Your Blood Type Relates to Your Spiritual Health

If you have ever had your blood drawn, you know that there is so much they can tell by what your blood reveals. It can convey if you are anemic, if you are sick, if you carry a specific disease, or if you are in perfect health. In fact, whenever you go to the doctor or even hospital with a specific issue relating to your health, one of the first tests they do is a blood test. Because our blood reveals things we can't necessarily see and may not even be aware that exists. It helps to understand what is going on so it can be treated.

Our spiritual health can be diagnosed the same way. What our blood reveals conveys the spiritual nature of our heart. Like the church in Thyatira from the Book of Revelation, they were commended by Jesus for what 4 things they were doing right.

1. They had love. A deep practical kind of love. A love that does. It's is a verb not a noun. When someone tells you that they love you, it's a God thing. Unbelievers don't really understand it when we tell them that because it is a life changing thing when you can express that kind of love for someone you never met before. This was a church that acted out their love for others.

2. They had service. There was never a need within the church or outside of the church that wasn't met by members of the church. They were active in their love by showing it to through what they did for others. They never saw anything they did as a burden, but as true servanthood.

3. They had faith. They loved the Bible, and were loyal to the scriptures. They were just leaving things out of the Bible when they were teaching from it. Things that may have caused people to feel uncomfortable so they left those verses out and didn't mention them. They were allowing the gods of the culture to begin to permeate the church. (Sound like any churches you know?) God's like Apollo, whose attributes were that he had eyes of fire; and the god Helios, who had feet of bronze.

This is why Jesus came and told them in Revelation 2:18 ~ "To the angel of the church of Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like the blazing fire and who feet are like burnished bronze."

Jesus was telling them, I see everything. I alone am the perfect truth, I am the only one who can stand before God in righteous judgment. I see your hearts. Truth is fluid in the world, relative by most people's standards, meaning it's not absolute, but is relative to those who believe it is. Their perspective is in fact, their opinion. We, as Christians, are people who rely on absolute supreme truth, not in feelings of opinions.

Psalm 119:153 ~ "Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law." (NIV).

Why is absolute truth necessary? There has to be a measuring stick that redefines truth from opinion. We need stabilization, something outside of ourselves that we can rely on to tell us what the absolute truth is.

John 14:6 ~ "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Romans 3:4 ~ "Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."

Romans 7:12 ~" So the, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good."

4. They had patience. While they were anticipating the Lord's return at anytime, they didn't just sit around and wait. They stayed busy doing God's Work.

While they were one of the seven churches referred to, they too, had fallen short. They had started well but are now going in a steep decline. This was a growing church, and there was more growth in the end than in the beginning.

Revelation 2:!9 ~ "I know your works, love, service, faith and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first."

It's great when you can have a good beginning and a good ending in your life. But if you can have them both, strive to have a good ending. It's not how you start, but how you finish. Never let anyone tell you that you wasted your life, by coming to Jesus so late in life. We might have had a lot to deal with in life before we were ready to hear about God, so we could come to accept what He has to offer.

The good news is that if you haven't accept Jesus into your life, it's not too late. Nothing you have done in this life, is too horrible, unforgiveable, unimaginable that God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, can't forgive you and begin to change you forever on the inside. You can still get back into this race of life with whatever time you have remaining and finish it well. Even if you have been told, you're dying in the next month and you can't physically do anything because of your health. You can pray! It's the greatest thing Christians can do. You can share the transformation of what Jesus is doing in your life with others you come into contact with every single day.

Once Jesus lives in you, you can't wait to tell everyone else about Him. Why do you think there are so many people coming to Jesus all over the world today. The ministry opportunities that are being filled by churches to share the great news of Jesus' unconditional and life changing love! Your best days should not be behind you; they should be in front of you.

Isaiah 43:18-19 ~ "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

We might be excited by what the Lord did yesterday, but we should be looking forward to what He will bring today and even tomorrow. Some people are so trapped by their past, they can't even look at their future. They may have had a glorious past, those good ol days! Just like the church of Thyatira, they were making great progress, but then they begin to drift off course. It's a warning for us, more so today than ever before.

Hebrews 2:1 ~ "So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it." (NLT).

The very moment you begin to neglect your growth in Christ, you will begin to drift away from Him. So now it's time to ask you, how is your spiritual health? Are you excited to see what God will bring for you today? Are you looking forward to going to church this week? Are you anticipating what God will reveal to you when you open your Bible today? Are you growing or have you stopped?

Remember it's not too late, to jump back in, repent of what you have been doing, living in the spiritual desert instead of basking in the living water of God's truth. True Christians have a world-view that comes from our study of the Scriptures and from our belief and faith in Jesus Christ. We absolutely believe these things to be true, without question. That is the very reason why Christians want to share their faith with others.  If your not satisfied, you're not living for Jesus.

Jeremiah 9:24 ~ "but let him who boasts about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord." (NIV).

Don't let God become a fad diet. One in which we start, then stop, then start again, then stop. We get wisdom and understanding through our spiritual growth in God. Are you drawn to God's Word? Do you want to be near Him? Are you compelled to know more about Him? It doesn't occur to us, not to spend time with God, to go to church, to pick up a Bible, so why do we do it? It will keep you, it preserves you. God's way is the right way.

Hosea 14:9 ~ "Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning?? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them." (NIV).

Stop being fed by this world and begin to feed on the Word of God. Stop trying to do it yourself. We have a choice. We have been equipped.

Psalm 37:23-24 ~ "If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand." (NIV).

Psalm 18:30 ~ "As for God, his way is perfect; the world of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him." (NIV).

We need to be careful and not stop our spiritual walk when life gets hard, boring, routine, the thrill is gone. Don't stop because God is visible in the highs or in the lows (the pits of life.) But what about the middle? We need to remember the words we see on the back of shampoo bottles, wash, rinse, and repeat.  Come back to God, repent of your sins, and go back to growing your faith. It's all about the blood that saves and redeems us, not what we can do for ourselves.