The Same Blood...

"Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!"  Romans 5:9

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace"  Ephesians 1:7

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,"  Galatians 3:26

This past weekend we started watching a movie that's several disks long.  It will take us a few days to watch the whole thing.  It's a movie we enjoy watching from time to time- it's just such a grand movie.  We were watching and enjoying it, when the lead character said something that made me pause and reflect for a while on it.  He was talking about his family line- about the people he descended from and said "the same blood runs in my veins".  In context, he was worried about being evil like one of his forbears... but I couldn't stop thinking on what he said.

"the same blood runs in my veins"

It struck a chord with me.  See, also during that day, I had an amazingly bad headache.  Not quite a migraine, but a fierce enough headache that didn't seem to be swayed by food, drink or medicine.  It was bothersome.  I also had an experience with tingling and numb fingers in one of my hands earlier in the day, and of course, my mind managed to link them together and give myself some kind of serious health condition.  Never mind the fact that I've had pinched nerves in my neck and shoulders for a few weeks- which could cause both the numb fingers and the headache.  I still managed to think on it several times during the day, and think about all the horrible diseases or conditions that headaches and numb fingers could be indicative of.  I was making myself nervous, and I already knew that it was going to be a rough night sleep-wise, because I was worried about it getting worse...or what if I didn't wake up at all?  It's crazy sometimes, the things the devil will use to try and mess me up- and my health and thinking about my kids without a mom is one of those things.

But then I heard that line, I heard him say "the same blood runs in my veins" and it was as if something shattered in my spirit- the foreboding I was feeling increase throughout the day was gone, as I rolled that sentence around in my head, and thought to myself, indeed.  The same blood runs in my veins... the same blood that came to set mankind free.  The same blood that walked on this earth and healed the multitudes, and fed the hungry.  The day I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I had a transfusion, and my blood became infused with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  My DNA changed forever that day, and as I sat and watched the rest of that movie,  I just felt so much better!  When I went to bed that night, I had no troubles getting to sleep because my mind had started singing a song over and over about how the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in me- and I knew the devil was just trying to mess with me.  And it wasn't going to work.

I spent a deal of time yesterday thinking about that line.  And while I am so grateful to God that while we watched a movie, He used a line in a movie to help break through what the enemy was trying to do to me, it really had me thinking about Jesus, and the things He did while He walked on earth as a man.  It had me thinking about this older brother of mine, and I kept coming back to the situation where he was being tempted by the devil in the desert.

In Matthew chapter 4, we read about how the devil tempted Jesus after he'd fasted for 40 days.  And in the end, of course, Jesus resisted him by quoting scripture at him.


"Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"  ¹¹Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him."  Matthew 4:10-11

And that got me thinking about all the times that the devil tries to tempt us.  I could go into a hundred different examples of temptation by the devil, but I'll go with a really basic, really simple one.  The temptation of laziness.   I imagine most people face this temptation, because the world tells us we deserve it.  The world tells us that we deserve to have days where we put our feet up and do nothing, when the Biblical reality is that we are deserving of a day of rest- but a day of rest and a day of laziness are two very different things.  And often times that one day of laziness can turn into several, and before you know it, a lifestyle of laziness has developed.  You spend every single day lamenting all the things you didn't do because you wanted to watch one more TV show, or spend just a little longer surfing the internet.

Now I don't think that God wants us to do away with those things completely.  TV and internet can be huge suckers of our time... but quite honestly, when we find ourselves there too much, it stands to reason that we can play the blood card and be freed.  The same blood runs in my veins- the blood of Jesus, who withstood temptation and overcame the devil with words.  When I find myself being tempted to do something I shouldn't- sit around and be lazy, or read a book I shouldn't, or spend money I don't really have to spend- I can remember my big brother Jesus, and remember that He resisted temptation.  I don't have to succumb, and give in ,and then regret later and have to repent.  I can resist in the first place.  I can say "Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only" and tell the devil to go away- and I CAN and WILL be successful.

I love it when God uses something so everyday like a movie or a song to speak volumes to me.  I pray that He continues to keep my mind open to what He has to tell me- that I won't miss it because I'm too busy to notice.  I'm so thankful for His intervention in my life.