UNDER THE BLOOD . . . .

ONLY ONE THING PREVENTS JESUS from filling our cups as He passes by, and this is SIN... in one of its thousand forms. Anything that springs from self is sin. Self-energy or self-complacency in service is sin. Self-pity in difficulties... self-seeking in school, business or Christian work... self-indulgence in one's spare time... sensitiveness, resentment, and self-defense when we are HURT by others... self-consciousness, reserve, worry, fear, all spring from self... and makes our CUPS UNCLEAN.

SOME MAY BE INCLINED TO QUESTION whether it is right to call such things as self-consciousness, reserve, and fear, sins. "Call them infirmities, disabilities, temperamental weaknesses, if you will." Some have said, "But not sins. To do so would be to get us into bondage." The reverse, however, is true. If these things are not sins, then we must put up with them for the rest of our lives; there is no deliverance. But if these and other things like them are indeed sins, then there is a fountain for sin, and we may experience cleansing and deliverance from them if we put them immediately under HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD... the moment we are conscious of them. And they are sins. Their source is UNBELIEF and an INVERTED FORM OF PRIDE, and they have hindered and hidden Him time without number.

UNDER THE BLOOD (continued) . . . .

IF WE ALLOW HIM TO SHOW US what is in our cups and then give it to Him, He will cleanse them in the PRECIOUS BLOOD that still flows for sin. It does not only cleanse the guilt and stain of sin, but sin itself... and we are delivered! Hallelujah!

IF WE LEARN THAT THE BLOOD OF JESUS is there to cleanse moment by moment from the beginning of sin, then we have learned the SECRET OF OUR CUPS (hearts) being constantly cleansed and overflowing. The moment you are conscious of that touch of envy, criticism, irritability, whatever it is... ask JESUS to cover it with His precious Blood and cleanse it away and you will find the reaction gone... your joy and peace restored... and your cup running over. And the more you TRUST the Blood of JESUS in this way, the less you will even have these reactions. But cleansing is only possible when we have first been broken before God, on the point concerned. If we are irritated by certain traits in someone, it is not enough to just take our reactions to Calvary. We must first be broken and yield to God and accept that person and his ways as His will for us. Then we can take our wrong reaction to JESUS, knowing that His Blood will cleanse away our sin. Stop mourning over it and being occupied with yourself... and praise JESUS that He is still victorious!

THERE IS ONE SIMPLE GUIDE to regulate our walk with JESUS, and to make us know when sin has come in. Colossians 3:15 says, "LET THE PEACE OF GOD RULE IN YOUR HEARTS." Everything that disturbs that peace is sin... no matter how small. When that happens, stop and ask God to show you what is wrong. By faith, put the sin He shows you under the Blood of JESUS, and then peace will be restored and you will go on with your cup running over. If God does not give you His peace, you may have to say "sorry" to somebody else or still feel that it is the other person's fault. We do not lose peace with God over another person's sin... but over our own.

WHEN WE ARE PREPARED to let our days be ruled by the peace of God, we will find ourselves using the Blood of JESUS to cleanse us many times a day... from the smallest things. We will find ourselves walking the way of brokenness... but JESUS will be manifested in all His loveliness and grace.

MANY OF US HAVE NEGLECTED our lack of peace so often that we feel that we have little need of cleansing and no occasion of being broken. It is a bad state to be in and will take a great hunger for being restored to God... to be willing to cry out and ask Him where and how to apply the Blood of JESUS. He will show you one thing to start with and as YOU OBEY... and are BROKEN... you will take your first step along... "THE HIGHWAY TO HOLINESS."