commandments! I used to be a Bible worker and preached when the pastors were gone until I had had enough. I didnt realize at the time what the problem was, but i know now… the message wasn’t properly focused. Now my flame is rekindled. All of your little examples are so perfect in explaining something “complicated” and making it easily understood! Now I’m trying to shape it into a life changing evangelistic series! Thank you!

M.T., USA

 

Testimony 63

I’ve been very blessed by “The God Shaped Brain” and this ministry, through video and podcast, over the last few years. It’s truly opened up my eyes more to the truth about God and the importance of that truth in the present world. The message is so inviting, freeing and enlightening and MORE people need to know about it. I believe it is the last message that can truly, not only prepare a people for salvation and translation, but vindicate the character of God.

Michael V., Yonkers, NY, USA

 

Testimony 60

Just watched watched lesson 10 in the 1st quarter 2021 bible study classs on Isaiah. I want to thank you for your intellectual spirituality; it’s not an oxymoron! From the point of view of a teacher I also enjoy seeing how much personal pleasure you clearly take in not just tasting, but feasting on God’s word – it reminds me of Jeremiah not being able to hold it in! It makes me smile that your cup is so full and overflowing that you make it to Tuesday’s lesson (on a good day). It just goes to show the richness of God’s Word.

God bless the Come and Reason Team from our church here in Great Britain.

Andrew H., Great Britain

 

Testimony 24

I wanted to thank you very much for presenting your understanding of God. I’ve always been troubled by this question: Why did Jesus have to die? Since my conversion I understood that The Father & Jesus are one, I did not have issues with that. But was there not any other way to save us than for Jesus to die? I guess I actually had a question about God – if He is so wise, how come He did not find another way? I did not see the real ‘beauty’  in the cross. Only when you explained the picture in the medical context, Jesus providing medicine for my selfishness, have I started to finally ‘see the light’. Thank you so much. Your seminar, “Healing the Mind,” are absolutely marvelous & have shared them with my family and many other people, including colleagues at work. Thanks, thanks, thanks. May God bless you abundantly in your ministry.

M. W., Australia