EverPsalm

Tag: Life

  • The Blood That Speaks Mercy

    I recently watched a CBN News interview with a former satanic member who spoke about Halloween rituals. According to him, most human sacrifices take place during that time – which, sadly, didn’t surprise me to hear.

    But one line stood out to me: “Blood is a currency in the spiritual realm.” He likely meant it metaphorically, but the phrase stayed with me and made me curious enough to look into it further.

    Not long ago, I taught my Sunday School kids that “Jesus’ blood is special because it covers all our sins.” But truly, I hadn’t really stopped to think deeply about what that meant. I knew His blood was precious because He was sinless and fully God – but hearing someone say that blood has spiritual value made me see it differently.

    It even brought back a memory from elementary school. Some kids played this weird “spirit plate game” at recess – they’d prick their finger, put a drop of blood on a bowl, and try to “summon” a spirit. I never took part, but I remember hearing that the kid who led it ended up really sick.

    If what that man said it true, it makes sense why blood has always been part of spiritual practices. In the Old Testament, animal blood was repeatedly offered as atonement whenever people sinned against God. But in the New Testament, Jesus shed His blood once and for all, as the final sacrifice for all humanity’s sin.

    Sadly, I’ve also read that in some dark occult practices, human blood is offered in attempts to “sell one’s soul” to the devil, or to empower spirits to fulfill certain desires.

    So, what does the Bible say about blood?

    Leviticus 17:11 (KJV)

    For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

    Below I’m going to summarize what a Nigerian pastor Joshua Selman had spoken about the power and significance of blood, as it is the most insightful sermon on this topic I could find.

    • The blood of every creature holds its life within it. In Scripture, blood is the very symbol of life.

    • From Scripture, blood has always been the price of ransom – the currency of the spiritual realm, just as money is the currency of the natural world.
      • This means that when a demonic curse is spoken, it cannot take effect unless there is a legal or spiritual reason that allows it. If a curse does seem to work, it means there was a cause – a legal ground that gave it permission to operate.

    • There is a legal system in the spiritual world.

    • Proverbs 26:2: As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
      • This means that when a demonic curse is spoken, it cannot take effect unless there is a legal reason that allows it. If a curse does seem to work, it means there was a cause – a legal ground that gave it permission to operate.

    • When mankind fell into sin, we handed over our life and submitted ourself to Satan, coming under Satan’s captivity

    • In the divine legal system, redemption (to regain possession) required blood that did not come from a human man, since all mankind carried the sin passed down through Adam. That’s why the Holy Spirit took the fatherly role in the birth of Jesus. Mary conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit – not through the natural process of man – so that Jesus would be born sinless, pure, and set apart to redeem humanity.

    • When Jesus gave His blood that is the representation of his life, He was sinless, which mean he was not deserving of judgement. Even though it was God who allowed Jesus to die, Jesus made sure Satan played a role in His dying so Satan can be blamed.

    • When someone kills an innocent person, Scripture teaches that the blood of the victim cries out to God. And when that blood cries, God hears — and whatever the blood calls for will be carried out.

    Genesis 4:10 (NIV) – When Cain killed Abel

    The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.”

    Hebrews 12:24 (NIV) – When Jesus was put on the cross

    “...to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

    • When Jesus died, His blood did not call for revenge, but for mercy – releasing all of humanity from the guilt of sin.

    • Through the blood of Jesus, every curse and covenant that stood against us because of sin has been broken. His blood fulfills the justice of heaven and sets us free, leaving Satan with no legal ground to hold us captive.

    I hope this summary will help you understand and appreciate the power and significance of Jesus’s blood !!! Remember to check out this powerful sermon shared below.

    Colossians 1:13–14 (NIV)

    “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

    Hebrews 9:12 (NIV)

    “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.”

    Looking back now, I can’t help but think about how real the spiritual world is with both the darkness that seeks blood, and the redeeming power of the blood Jesus shed for us.

    Thank you, Jesus ❤

  • From Belief to Disbelief

    After the First Opium War, Britain took control of Hong Kong under a 99-year lease. Christian missionaries arrived soon after Hong Kong became a British colony. They provided education, medical care, and social welfare to local Chinese people. Even today, a large number of schools – both private and government-subsidized – are Christian-affiliated.

    I grew up attending one of those schools and had the blessing of learning about Jesus from a young age. Back then, I never really questioned whether the Bible stories we heard in class were true, and simply believed them with a child’s heart. I prayed to God every night and even addressed my diary entries to Him. As a quiet, introverted kid, it brought me so much comfort to have someone I could talk to silently in my heart – especially during the two years when my two older sisters were away in the US.

    I did eventually reunite with my sisters in U.S at 7th grade.

    However, my innocent and peaceful relationship with my Heavenly Father was shattered after a global history class in high school. It was a lesson touching on the historical background of Jesus. I can’t remember my teacher’s exact words, but I still recall the message clearly. He said something like, “Christianity is a Jewish religion. Jesus was a Jewish man who never left Israel. He only preached about his Jewish God to Jewish people.”

    I was stunned. Those claims were completely new to me, and I didn’t know how to process them. In that moment, I thought to myself, So Christianity is just like Buddhism — a religion made for a certain group of people. So Jesus doesn’t actually love me; He only loves people of His own race.

