The life of each believer is marked by the blood of Jesus Christ. When evil passes our way, His blood covering becomes our shield of protection. Of all the things that cause the devil concern, the blood of Jesus Christ is at the top of his list. The blood marks us as belonging to the Lord. If you want to see the devil react in a church service where we have become comfortable sitting through yet another self-help series of teaching, start a series about the power of the blood. The demons sitting comfortably week in and week out in our pews will begin to make themselves known because the power of the blood is intolerable to them. 

What Jan and I have done for years is to mark our property and possessions as belonging to the Lord. We have prayed over the corners of our property, doorways to our home, and every motel room where we stay. Only in Heaven will we see what passed us by in the night.

This morning, while reading through Joshua, the story of Rahab appeared. Rahab hid the Israelite spies in the city of Jericho. Rahab knew Israel would defeat the city so she asked for protection. She was given instructions so the invading Israelite army would spare her and her family.  “When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house” (Joshua 2:18).

Before entering Jericho, the Israelites needed to cross the Jordan River. The Lord miraculously opened the river just like He did when the Israelites left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea. “For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over” (Joshua 4:23). This was a reminder for Joshua’s generation that what God did in the past for Israel, He will do in the future for those living under His covenant. 

As I read about Rahab’s scarlet thread of protection, I was reminded of the first Passover. After killing the sacrificial animal, the people were instructed, ^“They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal” (Exodus 12:7). In the history of Israelites departure from Egypt the same thing was happening again. Being marked by the Lord, either by a scarlet thread or the blood of an animal, all meant the same thing – the Lord will get us through the impossible obstacles we will face in our journey of faith. 

The peace over the homes of the Israelites during the night of the Passover was profound. It was deafeningly silent and free of distress in contrast to what the Egyptians were experiencing. “Then a loud wail will rise throughout the land of Egypt, a wail like no one has heard before or will ever hear again. But among the Israelites, it will be so peaceful that not even a dog will bark. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites” (Exodus 11:6-7).

Some of you are about to make a significant crossing, a journey to what God has promised. You will walk a path of obedience that is marked by the blood of Jesus. His blood will be your only confidence. As you pass through what seems to the natural mind an impossible passage, the blood will make a way. As the turmoil and fear of the world intensifies, you will experience the distinction of God’s peace in contrast to the fear of an unredeemed mind. That distinction will protect you and mark you as one who belongs to the Lord.