Hebrews 9:22, "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." (NIV)

The Bible tells us that the only way sin can be cleansed and forgiven is by the shedding of blood. Have you ever asked yourself why it was necessary for blood to be shed to cover our sins? Why not something else, like water, milk, or honey? Those items are much more easily attainable and do not require as much of a sacrifice. Why the blood?

The first reason is because life is in the blood.

Leviticus 17:11, "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." (NIV)

Quite simply, sin brings death.

Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (NIV)

The death that sin brings forth can only be thwarted by applying an innocent life to it, which is in the blood. Innocent (or sinless) life triumphs over death. (On a side note: this is why we can have eternal life, because Jesus' sinless Blood has been applied to us forever!) Animals do not sin. They did not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Their blood is innocent.

The second reason for "Why the blood?" is because the Bible tells us that blood speaks.

Genesis 4:10, "The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground." (NIV)

Abel's blood cried out for justice and to be avenged of his murder! When man's blood is shed, it cries out for mercy and justice. Did you know that blood continues to "speak?" We can take samples of tissue found with blood in it from decades (and centuries) ago and run DNA tests to obtain genealogical and other information.

You see, God chose to use the blood of animals not only because they were innocent, but because they were not given the gift of speech. Therefore, when their blood was shed, it remained silent and it could not cry out for vengeance like Abel's. If God heard them, because He is Righteous and Just, it would be demanded of His very nature to avenge the wrong-doing. It was because of His Grace that He chose what He could not hear so that we could live. And God being Righteous and Just will not judge the same crime twice! Are you saying to yourself, "Oh, Sandy, c'mon! Give me a break, this is too far-fetched!"? Well, consider the following scriptures.

Isaiah 53:7, "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open his mouth." (NIV)

Hebrews 12:24, " to Jesus the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled Blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." (NIV)

The Blood of Jesus speaks better things than the blood of Abel. What that means is when Jesus' Blood was shed as our ultimate sacrifice for sin, Jesus went like a lamb silently to the slaughter,

John 19:8-10, " When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, ⁹ and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said..." (NIV),

and Jesus' Blood did not cry out for justice from His enemies as Abel's did. Instead, Jesus' Blood cried out, "Father, forgive them for they are innocent!" His Blood is still crying that today and forever to those who will receive His amazing gift!

We have so much to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving season!

Love and blessings to you and yours,

Pastor Sandy

Isaiah 26:3, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusteth in Thee." (KJV)


I had read the above scripture many times, but today two words, "perfect peace", jumped out at me.   I know what peace is, but what is perfect peace?   I looked up the Hebrew translation of Isaiah 26:3 and found that the two words, perfect and peace in this scripture were the same word.  They are both the Hebrew word "shalom." The scripture literally reads, "Thou wilt keep him in shalom shalom whose mind is stayed on thee..." (For all of you Bible scholars out there, here are the complete Hebrew written words of this passage.   I have hi-lighted the two words shalom side by side. יֵ֣צֶר סָמ֔וּךְ תִּצֹּ֖ר שָׁלֹ֣ום שָׁלֹ֑ום כִּ֥י בְךָ֖ בָּטֽוּחַ׃ )

After seeing this, I needed to know why the Lord would duplicate a word in a sentence.  He could have said He will keep us in peace and that would have been excellent in itself, but He chose to write shalom twice.   It certainly was not by coincidence or an error on His part.

What I found is that the translation of this double shalom (peace) means that the Lord will give a double portion of His kind of shalom to those who focus on Him. 

Shalom means so much more than only being at peace or having no conflict.  It means completeness, soundness, welfare, prosperity, safe, good health, happy, favored, rest, literally nothing missing or broken in one's life, complete restoration.

Reflect on that for a moment.  In Isaiah 26:3 God is promising us a double portion of completeness, soundness, welfare, prosperity, safety, good health, happiness, favor, rest, nothing missing or broken in our lives if we will focus on Him putting our confidence in Him and not in ourselves.  This is a double portion inheritance and blessing!  Wow, what an awesome Heavenly Father we have!

Oh, Heavenly Father, please help us keep our focus on You today.

