There is power in the blood.  I now know exactly what that means.  I cannot believe the difference in how I feel.  I did not realize how bad I was doing until today.  I have pep in my step for the first time in months.  My eyes even look different…more sparkle.  I have color in my face again.  I cannot help but think of how blood touches and empowers my whole being.  I know I have written about this before but I think it is worth revisiting.

            Red blood cells supply your body with the oxygen it needs to function.  They deliver this much needed ingredient to every cell.  When your red count is as low as mine was, your body is being deprived of oxygen and therefore, you are weak and tired. Your heart pumps harder trying to meet the demand but there is not a supply…or rather there is nothing to deliver the supply.  It is not that I did not have oxygen, but that there were not enough blood cells to supply it to the body.  So, if I exerted any energy, my heart would pump furiously causing me to be out of breath most of the time.  Many times, I was light-headed and had the feeling of vertigo.  It was scary. 

            When my count went up and then back down, I decided (actually the doctor decided) on a transfusion.  When they transfuse you, it is not whole blood.  I guess they could if you needed it, but for me they only needed to add red cells.  My white cells are doing fine and back in normal range.  My platelets, on the other hand, are still dropping and I may have to have them transfused if they do not increase this week.  Saturday, I only got red cells.  These are the ones that carry oxygen. Once they had typed my blood, they hooked me up for a 5-hour transfusion of new life giving blood.  I had two units.  Because they pre-medicate you, to avoid any kind of allergic reaction, I slept through most everything.  When I woke up, I felt better almost immediately.  Today I feel as though I could fly.  I am sooooo much better.

            Now for the lesson of the blood. (You know I cannot pass up a great analogy 😉  Think of your heart as God the Father.  It pumps the blood and the oxygen through your body.  It is the source of life.  With every pump, it sends the blood, specifically the red blood cells, throughout your body.  You breathe in oxygen.  It goes into your lungs and into your blood stream.  The oxygen is the Holy Spirit.  Every cell desperately needs oxygen to function.  So the Holy Spirit flows but, it has no entrance into you without the red blood cells to transport it.  I bet you guessed it, the red blood cells are Jesus.  They make a way for the life giving oxygen to enter into the cells to bring the power of life to you.  So the whole circulatory system is a picture of the trinity and how it operates in our lives.  God keeps your spiritual heart beating, the Holy Spirit gives you breath, and Jesus’ blood transports the life giving forgiveness when you ask him. And just as red blood cells remove waste from our cells, he also removes the life-stealing sin from our lives. Life is upside down, you are experiencing vertigo until you ask him in. You do not really know how bad you feel and how weak you are until you get a transfusion of his blood, then you feel as if you could fly. You are clean and whole…the Holy Spirit rushes in and brings the breath of God’s love into every fiber of your being. How cool is that!  His blood sacrifice makes a way for us to live, he delivers the love that God pumps to us through the oxygen rich Holy Spirit. The bible says that all creation testifies of him…that includes our bodies.  He truly is everywhere. There is power in the blood.