"Blood and Thunder" with Levi Lusko - Week 1

Thunderstruck – Week 1 of “Blood & Thunder”

Scripture References

Primary text

• John 12

Other references

• Mark 14:8
• Philippians 2
• John 9

Overview

Levi Lusko opens the two-week “Blood & Thunder” series by explaining that every move of God needs both heaven’s power (thunder) and earth’s costly participation (blood). Using Mary’s anointing of Jesus in John 12, he shows what a thunder-struck life looks like: love so amazed by Christ that it pours itself out in visible, sacrificial generosity.

Main Points

1. Blood & Thunder: the recipe for revival

• Thunder = God’s power: untamable, like 100 million volts in a single lightning bolt.
  • Sinai, the Psalms, and Revelation all link thunder to God’s voice and presence.
• Blood = our costly, tangible response. In Jesus, God took on flesh and blood; we now offer our lives as “living sacrifices” (Philippians 2 image of being poured out).
• Revival is never “let go and let God” alone; it’s prayer + sleeves rolled up.

  “We’re not going to pray for what we won’t pay for.”

2. Context of John 12

• Six days before Passover, Jesus is in Bethany at a thank-you dinner hosted by Martha, Lazarus (recently raised from the dead), and Simon the former leper.
• The house is large enough to hold Jesus, twelve disciples, additional women, and many guests—evidence that material blessing can serve Kingdom purpose.

3. Mary’s thunder-struck gift

• She breaks a pound of pure spikenard (≈ $15,000— a year’s wages) and pours it on Jesus’ feet, wiping them with her hair.
• Love always gives; gratitude demands expression.

4. Three truths from Mary’s act

Give what you can

• Jesus praises her: “She has done what she could” (Mark 14:8).
• Sacrifice is measured by proportion, not amount. For some, $15K is impossible; for others, it would hardly be sacrifice.

Give while you can

• The opportunity window is short—Jesus will be crucified in six days.
• “Winter is coming.” Waiting for “someday” often means missing the moment (John 9: work while it is day).

Receive more than you give

• She enters the gospel story forever—Jesus promises her act will be told wherever the good news goes.
• The scent clings to her hair; what leaves her hand never leaves her life.
• Generosity rewrites memories the way fragrance overwrites odor—just as another woman’s broken perfume bottle marked the end of her prostitution.

5. Everyday illustrations that drive it home

• Illustration: 15,000-volt lightning vs. powering a DeLorean—God’s power dwarfs ours.
• Story: Shaver plugged into the wrong outlet, blue flames fly, Levi left “thunder-struck” and speechless. Real astonishment produces visible action, not passive critique.

Key Truths

• Revival requires both divine power and human sacrifice.
• Love that has been rescued cannot stay silent; it always manifests in giving.
• Delayed obedience risks permanent loss of Kingdom opportunity.
• What we keep is all we have; what we give God can multiply and return.
• A life of open-handed generosity leaves a fragrance others can’t ignore.

Response

• Examine your resources and decide what “doing what you can” looks like this season.
• Act this week—give, serve, share the gospel—before today’s window closes.
• Replace criticism of others’ offerings with your own concrete obedience.
• Practice habits of generosity beyond the tithe so your world keeps enlarging.
• Let sacrificial giving become a memorial that points people to Jesus.

Closing

Levi invited listeners to become answers to their own prayers for revival: pray hard, but also pour out time, talent, and treasure. Those already following Christ raised hands to commit to irrational generosity; those not yet following were led to receive Jesus, the One who poured out His blood for us.

“God’s thunder always strikes when He sees a spirit that is thunder-struck.”

Prayer

Levi thanked God for awakening generous hearts, asked for courage to act immediately, and pleaded for salvation for those saying “yes” to Jesus—trusting that old things pass away and all things become new.

Resources

• Book: “Through the Eyes of a Lion” – Levi Lusko
• Book: “Swipe Right” – Levi Lusko