God bless you!
Pastor Sandy

Psalm 34:8, "O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him." (KJV)

In our Christian walk, it is extremely important to rightfully see the nature of God. The Hebrew word for good in the above scripture is טוֹב -towb (pronounced tove). It literally means good, pleasant in the highest nature, agreeable, kind, benign, ethical, merry, prosperity, wealth, glad.

Jesus is our best example of showing us the nature of God. He said in John 14:9, "...he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." (KJV)

Jesus did nothing but good when He walked as a man on this earth. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). Therefore, because Jesus said he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father, God the Father is a loving God doing good. He has even adopted us as His children (Romans 8:15-16). As a loving Father, He would never commit any harm against us. This is confirmed by what Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 7

Matthew 7:9-11, "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (KJV)

James wrote in James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (KJV)

God is so good that He even promises to turn our darkest moments into good for us. Whatever He touches turns to good (טוֹב -towb).

Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (KJV)

If you are His born-again child, then you love God and are called according to His purpose. How do you know you love Him? You love Him because His love has been shed abroad in your heart (Romans 5:5). Love is already placed there from the time you receive Jesus. It is a gift to us from the Holy Spirit and love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8).

There is no evil in God and He does not tempt man with evil.

James 1:13, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." (KJV)

When crises comes, when "sure" things fail, this is when knowing the nature of God is crucial to see you through. God only wants the best for His children.

Yes, there are still valleys in life, but during those times, beloved do not ask God why He let this happen or why He did this. Do not blame Him at all. Let His Holy Spirit remind you of what Jesus said in John Chapter 10.

John 10:10, "The thief (satan) comes to steal, to kill and to destroy, but I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." (KJV)

Yes, we have an enemy who goes about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8) but there is Good News. For this purpose the Son of God came that He might destroy the works of the devil! (1 John 3:8).

Through Jesus Christ, He has made it our security that no matter what happens, we win because He is good!

Thank you dear Jesus that You have already given us the victory in You! May we live our lives in that revelation.

Many blessings!
Pastor Sandy

Dear Friends,

As a teacher of the Word, one of the questions I receive quite frequently is to explain the Holy Trinity and how it is possible for God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit to all be One.  That is difficult when trying to explain it within human reasoning.  For years the way it was explained to me was there is no explanation and it's just one of those things that you have to take by faith because God said it.  Yes, that works, but here is something that may make it a little easier to comprehend.

The Bible says that we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), and we know that He is Three Beings in One (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).  Well, we are three in one on a lesser level as well.  We have a spirit, a soul (our mind/emotions/intellect) and a body.

1 Thessalonians 5:23, "23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."  (NIV)


Hebrews 4:12, "12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."  (NIV)


Our spirits get reborn or recreated (saved) when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, but our minds or souls must be renewed by the Word of God because we still think and have the same habits we had before we got saved.  We must learn the will of God through the Word of God.

So we are made three in one just as God is Three in One.  All are separate, but all are one and in need of each other.  Think of it along these lines.  The unity of spirit, soul and body is needed.  One does not exist without the other.  For example, without a spirit, there is no life.  Without a soul or mind, or medically speaking, when their is no brain activity, we are clinically dead.  Without a body, there is no life.  (I praise God that when we shed these mortal bodies, He has promised us new ones.  There is a reason for that.  Why not just be a spirit in Heaven?  God wants us to have a body to complete His image.)  All are separate, but all are one and needed to live.

Each Being in God's Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is separate and They all Live, but They are also One as our spirit, soul and bodies are one.  Now God The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are always in unity with each other, but because we are human, we are not always in unity within the members of our own body (make-up).  Sometimes our flesh screams for earthly desires that our spirits and minds know are not good for us (Romans 7:14-25).  The Apostle Paul said he put his body under subjection to his spirit man (1 Corinthians 9:27).  And sometimes our emotions want to rule our bodies and our spirits.  We act out because of scars and traumas within. Those who are not born-again have what is called a dead spirit (Colossians 2:13).  They are dead in their sins even though their souls and bodies live.  (Jesus did not come to make bad people good, but to make dead people live!)  However, a born-again spirit is alive in Christ and always wants to do what is right (Romans 8:5-12).

We are created in God's image more than only a mere photo likeness.  We are three in one as is His Holy Trinity.

Hope this explanation helps a little bit in regards to the question of how can the Holy Trinity be separate and One all at the same time.

Blessings!
Pastor Sandra
Lifting Up Jesus Church