"The blood of the everlasting covenant."—Hebrews 13:20.
Jesus is our Passover Lamb. We have to eat the whole Lamb. We are to apply the Blood Covenant on the doorposts of our hearts. We claim the Covenant promises over each situation. This waiting on God acknowledges Him as Lord. The Bible is The Blood Covenant Book. It's a bloody book. I cannot pray to Him except through the Covenant of Grace; and I know that I am not His child unless I am His, first through the Covenant whereby Christ purchased me. The Covenant of Grace was made before the foundation of the world between God the Father, and God the Son; or to put it in a yet more scriptural light, it was made mutually between the three divine persons of the adorable Trinity. This covenant was not made mutually between God and man. Man did not at that time exist; but Christ stood in the Covenant as man's representative. In that sense we will allow that it was a
Covenant between God and man, but not a Covenant between God and any man personally and individually. It was a covenant between God with Christ, and through Christ indirectly with all the blood-bought Seed who were loved of Christ from the foundation of the world. The understanding that your Blood Covenant with God is binding, comes with spiritual maturity. Praying in Jesus' Name acknowledges that Jesus is the High Priest of our confession. These are deep spiritual truths that take root, over time.
Rom.5:9; Eph.1:7; Matt.13:12; Col.1:20; John 1:7.
Spiritual growth can be compared to biological cell division. With few exceptions, a living cell either reproduces or it dies. We, too, either reproduce or die. Born again believers are the only Christians who claim to have a supernatural transformation through faith. The church is the support system who undergirds the Christian by discipling and mentoring them in the faith. The challenge to the church and not religion, is: "What you win them with, is what you will win them to."
God never told His disciples to obey Him. We must tune out the world. Then we will learn how to listen to God. He speaks clearly and consistently through the Word of God. God wouldn't ask us to obey Him without providing direction and guidance to us, individually. If we don't listen, we can't obey. If we don't obey, we can't listen. Trust and obedience go hand in hand together> Isa. 64.
We understand the doctrine of the Trinity-the Triune Godhead-
(First), the doctrine rests completely upon the truth of the first clause: there is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4-6; Isaiah 43:10).
(Second), the definition insists that there are three divine persons (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Jude 20-21).[1]
(Third), we are told that the relationship among these divine persons is eternal. God the Father is clearly God (John 17:5; Romans 16:26). The Son is fully God (Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 16:16; John 10:36; 17:5). The Holy Spirit is fully God (John 16:7-8; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Hebrews 9:14). They have eternally existed in this unique relationship. The Father is not 1/3 of God, the Son 1/3 of God the Spirit 1/3 of God. Each is fully God, coequal with the others, and that eternally. ***We pray to God, the Father, Jesus, the Son, mediates, prays for us, and The Holy Spirit-(not an It)-ushers us into the Presence of God when we worship God and the Son. "Good Morning, Holy Spirit" welcomes The Holy Spirit.
How strong is the Word to you? Ex.34:7; Heb. 8:12. We must meditate on the Word. Wisdom is the principle thing-Luke 2:52. Our walk can be legalistic if we put our holiness first. Religiosity says that you are an experienced christian. If we worship God, we will receive wisdom as a by-product. Just because we can go 150 mph does not mean that we have to. We need to use common sense. Let God get behind the wheel. His presence brings the fragrance of the Anointing. The Anointing removes the burden and destroys every yoke in our lives. We get conditioned to see things in the natural. The Anointing allows us to dream bigger than what we're going through.
Zeal is not acquired through theology, alone. Zeal comes after actively fighting; contending for the faith. Col. 3:4> {We set our affection on} what we have a zeal for. They work hand in hand. This is the order that God laid out for us to acquire zeal.> Ezek.11:17-22. ***** See v.20. We either walk in condemnation or in the zeal of the Lord. Religiosity is being earnest about the commandments first, but zeal is for God Who gave the commandments. We need an Isaac and a Jacob. We'll end apathy when we live with zeal.
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."
Psalms 19:14, KJV
"My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD."
Psalms 104:34, KJV
"MEM. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day . . . I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation."
Psalms 119:97, 99, KJV
"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
Joshua 1:8, KJV
"But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."
Psalms 1:2, KJV
"When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches."
Psalms 63:6, KJV
"I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings."
Psalms 77:12, KJV
"I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways."
Psalms 119:15, KJV
"Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes."
Psalms 119:23, KJV
"My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes."
Psalms 119:48, KJV
"Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts."
Psalms 119:78, KJV
"Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word."
Psalms 119:148, KJV
"I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands."
Psalms 143:5, KJV
"Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all."
