REVELATION: THERE'S POWER IN THE BLOOD... NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD...

SUNDAY IN THE SON

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REVELATION SONG

as sung by Phillips, Craig, and Dean

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1.

Worthy is the

Lamb who was slain

Holy, Holy is He

Sing a new song

to Him who sits on

Heaven's Mercy Seat

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[Repeat]

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CHORUS:

Holy, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come

With all creation I sing:

Praise to the King of kings

You are my everything,

And

I will - adore You!

Yeah!

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2.

Clothed in rainbows of living color

Flashes of lightning...

rolls of thunder...

Blessing and honor,

strength and

Glory and POWER be

To You the Only Wise King,

Yeah!

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CHORUS:

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Holy, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come,

With all creation I sing:

Praise to the King of kings!

You are my everything,

And

I will - adore YOU¦

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3

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Filled with wonder,

Awestruck wonder

At the mention of Your Name

Jesus,

Your Name is POWER

Breath and Living Water

Such a marvelous mystery

Yeah!

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CHORUS:

Holy, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come,

With all creation I sing:

Praise to the King of kings!

You are my everything,

And

I will - adore YOU!

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REPEAT CHORUS
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POWER IN THE BLOOD

words sung by the Gaither's (on playlist) in bold

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Would you be free from the burden of sin?

There's power in the blood,

power in the blood;

Would you over evil a victory win?

There's wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power,

wonder working power

In the blood of the Lamb;

There is power, power,

wonder working power

In the precious blood of the Lamb.

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Would you be free from your passion and pride?

There's power in the blood,

power in the blood;

Come for a cleansing to Calvary's tide;

There's wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power, wonder working power

In the blood of the Lamb;

There is power, power, wonder working power

In the precious blood of the Lamb.

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Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?

There's power in the blood,

power in the blood;

Sin stains are lost in its life giving flow.

There's wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power,

wonder working power

In the blood of the Lamb;

There is power, power, wonder working power

In the precious blood of the Lamb.

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Would you do service for Jesus your King?

There's power in the blood,

power in the blood;

Would you live daily His praises to sing?

There's wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power,

wonder working power

In the blood of the Lamb;

There is power, power, wonder working power

In the precious blood of the Lamb.

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NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD

words sung by Jars of Clay in bold

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What can wash away my sin

What can make me whole again

For my pardon this I see

For my cleansing this my plea

Oh, precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow

No other fount I know

Nothing, nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus

Nothing can for sin atone

Not of good that I have done

This is all my hope and peace

This is all my righteousness

Oh, precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow

And no other fount I know

Nothing, nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus

Nothing, nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus

Now by this I'll overcome

Now by this I'll reach my home

Glory, glory, this I see

All my praise for this I bring

All my praise for this I bring

All my praise for this I bring

Oh, precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow

No other fount I know

Nothing, nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus

Nothing, nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus

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TAKEN BY LOVE... EVEN WHEN LIFE SQUEEZES HARD...

KETCHUP AND MUSTARD SATURDAY

Catch Up and Must Do

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We know the TRUTH... that through Jesus Christ, our LORD...

• FAITH justifies


• FAITH gives us access into His GRACE


• GRACE is where we stand


• We REJOICE in the HOPE of the glory of God
  
• We REJOICE in our sufferings


• We know the drill... suffering to perseverance to character to HOPE to...


• ...LOVE in our hearts by the Holy Spirit!!!
  

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Those words above, in bold, are the journey...

• What do you do when you get squeezed by life's struggles?
• Do you run from them?
• Do you complain about them?
• Do you rejoice in them?
  

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Romans 5:1-8

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Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this GRACE in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

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3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

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Thank You, Jesus for Your gift! We do want to REJOICE in suffering! Thank You for being patient with us!

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TAKEN BY LOVE! TAKEN BY GRACE!

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TAKEN BY LOVE... HIS LOVE... HIS GRACE HAS BROUGHT ME SAFE THUS FAR...

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When one member of a family hurts or grieves, we all hurt/grieve. Yesterday, I shared of a young daddy who, at the age of 31, went home to the LORD on Tuesday. He left behind his young pregnant wife, Veronica, and two pre-schoolers.

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I was listening to our theme song a little while ago as I thought of this young family, deeply in love with their LORD:

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You’ve taken me by LOVE

You’ve taken me by GRACE

You’ve taken me away

I can’t resist because

You’ve taken my heart.

