A Lifestyle Covenant – Part 10
- Apr 20, 2018
- 8 min read
“It was not flawless for we find God blaming its inadequacy: ‘Behold the days draw near, saith the Lord, when I will conclude with the House of Israel, and with the House of Judah, a new Covenant, not on the lines of the Covenant which I made for their fathers, in that day that I grasped them by the hand, to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt. By that Covenant of Mine they did not abide, and I therefore withdrew My favour from them, saith the Lord. For this is the Covenant that I will conclude with the House of Israel after these days, saith the Lord – I will now imprint My Laws upon their understanding; nay, upon their very hearts will I grave them, and I will be them God, and they shall be to Me My People. And of a surety they shall no more school each man his fellow-citizen, each man his brother, saying, “Acquaint thyself with the Lord”; for all shall know Me, from the lowly One among them to the great One among them. For compassionate will I to their wrong-doings and their errors will I surely not remember any more.’” Heb.88-12. The Letters of ST Paul by A. S. WAY.
Beloved,
It is with great joy I write to you friends, with paper and ink to unfold to you the riches of your inheritance laid up for you in the divine will of our Lord Christ Jesus. Let me give it to you in the word of Dr R G Lee, he said, ‘The word of God, the masterpiece of God, the book above and beyond all other books as a river is above a rill in reach, as the sun is beyond a candle in brightness, as Niagara is above and beyond a mud-puddle in glory – is immortal in hopes, a complete code of laws, the most entertaining and authentic history ever published, the best covenant ever made, the best deed ever written, the best will ever executed.’ Your interest in this divine will must be strong and your understanding sound, because, in the word of the same man, Dr R G Lee, I quote ‘…because, it is heaven’s bread for earth’s hunger, it is heaven’s water for earth’s thirst, it is heaven’s light for earth’s darkness, it is heaven’s answer to earth’s questions, it is heaven’s diagnosis for earth’s illness, it is heaven’s medicine for earth’s diseases, it is heaven’s direction for earth’s adventure and it is heaven’s victory for earth’s defeat.’
Now in our quest for understanding God and His covenant for a profitable and fulfilling covenant lifestyle; our faithfulness to the God of the covenant is of utmost importance. God keeps His covenant to a thousand generations with those who love Him. Reading from Deut.79 we read, “Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousand generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments.” NASB. See also Gen.177 & 262-5. Let us understand a faithful covenant keeping God deserves a faithful covenant keeping man! Now because you are reading this, a change is taking place in you, an impartation and a deposit are being made in you now that will turn you to a faithful covenant man/woman. This is a crucial step if we must enjoy God’s covenant. This was what delivered Sarah’s breakthrough to her and put her right in Hebrew 11, the faith hall of fame. The God who did it for Sarah is going to do it for you as well. Listen to this from Heb.1111: “Through faith even Sarah herself received strength to become a mother – although she was passed the time of life for this – because she judged Him faithful who had given the promise.” Weymouth. We know that this was not the way she started out, but along the line there was a change of heart and she judged God trustworthy, reliable, dependable and true to His word. If someone is faithful, then; they are firm, loyal, one you can depend upon, one you can rely on or one you can trust. In a simple word, that describes you from now on. Amen.
Furthermore, faith is a commitment of trust to something you have deemed reliable and faithful; to be permanent, quiet, trustworthy. You are called to be faithful and your faith is affected by your faithfulness or a lack thereof. Unfaithful people have trouble with their faith. Faithful people find faith easier because they are already in the flow. I pray your name will be deleted from the list of the unfaithful and from now on you shall find faith easy in Jesus name. Amen. People who are untrustworthy undermines their faith - they find it difficult to trust somebody else.
Now note this in Deut.79 we quoted above that the Scripture says that God is faithful and keeps His covenant to a thousand generations. God will be faithful to you even to thousandth generation when in covenant relationship you reciprocate His faithfulness. God is not only faithful to you but to your great, great, grandchildren. Where you are today could even be because of God’s faithfulness to your great, great grandfather. Anytime a man will be faithful to God, he sows faithfulness seed that would enable God to demonstrate His faithfulness to his generations after him. Therefore, it goes without saying that one of the greatest things you ever did for your posterity is to be faithful to God so that God can manifest His faithfulness to you and to your children’s children even to a thousand generations. See Rom.1128. Friend, it is a better and a more enduring legacy than a good education! Receive the grace for faithfulness!
Let us resume our topic from where we left off in our last letter. We concluded in our last letter that the evil of the Old Covenant has been remedied in the New Covenant because of the central promise of a new heart. Now we need an understanding of the magnitude of this problem so that we can appreciate the remedy God provided for it.