1 Timothy 4:15, KJV
We must pray. Mark 13:37-38: "Could you not keep watch for one hour?" The purpose of prayer is to bring us to the point of faith. If we're worried about something, we should pray until we are confident that God will answer. We visualize what we are praying for. Lastly, we visualize exactly the answer we believe will bring Him the most glory.
Evangelism scriptures include:
Matt.28:18-23; Col.1:9-29; (pray this) I Pet.2:9; Eph.6:19,20; Matt.5:13; Acts 4:23-31; Ps.66:4; Ps.50:1; Rom.8:31; Deut. 33:27;
What are your priorities? Make a list. Are these priorites giving you satisfaction? We need to raise the standard and pick up the pace. What are your spiritual Vital Signs? Are you spiritually surviving but not growing? Demus' life is mentioned three times by Paul. Do you see your life as not requiring much of you? In the midst of a crisis does your priorities change? Whose report will you believe? We will believe the report of the Lord. We must become a spiritual arsonist for the Lord.
A No Vacancy sign should be hanging in your window, to the enemy. What is your Ninevah? Augustine said,"Whatever men will build, men will destroy." Be in the game. God will meet you at the 50-yard line. Unlike football, there is no Plan B. God has not changed His mind. Fix yourself on the goal, but see what's right in front of you. Your strength can also be your blindspot. Don't just be an open faucet all the time. Don't be a fan of Jesus. Be a follower. Growth involves practice, practice, practice. In the ring is where it matters. You have to put up a fight. You watch and learn in the ring. The House of God is your gym! Don't use things or people to give you a false sense of security. We want to fine tune the game plan. To stand, we must "Hold the position." "Holding the position" is not fully operating in stealth mode. The Holy Spirit is the process of moving when He takes over. The Holy Spirit is our ally. He is our Informant. God doesn't even the score. You're a winner!
We need to have a sense of occasion or we will underestimate the sense of occasion. Matt.25:1-13; John 12:27; Gen. 8:22. Don't lose your sense of consequence. Every action has a reaction. Pray that God heightens your sense of awareness. Don't allow life to just happen to you, but In You. Draw a line in the sand. Have a made-up mind. Are you aware or unaware? There's no in-between. What is eternal is eternal. What is important to you? What are you doing to invest your time in that? What were you made to do? Do you know what God requires of you? Do you know what you need to do? Prov.8:27-31.
The definition of Recalibrate:
To plan or devise (something) carefully so as to have a precise use, application, appeal, etc.: a sales strategy calibrated to rich investors. We need to recalibrate our joy. We need to take stock of our joy. If we haven't served others, we've misplaced our joy.
One's image and identity can include the reason why we are with certain groups of people. People are what the purpose is for and people can also distract. Paul said in II Cor. 12:7 that trouble will visit us in our circle. Whatever group we are in is what we will become. You have to have core and not ego. There is a necessity for an enemy. Enemies reveal the Judas in your life. Luke 22:1-6. Judas is not your enemy. The nature of a Judas is that they are intimidated by you. An enemy is too weak to confront you. They are in your circle but they are your enemy's friend. The enemy has to attach to a Judas who's already there. In the Word, the chief priests and scribes were the enemy. You have an enemy assigned to connect to your Judas. Satan attempts to weaken you through the influence of others. When the enemy can't take you out from without, he'll try to destroy you from within. Get a different perspective on what is happening right now. Don't take persecution personally. It's for righteousness' sake. If you have an enemy, you're blessed. If you don't have one, you're not doing anything. When your Judas is revealed, it's only 3 days until your resurrection! A new place of destiny will be revealed! You are the Vault. God is guarding your Treasure. I Sam. 17:4-28. The size of your enemy determines the size of your reward. If you want to be No. 1, you can't beat No. 6 or No. 9. You can't be an exceptional person by fighting ordinary battles. The thorn sent to you will become the Rose of Sharon. Paul understood the overall sovereignty of God. ***We should be thankful that we don't know what his thorn was. [Dig in your heels and get in the bosom of the Lord. >Psalm 63.] Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Paul received not what he wanted; not what he wished. James 10:37-Jesus didn't grant them their answer. Sometimes He doesn't give us what we want. But, He always gives us what we need. He may be a little last minute in answering prayers; but never late. We were saved by grace. He keeps us by His grace. Remember: the devil is only a mouse with a microphone. What are your weaknesses? Acknowledge them to yourself and to God >Psalm
32:3,5. Jesus was in command on the cross. He was not a wimp. He was in control then. He's in control today. The sacrifice was to lay His life down. The same sacrifice is needful today. Is God nigh? Is God near? The testimony will be: what a great God we have, not what a great guy I am. Direct all your praise to the Lord. We can't have it both ways. Lust wants to take. Love wants to give. In the Civil War, there was a thin line between the Union Line and the Confederate forces. We want to live in the land of Goshen; not in the land of Egypt.