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Then, as I continued to listen... a few songs down the playlist... Darlene Zschech sang these words:

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"...was GRACE that brought me safe thus far

and GRACE will lead me Home..."

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There are some people who have obviously been taken by the love of their Savior and have a remarkable understanding of the spiritual journey at an early age. Today, I'm thinking of and praying for two young mommies who deeply love their LORD: Veronica and Jenny. Jenny and her husband, Eric, are missionaries in Bolivia. They have two young children. Jenny is the daughter of Kent and Sharla (Steve's sister) Marcum. Here is an excerpt of a letter from Jenny this week:

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Friends and Family,
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We are sad to share with you the news of a diagnosis we received concerning my health. We had some tests run in Cochabamba on a lump I (Jenny) had discovered on my leg. The results from a biopsy we had done came to us last night, with a diagnosis of a malignant Liposarcoma. We are now praying for direction and trying to make quick decisions on the treatment of this cancer. Please keep us in your prayers, this has been an unexpected shock, and we don’t really have a plan. We will be going to the States to have surgery and treat the cancer. We will let you know more when we get things figured out. Thank you for your prayers regarding this....

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...The most difficult part about this is having to leave our home and the work and our team that we have grown to love so much. We hope that we can return soon.
Thank you and we love you.
Love the Reyes

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To make more connections with Jenny and Eric Reyes and their work in Bolivia, you can check their blog over on the right sidebar under Sikes' family blogs. Thank you for remembering Jenny in your prayers to the Father.

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If you are a young mommy and you are reading this, please know that I have prayed for you today, too. Today, let's stand together in His Love... His Grace... His Truth...

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TAKEN BY LOVE... TRANSFORMED INTO HIS LIKENESS...

TRANSFORMING THURSDAY

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A young christian father in Michigan (a friend of some friends) died while out hunting on Tuesday night. I did not know him personally. I heard him sing once. What a gift! I've heard of his wonderful Christ-like Spirit. What a gift! He went deer hunting on Tuesday afternoon. He fell out of his tree stand and died. He left behind a beautiful wife in her third trimester of pregnancy and two young children.

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What young wife / mother prepares for such a thing? I have re-read our scripture memory for this month and sigh. Again, I am convinced that "life is hard, but God is good all the time." Please read the scripture below, followed by a link to this young wife's blogpost written last Saturday. It's transforming!

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2010 NOVEMBER SCRIPTURE MEMORY
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Romans 5:1-8 .

What we've memorized so far:

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"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this GRACE in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

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3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."
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What we still have to memorize:
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6 "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. . 8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Blog link: HERE.

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TAKEN BY LOVE... THAT IS POURED OUT INTO OUR HEARTS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT...

2010 NOVEMBER SCRIPTURE MEMORY - parts 1 & 2
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Last week's memory was Romans 5:1-2
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"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith
into this GRACE in which we now stand.
And we REJOICE in the HOPE of the glory of God."
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The last line of verse 2 says that we "rejoice in the hope". Verses 3-5, for this week, explain that there are some steps to get to that point:

• rejoice in suffering
• suffering to perseverance
• perseverance to character
• character to hope
• hope does not disappoint

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This week's new verses - Part 2 of November scripture memory:
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3 "Not only so,
but we also rejoice in our sufferings,
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because we know that suffering

produces perseverance;

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4 perseverance,

character;

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and character,
hope.
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And hope does not disappoint us,

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because God has poured out His love

into our hearts

by the Holy Spirit,

whom He has given us."

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Key words for this week:

1. rejoice
2. suffering
3. perseverance
4. character
5. hope
6. God
7. His love
8. hearts
9. Holy Spirit

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Romans 5:3-5 .

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3 "Not only so, but we also _________ in our sufferings, because we know that __________ produces _____________; 4 ____________, _________; and ___________, ______. 5 And _______ does not disappoint us, because _____ has poured out ____ ______ into our ________ by the _____ ________, whom He has given us.