    Deep down, I wondered if I had misunderstood everything I was taught as a child. If Jesus only loved a certain people, then where did that leave me? 

    From that day on, I drifted away from the faith that once felt so simple and pure. I stopped praying to God and even began mocking Christianity with my atheist friends and family members.

    I might share in another future post how I eventually found my way back to faith. I wanted to write this particular incident in this post because, this week, I’ve been reading the book of Acts. Reading about Paul being chosen by God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles reminded me of my high school history teacher’s message. I couldn’t help but wonder: If I could go back to that day, knowing what I know now, how would I respond to my teacher’s claims?

    I would tell my teacher that while Jesus was born into a Jewish family and lived in Israel, His message was never meant to stay within one nation or culture. From the very beginning, God’s plan of salvation was for ALL PEOPLE. Take a look…

    Acts 2:1-4

    When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
    Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
    They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
    All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

    Through the power of the Holy Spirit, people from every land could hear and understand the message of salvation in their own language. It shows that God’s love truly knows no boundaries — it reaches across languages and nations. Have you ever wondered how the Holy Bible, a book written thousands of years ago, could be translated into so many languages? There must be something supernatural at work — a divine power enabling people to understand and communicate in languages completely different from their own.

    And later, in the book of Acts, we see God choosing Paul – a Jewish man – to bring the gospel to the Gentiles,

    Acts 13:47

    For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”

    Acts 22:21

    Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’

    These verses together show that Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles wasn’t his own idea – it was God’s plan from the beginning, confirming that Jesus’ salvation was meant for everyone.

    And I will share one more verse that is the driving force behind missionary ministry. It was Jesus’ final command before ascending to heaven.

    Matthew 28:19

    Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

    If I could stand in that classroom again, I would tell my teacher that Jesus didn’t come for just one ethnic group – He came for the whole world. His arms are wide enough to welcome anyone who believes in Him – including me and you.

  • The Last Breath

    Having been an oncology nurse for over a decade, I’ve, unfortunately, witnessed many patients pass away and have performed post-mortem care countless times. Over the years, I began to notice two recurring patterns that seemed to appear again and again.

    The first is something we used to call “death comes in threes.” I first heard this phrase from a colleague. Often, we would go a long stretch without losing a patient, and then suddenly, when one passed, two or three more would follow within the same week. Some might say it’s just coincidence – but when you see that pattern repeat itself time after time, you can’t help but wonder if there’s something more than meets the eye.

    The second phenomenon is what I’d like to reflect on in this post – something I call “the last breath.”

    End-of-life patients often display distinctive breathing patterns. One is called Cheyne–Stokes respiration, characterized by alternating periods of deep breathing followed by gradually shallower breaths and temporary pauses in breathing altogether. The other is agonal breathing, a more erratic pattern with moments of rapid breaths followed by periods of slowed or irregular breathing.

    Regardless of which pattern a patient exhibited, there was always an unmistakable moment — a final, audible gasp, as if they were letting out one last heavy breath. Immediately after that, a wax-like pallor would come over the patient’s face , and you would know that a life had just slipped away.

    Each time I witnessed that final breath, I couldn’t help but imagine the patient’s invisible soul leaving their body along with that very last breath. By the way, did you know that the Greek word for soul is psychē, which literally means “to breathe” but was understood to be “soul, inner being or life”? That brought me back to the Bible verse in Genesis that speaks about God giving us breath — the very source of life.

    Genesis 2:7 (NIV)

    Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

    The same God who breathed life into Adam still breathes His Spirit into us today, sustaining us until the day He calls us home. Friends, may we live each day mindful of that sacred breath within us, and praise the One who breathed life into our souls!

     Job 33:4

    “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

    Thank you, Lord.

  • “Praise The Lord”

    Yesterday, I went to help out at my husband’s work seminar. When the event ended and I started packing up, one of the attendees noticed me struggling with a heavy projector screen and offered to help carry it to my car — such a kind and unexpected gesture.

    As we got to the car, he glanced at my license plate and said, “Christian. ” It took me a second to realize he was reading at the frame around it that says “PRAISE THE LORD.”

    After he went back inside, I looked at that old frame again. It’s yellowed with age, but it still made me smile because of the story it carries.

    Many years ago, my mother got into a minor car accident and took her car to a shop for repairs. The shop owner must have replaced her license plate frame without mentioning it. My mom worships ancestors and traditional Chinese gods; she doesn’t believe in Christ. So you can imagine my shock the first time I saw her driving around with a license plate frame that said “HALLELUJAH PRAISE THE LORD .”

    Years later, she gave that car to me. I eventually upgraded to a newer model but decided to keep the same license plate frame as a keepsake. And by coincidence, or perhaps not, my new license plate begins with the letters “LRD.”

    Sometimes, God leaves little reminders of His presence in the most ordinary places. And as I look back at my life over the past several years, I truly have to PRAISE THE LORD  for His everlasting love, faithfulness, and abundant blessings !!!

    Psalm 121:8

    “ The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

    Friends, God is not only present during big, spiritual moments, but also in the ordinary routines of life. His watchful presence covers today, tomorrow, and eternity.