Mercy 4: CrossCurrent
‘At the moment of Your death upon the cross, You opened an inexhaustible spring of Mercy for us, giving us Your dearest possession, the Blood and Water from Your heart. Such is the omnipotence of Your Mercy. From it, all grace flows to us.’ St. Faustina
Ezekiel described healing waters rising in the temple, a mighty river that ‘makes everything live.’ Could his prophetic vision have been fulfilled in the flood of mercy released from Jesus on the cross? That ‘sudden release of blood and water’ (Jn 19:34) cost Him His life but became the source of ours: the power to wash away sin and awaken new life.
That healing flood greets me whenever I consider His mercy. Jesus allowed men to puncture Him in order to release the river that would deliver me. What love! His death releases life, His cross a current that makes me new!
Jesus’ life of healing foreshadowed the healing that gushed from Calvary. How can one not read the Gospels and be assured that Jesus is all about releasing the afflicted? My son and I just finished a study of Luke’s Gospel and marveled at the vast amount of text given to Jesus delivering the sin-weary. One example: ‘A large number of people came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch Him because power came forth from Him and healed them all.’ (Lk 6: 17-19)
Power poured out of His life of obedience to the Father; how much more did power issue from His death, the ultimate sacrifice? He could give no more! Truly Jesus’ words to the elder son in the Parable of the Prodigal convey it all: ‘Everything I have is Yours.’ (Lk 15:31) On the cross, Jesus shows us the essence of complete self-giving. He gave everything to gain back our dignity: blood and water to dissolve sin and revive our lives in sweet communion with Himself.
That revival must become deeply personal. I will never forget a long confession of sin before a beloved minister. I had been teetering on the edge of porn use. My guide instructed me to confess my entire history of porn, most of which I had never mentioned. God came in like a flood: the blood, the water, the Spirit displaced my sin. I have not struggled with such intensity since.
He who gave everything to us asks only this: ‘Give me everything…’ In this time of prayer/fasting, might we surrender to His CrossCurrent and so take full advantage of the fruit of His suffering?
Open yourselves to that healing flood. Let nothing stop you from immersing yourselves in the water that cleanses, the blood which enlivens. His cross conveys all the mercy you need.
‘For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you but Christ and Him Crucified…so that your faith may not rest on men’s wisdom but God’s power.’ (1Cor. 2: 2, 5)
Prayer Points for November 9th:
Desert Stream/Living Waters: Eastern Midwest: Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Amy Van Cott, Regional Coordinator. Please pray for Lori Campagna, new LW group coordinator working with Dan Hitz in Detroit.
Restored Hope Network: His Way Out Ministries, Bakersfield, CA & Las Vegas, NV. Pastor Phillip Lee, Director. Specialty: outreach, speaking and teaching in Las Vegas, Trinidad and Tobego. Restoring Hope Ministries, Dania Beach, FL (nr Miami). Paul Osterman, Director. Specialty; working with recovery for men and women and wives in the area of homosexuality, and addiction.
Courage: Please pray for healing and conversion of LGBTQ activists.
Ministries of Pastoral Care: Please pray that God’s will be done, and His Kingdom come in all that we say and do.
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