Wake Up – Part 2 (Mark Your Houses)
By Bunni Pounds
Last night was the beginning of Passover – the night the Jewish people all over the world celebrate their deliverance from Egypt and the night that the death angel passed over them. They will celebrate for seven days – the Feast of Unleavened Bread - to commemorate where they had to hastily obey God and leave Egypt.
They have celebrated Passovers and their deliverance throughout history even in times of trials and testing. During WWII and the Holocaust, Passovers still happened where they could. During the times where the Jewish people felt like they had no home, Passovers still happened. Regardless of how the world might look on and wonder – God has always been faithful to sustain them and keep them. They are His covenant people. Their story is not so much about their faithfulness, but it has everything to do with God’s faithfulness.
In a similar way – we, as Christians, celebrate our deliverance and freedom in the Messiah of Israel – Jesus. He has rescued us out of sin and death by His blood and death on the cross and we have something to celebrate during this season – Jesus is alive.
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” – I Corinthians 1:18
We have been delivered from sin and death because of only one thing – The Cross.
This is the second article that I am publishing during this important week, and I wrote them as a two-part series.
I would highly recommend you reading Wake Up – Part 1 here to better understand the context of this word and why I believe it is so important for this hour.
My friend, Kem, heard back in August 2018, two things: The handwriting is on the wall & mark your houses – the spirit of death is coming.
These words may seem harsh and to her personally it caused her to weep and weep in intercession over our nation for the last two years, BUT God has a plan.
He never leaves us without a Deliverer. Passover is a celebration of deliverance – if we will receive it.
We are in a time of trouble during these #DaysofCorona where physically and economically we are under attack as a nation. President Trump likes to say we are at war with an unseen enemy. He likes to remind us at the daily White House briefings that we are “winning” and that we will win.
The Passover story in Exodus 12 is not a passive story. I highly recommend you pull it up and read it here. It is a story of intense ACTION by the people of God.
To escape the destruction of that night – the people of God could NOT sit back and do nothing.
THEY HAD A WARNING
God gave them a heads up. He warned them of what was to come.
“ For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:12-13
I love how God told them exactly what was going to happen. He didn’t leave them in the dark. God is always speaking to His people through the Word of God and confirming His Word in their own hearts. He is speaking TODAY.
WE HAVE THE ANSWER
He gave the answer for this moment as well. We have the medicine and the way of escape.
I have been listening to men and women of God all over our state this month in churches from Victoria, to Fort Worth, to Forney, to Dallas and God has been speaking to His people during this time – He has been bringing comfort to the people of God through Psalm 91.
Read the full Psalm here but I want you to see again that true safety and deliverance comes through a choice by the people of God – a choice to DWELL IN THE SECRET PLACE AND ABIDE in HIM.
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge….. (vs. 1-4a)
Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling….” (vs. 9-10)
MARK YOUR HOUSES – THE SPIRIT OF DEATH IS COMING
This is a sobering word but there is a solution today for all of us – just like there was for the Israelites in Egypt. It is called - THE BLOOD.
There is real judgment; yet we have a God who desires mercy. So much so that He sent His own Son to suffer and die to give us mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
“So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:12-14
This is coming from the book of action where God spells out to us that FAITH without WORKS (or ACTION) is dead.
The BLOOD of Jesus will save us from eternal death.
He is our answer for this present day plague of physical death, and any others that may come our way in the future, but the answer requires a choice from us to leave our idols, to humble ourselves, and to turn to Jesus .
As I said at the beginning of Part 1 of this message, this is a serious word that Kem had that we need to heed and pay attention to.
It is a call to surrender and a plea for us to take refuge under the blood of Jesus. We don’t have to physically mark the doorposts of our homes with the physical blood of a lamb anymore, but we do need to receive the Lamb of God.
This is a message of hope, peace, and safety in this chaotic world we find ourselves in today.
Please heed the warning before it’s too late. Don’t delay. God loves you and wants to save you now and for eternity, but you must mark your house (your heart) by faith with the blood of Jesus. He is the only answer.
TAKE ACTION
There is ACTION in appropriating the BLOOD – AND the BLOOD is the only thing that saves. We are not promised tomorrow – we only have TODAY.
“For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
This is a call to awaken – from death to life. This is a call to wake up.
When I was young and in Bible school, I picked up a guitar, started teaching myself chords and wrote my first couple of songs. (Again, I believe FIRSTS are important.)
My first song will never be worth playing for anyone EVER. Only Jesus gets the benefit of hearing that one, but my second song was one I ended up playing for years and was even one I put on an album back in 2002. It was called BE RECONCILED.
(I have uploaded it to SoundCloud just for your listening pleasure. Reminder this is from 2002 - 18 years ago, so be kind. LOL! Listen to it here.)
I ended up writing around 75 songs throughout my twenties and thirties – many of them worship or prayer songs to give people language to sing back to God. I even had a few published, but this song called Be Reconciled out of 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 has always meant a lot to me. Now I know it is one of my deepest callings – to call people to Jesus.
This is your call during Passover – before Easter Sunday – during the #DaysofCorona - Mark your houses. Accept Jesus. His blood is enough!
He is ready to save you and show you a relationship of abiding with Him that is LIFE itself.
“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:20-21
I love you! Happy Passover.
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