Good Friday: Your Connection to Peace

Encouragement Letter

Today is the day we remember that the door of our eternal salvation was opened when Jesus went to the cross. The mercy of God was given to you through the blood of the sinless One, Jesus. We now have access to His mercy because of the blood.

I know that talking about the blood of Jesus is uncomfortable for many. But His blood was the powerful substance that washed away all the obstacles between you and God. It became His greatest gift to all mankind. You have been given access to the blood as a believer in Jesus. His blood contains His life and His sacrifice. It also contains His obedience. His blood washes you of all rebellion and the sin that attaches to rebellion.

When His blood flowed on the cross it became a spiritual payment for our sins. Our lives were ransomed once and for all-eternally-by the precious blood of the spotless lamb of God (1 Peter 1:18-19). Jesus secured our right standing with the Almighty One. In the court of judgement when your life is presented and weighed guilty or innocent, you can simple say, “I plead the blood of Jesus over my life.” You have been redeemed and rescued by the blood of Jesus.

Look at you now! Everything is new! Although you were once distant and far away from God, now you have been brough delightfully close to Him through the sacred blood of Jesus-you have actually been united to Christ!

Our reconciling “Peace” is Jesus!

By dying as our sacrifice, He has broken down every wall of prejudice that separated us and now has made us equal through our union with Christ. Ethnic hatred has been dissolved by the crucifixion of His precious body on the cross. Ephesians 2:13-15 TPT

Peace is not a lack of war or an atmosphere that is calm. Peace is a person, Jesus. Through His sacrifice we have been brought very near to Jesus. Our relationship with Jesus gives us a connection to peace.

When the blood of Jesus flowed it unlocked us from the responsibility to work for our salvation.

Even though you were once distant from Him, living in the shadows of your evil thoughts and actions, He reconciled you back to Himself.

He released His supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of His own body as the sin-payment on your behalf so that you would dwell in His presence.

And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for He sees you as holy, flawless, and restored. Colossians 1:21-22 TPT

This is the gospel.

To quote a great man of faith, “We need to hear the gospel every day, because we forget it every day.” These scriptures bring me into a moment of sincere reverence for what Jesus did for me. They bring rest to my soul while living in a world that can be painful. I hope they do this for you as well. When all you hear are voices that say you are not good enough or that God is displeased with His church or we live in a society that is destined for destruction…remember the blood. His mercy is flowing even now through the blood of Jesus. The blood speaks, “You are cleansed.”

Do you remember when Jesus said, “I am the Vine, you are the branches”(John 15:5)? I was letting this powerful truth fill my mind this week. By the way, meditating on the Word of God brings a healthy, stabilized, and peaceful mind. It is wonderful! Believers are bombarded with so much information in this world, if you are not meditating (not emptying your mind, but filling it!) on who God says you are, you will forget.

I want to share with you the vision He gave me as I meditated on this image of identity found in the branch and the Vine.

He showed me a branch; it was wild and twisting. It had changed direction over the course of its growth to search desperately for light. It had an old, weak root system that had tried to break through the rock-hard soil but failed, as a result it had no depth; it was a wild branch reaching for depth, light, and stability and destined for destruction.

I saw the hand of the Father reach and grab hold of the branch. He reached out with an expert hand, moving slow and steady with tender mercy and love. He cut away the branch from certain destruction. He cut it away from its old root system.

He then joined the branch to His Life Vine. He smeared the life force of the Vine between the connection, creating a perfect attachment. He bound the two with the strength of the Vine. The Vine began to feed the branch with Life. What was in the Vine flowed through the branch. The connection became seamless. The two had joined and a brand new branch was made.

The Holy Spirit wants you to receive this truth in the believing part of your heart: You are joined to Jesus. The Father cut you off from your old identity, your old root system. You were wild and searching for depth, light, and stability on your own. The Father in His tender mercy and love cut you away from certain destruction.

He joined you to His life Vine, Jesus. He smeared the blood of Jesus between your life and the Vine and made an eternal connection. The voice of Truth now flows into you. You have access to the mind of Christ. You have access to His perfect peace. You are now joined to a perfect root system which is buried in the richest soil found…His righteousness. The branch draws the righteousness up through the Vine and receives it and is made well.

Your life is not your own. Your life is no longer seen in judgement apart or separated from God. The fruits of revelation and truth grow without effort because of His divine connection.

You are growing and becoming familiar with your new life. The old is cut away.

It is cut away.

To study the old life is pointless- there is no life in it. To focus on your new identity, connected to the Vine, is like growing your outer and inner parts into Him…strengthening the connection. As a result of this focus, His outer and inner grows into you.

There is no disease you have brought into this connection; no sin disease, no soul disease, no disease. You were cleansed before you were connected.

The Words I have spoken over you have already cleansed you. So you must remain in life-union with Me, for I remain in life-union with you. For as a branch severed from the vine will not bear fruit, so your life will be fruitless unless you live your life intimately joined to Mine. John 15:3-4 TPT

His Words over you keep you in the Secret Place of the Most High God. You are found under His voice. I am going to include a link to a teaching I did on being found under His voice and the powerful position you have available with His words over you.

(My message, Be Found Under His Voice, begins at minute 35 on the video.)

Thank you for taking a moment and listening to this letter and the message above.

I pray that as you turn your heart to Him and receive the LIFE He has for you, all your troubles would drop away. I pray the comfort of the Holy Spirit’s words to wrap your heart today. I pray for a warrior spirit to rise and for you to declare what is TRUE according to what God has spoken over your life. I pray that your relationship with Jesus-your relationship with the TRUTH- would completely heal your heart. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Until next time,

Teresa L. Hoffman

Founder of Holy Ground Life, a ministry pointing you to Jesus. She is a pastor at Christian Faith Campus in Big Bear Lake, CA and the author of “The Jesus Handbook, Instructions for Life from the Red Letters” published by Trilogy/TBN.

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