A covenant is a deeply affecting heart relationship that touches ones entire being. Therefore, somethings are done in the solemnisation of a covenant relationship that affects your entire being; spirit, soul and body. Take for instance, the walking on the warm blood of slain animals, the swearing of the oath - invoking God as your witness and the making of incision where blood is shed. It is far from being a fickle, flaky, shallow and superficial union ruled by one’s idiosyncratic temperaments or whims and caprices. It is a heart relationship that is dominated and ruled by self-sacrificing love, deep commitment and loyalty.
It will be appropriate for us to examine these problems so that we can avoid them in our relationship with Him and with each other. “Now these things befell them by way of a figure [as a example and warning to us]; they were written to admonish and fit us for right action by good instruction, we in whose days the ages have reached their climax (their consummation and concluding period).” 1Cor.1011. AMPL. That is the goal of all history, ‘to fit us for right action by good instruction,’ so that we would know what to emulate and what to avoid.
We need a careful study of Psalms 78 & 106 and Num.13 & 14 but in particular Num.1420-24. We shall only look at some verses in Ps 78. The purpose of this Psalm is given to us in verses 6-8 which I quote here: ”That the generation to come might know them, that the children still to be born might arise and recount them to their children. That they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but might keep His commandments. And might not be as their fathers – a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their hearts aright nor prepare their hearts to know God, and whose spirits were not steadfast and faithful to God.” AMPL. As Israel of God, we are their children; so let us take heed. Let us now highlight these problems one by one so that we know how to avoid them in our walk with God:
Unfaithfulness. Topmost on the list is lack of loyalty to the covenant demands. Inconsistency will rob you of power and blessing. A fitful obedience, when it is convenient to you will hamstrung you. Oh, what a blessing you miss! What power you lose through your inconsistency. I command an end to this devourer in your covenant walk in Jesus name. Amen. Always remember this that, it is a covenant demand; ‘a faithful God demands a faithful followership.’ Never forget that, otherwise each time you break the flow, you forfeit your blessing! Our faithfulness refers to every part of the divine will, we must obey with universal readiness. With such obedience will come spiritual prosperity. O Lord help us to see if it be not even so! I see the grace for consistent obedience release to you now in Jesus name. Amen. See Ps7810, 17, 37, 40 & 56.
Forgetfulness of His works. The second salient point is that they kept forgetting God’s mercy demonstrated to them through marvellous miracles and mighty wonders. They took the blessings of God for granted. Let us never forget that every miracle of God has in it the seed of a lesson for any future trial and temptation. Let us not in the euphoria of the blessing forget the seed. We must learn the art of recounting God’s blessing with thankfulness otherwise we make a shipwreck of our blessings. Read this Psalm and Ps106 very carefully noting how God referred to their forgetfulness particularly after they had experienced the mighty work of God. Friend, may the Holy Spirit grant to you a thankful heart in Jesus name. Amen. Please see Ps7811-16, 22-29 & 42-55.
They lusted and tempted God. This is a by-product of the sin of ingratitude. When you do not appreciate what God has done for you, you are most likely fall into this sin. We must watch it in this dispensation so that we do not allow the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life to ruin our relationship with Him. Truly, the world is growing churchy and the Church is growing worldly. But God forbid that we take our standard from the world, our standard must be in harmony with the word and the Spirit! Amen. See Ps7817-20, 30-31, 40-41 & 56, Rom.121-2, 1Cor.109 & 1Jn215-17.
The spirit of unbelief. They saw countless miracles and signs and wonders, yet they never believed God when the next trial comes around. They fall back to the default mode; unbelief, murmuring and complaining. Child of God when you catch yourself murmuring and complaining, repent immediately and amend your way. It is a dangerous territory, child of destiny. It is a luxury too costly you cannot afford to indulge in your covenant walk. This is one of their major sins. It is my prayer God will take away that tendency from you and replace it with gratitude. You cannot give thanks and complain at the same time. Unbelief is a terrible sin, not after God has come through for you several times; for you not to trust in His salvation for the next trial is a stark unbelief and God hates it. See Ps7822, 32, Heb.36-19, 41-11, 1Cor.1010.
Insincerity and flattery. This was a very serious fault with the covenant people. They were not true to the covenant in their hearts and often time they lied and flattered with their mouths. Friend, as it was with them, so it is with us; God detests lying and flattery. Flattery is what someone will say to your face but will not say behind your back. It is an insincere praise from an insincere motive! Please avoid it like a plague. See Ps123, 788, 36, 37 & 57, Pr.295.
Idolatry. It is a capital sin with God, when it comes to His covenant, that He does not know how to forgive. The sin of idolatry is always followed, in the entire Old Testament, with swift judgement. Anything that takes the first place in your life, the place where God ought to be, is an idol. Let us be wise and put our God first in all things. See Ps7858-64, Jer.57 & 1Cor.107. To be continued.
Yours in His service
Pastor David Adeyemi
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