SATAN DOES NOT OWN THE MONOPOLY BOARD OF OUR LIVES

We are saved by the blood of Jesus.  It is His blood that cleanses us from all unrighteousness.  Why would we need to be told this by God?  It's obvious.  If we don't have confidence in the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, we will forever be trying to earn our way to Heaven by two things, (1) our good deeds, and (2) sin avoidance.  The problem is that we will fail at both...often.

Mark this down someplace in your heart.  Jesus paid the price on the Cross.  He didn't make a down payment.  The cost has been paid in full.  Jesus is perpetually footing the bill; paying the damages and then telling us to be on our way in freedom of hope and joy.  He's got this one...and then this one...and then this one.

We struggle with this because we feel responsible...and guilty.  And we are until...until the Cross took on..."our sins"; not just our bad habits, not our enduring glitches, but the biggest category of all..."our sins".  The Son of God was beaten to an unrecognizable pulp as he was in the process of paying the Clerk for our, what would have been, eternal demise.  We now have a "Get Out of Hell" card as Satan does not own the Monopoly board of our lives.

We are called to be baptized into Jesus that he would forever cleanse--wash away perpetually--our sins.  A problem with this fantastic grace is that we repeatedly sin and we aren't sure we can trust God with wiping up our messes.  Yet, He is aware of this because His blood is in constant cleansing mode.  But we, somehow, determine later that we must be rebaptized to once again wash away our sins.

I'm not saying that no one should ever be rebaptized.  I was.  I didn't understand at my first one that my sins were to be forgiven as well as, simultaneously, receiving the Holy Spirit...Acts 2:38.  I am conveying that God knows that we are repeating offenders; habitual sinners.  He gets us.  Jesus walked earth in our shoes to explain to Father what a quagmire of naggatational (nagging) earth is at the moment due to sin.

Rebaptism...including that feeling of starting over again...is to be perpetuated; but not in repeating and repeating the cleansing act of being buried in baptismal waters.  No, the refreshing of our spirits is repeated at weekly Communion.  The broken bread and the drink serve as reminders of his being beaten upon the Cross. Jesus' body was mutilated and his blood was shed....for us.

The very place a Christian is served notice that sins are gone and hope arises is perpetually found at the Communion Experience.  It's value is the "reminder factor".  The "what we do" expands into glorification of being reminded of "what He did"!  We don't save ourselves.  Jesus does the saving.  We do the believing that He did it well.

Therefore, experience the powerful reminder through Communion that we are a people who are steadfastly saved...which means...we aren't people who are grappling for hope only to probably be lost.  Jesus is the Victor.  We are named by Him the Victorious.  We are saved because God owns the Monopoly Board!  If it is to be, it is up to Him!