****Our legacy should not be that of a caged hunting dog without a bird to hunt. We cannot wander around aimlessly or we will live a defeated life. Many bird hunters say they enjoy the dog work even more than the bagging of the bird. In this case, a caged hunting dog represents a Christian who has worldly strongholds and is not free. For your hunting dog to make a retrieve, it requires that you, the bird hunter, successfully drop the bird. A dog that chases his tail is no good to anyone. Churches can have all the stragegies; conferences; committees in the world. But there must be a target to aim for within striking distance.
Knowing ourself is a process that we have to work hard at. Self-knowing, not self-preservation, is the hardest thing that we can and must do. Until we know our subconscious selves, we sabotage our intentions and efforts, creating frustration. The enemy, then, is able to circumvent our plans and backup plans; backup plans of the backup plans by anticipating our movements, which we have not consciously nailed down. What are the marks of maturity? The determination to obey God at any cost. Demonstrating initiative to feed our spirit with the Word without being needy for others to feed us, and being willing to serve others. We have the tools, the Bible, salvation; church. How can we become motivated to mature? How well we know God varies over time. A growing relationship is based on continual and mutual self-revelation between the two parties. In this ever changing world, we have a guarantee: our love relationship with God can always grow deeper and deeper. God is the One who created life and so knows best how to really live it. Our goal should be to be consistently connected with God. When life turns us upside down, we are forced to face our perceptions of ourselves and our perceptions of God. When we come to a fork in the road or hit a speed bump, do we wonder why God does not clear the road? Our ideas about God influence how we conduct our lives. Jesus consistently confronted wrong-headed notions about God and His plan. We need to take stock and constantly adjust our perspective of God. God's nature does not change. His Word does not change. Until we
go through THE trial that we [never], not might not understand, we can never fully catch it in our spirit that God is absolutely just. Furthermore, there comes a time in our lives when we have to wing it and learn through experience and then the meaning of certain Scriptures will come to life for us.
The disciple-making process includes:
1)loving people
2)sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with them
3)encouraging friends to become responsible church members
4)nurture new believers in the Scriptures
5)inviting people to become fellow workers in the decision-making task.
How do we get motivated to pursue? We get hungry and thirsty for the Word of God as a result of others praying for us. God does draw us to Jesus, to His Word, to the foot of the cross through answered prayer. Why should churchgoers expect to experience a closeness and special communion with Christ, if they are not engaged in the very task for which Jesus promises His presence? We need God's power to help us to be an example to the people that we hope to influence for Christ. Also, give love time, when it comes to reaching others. Fall in love with the Word of God. Once we give ourselves to making disciple and serving others, we grow in our faith and experience a greater measure of Christ's power.
God promises spiritual armor for His people. Who needs armor but the one involved in Kingdom warfare? Warfare is risky business. Society places great value on risk taking; living on the edge through celebrities and athletes. Making a difference in discipleship is of eternal value, bringing lasting rewards that don't burn or decay. Following Jesus puts us out where the bullets fly. It forces us to trust and obey our Commander, Jesus Christ. But if we hang around the base camp, surrounded by Christians, we are playing it safe. Who needs a Commander or armor then? Christ's promises mean the most when we're weary from battle and feel we can't go on. Going through trials motivates us to cling to His promises and gives us a testimony. When we gain a Christian perspective on life, we realize that life does not have to be completely unpredictable. One payoff for becoming a disciple is that knowing a Sovereign God makes stress levels go down. Life is a choosing ground. **** Disobedience breeds
uncertainty because it brings a curse. Therefore, the consequences that result from having disobeyed is not worth the trouble it brings. What is the motivating factor for us to feel the urgency for becoming a disciple and accept the responsibility? Getting hungry and thirsty for the Word of God is what will motivate us to serve.
Solomon understood the power of a changed life. I Kings 8:58-60.
Peter understood this principle.
I Peter 2:11-12. Paul understood this principle. 2 Corinthians 2:14-14.
Integrity is seen when a person does what he says he will do, when he says he will do it. It speaks well of Christ. A Christian who is not afraid to stand apart from the crowd can be the deciding factor in converting someone that Jesus Christ really is the Son of God. Not only must we get sick of living a worldly lifestyle, we must also get sick of ourselves. ***In an uncertain world, the motivating factor for discipleship is this: your testimony is a guaranteed magnet to attract nonbelievers.