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.2010 NOVEMBER SCRIPTURE MEMORY
Romans 5:3-5
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QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:

• What should we do when we suffer? ___________
• What does suffering produce? ______________
• What develops character? ______________
• Once character is developed, what comes? _________
• What does God pour out in our hearts? _____ _______
• Who has God given us? ___ ______ _______

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Okay, now you fill in the rest of the words in verses 3-5:
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"____ _____ __, ____ ___ _____ rejoice ___ ____sufferings, _________ ___ ______ ______ suffering _________ perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; ____ character, hope. 5 _____ hope _____ ___ __________ ___, __________ God ____ _________ _____His love ____ _____ hearts ____ the Holy Spirit, ______ ___ ___ ______ ___. "
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2010 NOVEMBER SCRIPTURE MEMORY
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Romans 5:1-5
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1. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2. through whom we have gained access by faith into this GRACE in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. .
3. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
4. perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. "

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TAKEN BY LOVE... GRATEFULLY....

GRATEFUL FOR ROAD TRIPS! This past weekend, Steve and I headed west to Boyertown, PA where we shared God's wisdom on marriage with a small group of couples. These men and women attended this weekend retreat to enrich their marriages God's way!

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The fall foliage is still gorgeous and we knew we were in for some great scenery for the trip. It was important to follow the map and road signs from South Jersey to PA. There were a few very out of the ordinary sights along the way.

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As I shared yesterday, the topic of the weekend: In-to-me-see (Intimacy) is not always one that's easy to forge with a group of people who come from many different stages of their marital journey. Yet, we sat around in lovely surroundings (many of my pictures taken are missing from my cell phone)....

We contemplated this picture of two trees as the beginning of a series of pictures that guided us into a deeper look at INTIMACY.

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GRATEFUL FOR THE JOURNEY! These two trees, for Steve and I, are symbolic of two people coming from two very different worlds and growing together over the years (in spite of the fence... the boundaries...). Our root system and shared life journey now make us totally intertwined.

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I looked back, yesterday, asking the questions, "What attracted you to your spouse in the first place?" and "What were the characteristics of his that made you taken by his love?"
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Yesterday, I shared what first attracted me to Steve (in 1970) via that little ABC exercise of the characteristics of Jesus. Today, after 40 years of dating, I see how that list has expanded - no matter what the circumstances.
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Through the challenges and the storms, I am still taken by the love of a man who makes it is goal to please Jesus... to be like Jesus... and in so doing, he has learned and is learning that to be like Jesus is not always a pleasant journey... I hope my ABC's of Steve capture the essence of my Beloved:

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• Advocate (for Jesus)
• Blessing / Brother / Betrayed
• Counselor
• Despised
• Encourager
• Faithful
• Grace / Gentle / Good
• Humble / Healer
• Inspired / Inspiration
• Joy
• Kind
• Lamb / Love
• Mediator / Merciful / Man of Sorrows
• Nail scarred (symbolically)
• Obedient
• Patience
• Quieter of the winds and the waves
• Refuge / Rejected
• Son
• Truth / Tempted
• Unspeakable gift
• Victorious
• Wisdom / Wounded
• eXample
• YHWH (in Him)
• Zion stander

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TAKEN BY LOVE... AND GRACE...

MEDITATION MONDAY

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It's still the wee hours of the morning when I write this; still dark outside! Steve and I are still in Boyertown, PA after spending the weekend at a marriage retreat at a gorgeous bed & breakfast - The Twin Turrets. The fellowship of other christians on this journey of marriage was great. The speakers were Biblically based, practical, and transparent. Oh, that's right... the speakers were Steve and me!

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The topic of the weekend: In-to-me-see (Intimacy) is not always one that's easy to forge with a group of people who come from many different stages of their marital journey. Yet, if I were to narrow it down to two things that I took away from the weekend...

1. What attracted you to your spouse in the first place? What were the characteristics of his that made you "taken by his love?"
2. When did your spouse become your enemy? Your spouse is not your enemy! The devil is your evil enemy! (see Saturday's post)

As I have pondered what first attracted me to Steve, I was once again drawn to that little ABC exercise of the characteristics of Jesus. What were a few of the characteristics of Jesus that I saw in Steve and loved about him? That's what I'm meditating on today. Then, I plan to expand it to what I see in him now. I encourage your to do the same for your spouse. Let's meet back here tomorrow and be grateful!

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In the 70's, there were certain things about Steve that were much like my Jesus:

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• Advocate (for Jesus)
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• Grace
• H
• I
• J
• K
• Lamb
• Mediator
• N
• O
• Patience
• Q
• R
• S
• Truth
• U
• V
• Wisdom
• X
• Y
• Z