How's Your Circulation? 1 John 1:7 (message)

That scripture says, "But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin."

Well, I was listening to Mark Hankins again today (I am ON that series right now!), and he talked about the Body of Christ and how as a body, we have to be ASSEMBLED. When we are assembled, as in fellowship with one another, the Blood of Jesus circulates through the body, bringing life to one another. We are all different and we all have something that the Body needs. When we are not in our place, the Body suffers (whether we want to believe we are that relevant or not, it is true).

Don't you think that is why the devil tries so hard to bring offense? IF WE LET HIM bring that offense, it will cut off the blood flow to that part of the body, like a tournaquet, and it will die. Don't just check those offenses at the door, get rid of them! They will kill you!

We have to look outside ourselves at all times - just like Pastor Kevin taught last Sunday. Whenever we start looking to fulfill a corporate vision, God will fulfill your vision. And when we look inside and get selfish, offense is a lot more likely to come!

OK, I'm done for now!

A Whole New Thing - 1 Peter 1:15-16

Since a week or two before Go Deep went to C4C, living a sanctified, set apart life has been the topic of prayer and discussion in our household. And when I was recently listening to a teaching series by Mark Hankins about the Blood of Jesus, it really got my full attention when he started talking about sanctification in one part of the teaching. He said that God cannot fully use us the way He wants to when we let everything else use us.

How do we let everything else use us? We expose our spirits to all kinds of worldly junk that would have made us cringe 20 or 30 years ago and we say, "it's not that bad." (I like the analogy Pastor Kevin used about the poop in the brownies. I've used that with my girls all their lives!)

Then he said, if you were in an operating room about to undergo a surgery, and the surgeon said, "where's my knife?" and one of the nurses said, "oh, it's in the kitchen. We were making ham sandwiches with it." Brother Mark said, you wouldn't want that thing used on you because it is an instrument set apart for a particular use. Just as we are to be for God, to be pure for what He needs.

In the past, I have let sanctification and consecration be a product of my trying to change my own life to be good enough. Then when I really started listening to the Holy Spirit, I realized a few things. In and of myself, I know nothing. In and of myself, I have nothing. In and of myself, I can do nothing. Jack Myers said, "Holiness is not an outward show, but it is a continual working of the Holy Spirit to bring pureness to one's heart." I see now that the only thing I do to make this successful is to submit to the Holy Spirit. When I am trying to figure out how to get "there," I don't hear the Holy Spirit as the Lord is trying to prune me.