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Convert Your Sufferings Into Spiritual Revenue
Have you ever been denied a miracle?
As a believer perhaps there have been desperate times in your life when you felt it would be appropriate for God to give you a miracle. You read about His miracle working power in the Bible, you read that He loves you, now you want to see it in your circumstances. Putting these two assumptions together, you ask God for a miracle, and you expect Him to give it to you. Sometimes He does, but sometimes, perhaps even more often, He does not.
What are you to believe? Where is God in your affliction?
Perhaps we can learn from the events recorded in John chapter 6. Jesus had just supernaturally fed more than 5,000 poor and needy people in the setting of a third world country. He took five loaves of bread and two fish and did a miracle of increase that would astonish anybody. They thought for sure that this was the prophet that Moses had spoken of, the one who would again provide manna from Heaven. "Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone" (John 6:15).
The disciples entered their boat and crossed the sea. Jesus walked on the water, and they arrived together. But the crowd who had been fed looked for Jesus the next morning hoping for another miracle. They finally found Him.
Jesus refused their request.
"Jesus answered them and said, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him'" (John 6:26,27).
Jesus admonished them to turn their efforts to what God requires. He knew that feeding them again would simply be another short-term fix, but it would not solve their true problem, which resided in their hearts and souls. Jesus wants us to prosper. Jesus wants to meet our needs, but from the inside out, not from the outside in! "Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:29).
Then Jesus started a conversation that really caught them off guard. He has a way of doing that. We may be thinking about a material or earthly need, and He turns our attention to the real issue.
"Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' Then they said to Him, 'Lord, give us this bread always.' And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst" (John 6:31-35).
Their response was interesting. "The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, 'I am the bread which came down from heaven'" (John 6:41).
Then He took them even deeper down His road of surprises when He said, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:51). "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him" (John 6:56).
Jesus was offering them a blood covenant with the Maker of the Universe. Jesus was using mystical blood covenant language in this conversation.
This is what He offers you and me. Can you just imagine? The infinite Almighty God, sinless and holy offers to exchange places with you and me, mere created and sinful people! He knew that having a blood covenant would make these people one with Him. They would abide in Him and He would abide in them. He knew that if they accepted the covenant that all their needs would be cared for. Which would you rather have, a miracle to take care of today's problem, or a covenant of blood with Deity?
"Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, 'This is a hard saying; who can understand it?'" (John 6:60).
Jesus persisted and even made things sound more difficult. He asked them how much more they would be offended if He left and they could not even catch Him to eat His flesh and drink His blood. He was speaking of His crucifixion and resurrection (John 6:62). It is human nature to desire a god or an idol that the natural eye can see.
Here is the major point.
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). In other words He was saying, "You don't have to actually become a cannibal and drink my blood, but if you want a blood covenant with Me you will eat my Word, because My Word and I are one. My Words are supernatural. The more of the Word you obtain, the more of my blood you receive!" Covenants are made with words. In this case the Word replaces blood. Yes, Jesus shed His blood, and that blood is transferred to you through His Word. You have an invitation to cut the blood covenant with the Maker, God Himself. All He has is yours, provided, of course. that all you have is His!
Sorry Jesus, without a miracle I am out of here!
"From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more" (John 6:66).
Some stayed. "Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" But Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 'Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'" (John 6:67-69).
Jesus, through the blood covenant and exchange that took place, gave us His resurrection power so that we could apply it here on earth on His behalf, in His name!
Quick fixes and miracles will not build your character; they will make you dependent slaves. "Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word" (Psalms 119:67). God created us to be fed from the inside not from the outside. Remember He said in Matthew 6:28 that lilies are clothed better than Solomon because they have life inside of them. Our provisions and all of our needs, emotional, spiritual and physical are to come from the life of God on the inside of us.
However, when our provisions are met through the Blood Covenant, there is more involved than just meeting our own needs. God provides for us as we meet His needs. His needs include meeting the needs of others through us.
God provides for our needs through the promises and the seed of His Word planted in our hearts. That process brings severe persecution. However God's overall plan in embedded in that process.
Suffering for the Word's sake.
"The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred" (Mark 4:14-20).
This usually involves going through the fires of life.
"I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church" (Colossians 1:24).
Look how God used the suffering of three Hebrews to spread the Word of God worldwide.
Do you find yourself in the "fires of life?" Is life overwhelming for you? The God who created the entire universe is offering to exchange places with you through a blood covenant.
Daniel chapter 3 contains a story about King Nebuchadnezzar. The King made an image of himself and ordered that all people should worship him through the image. The decree went out that whoever would not worship this statue would be cast into a fiery furnace. The three Hebrews Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refused to worship the king through his image-statue.
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up'" (Daniel 3:16-18). The Hebrews used fire for their worship. However, their fire memorialized the blood covenant sacrifice. Their fire killed the innocent lamb thus saving their own lives.
What happened was no less than a miracle.
"Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, 'Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?'
They answered and said to the king, 'True, O king.' 'Look!' he answered, 'I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God'" (Daniel 3:19-25).
The furnace contained four men, but only three came out.
"Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, 'Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.' Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king's counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them" (Daniel 3:26-27).
The fourth Man in the fire was God Himself, the Son of God, and He stayed in the furnace and took the death penalty for the other three. As we know however, He was resurrected after three days! He will do the same for you! Whatever it is that has put your life into bondage, into a prison, or in torment or hopelessness, God will allow that to come upon Himself on your behalf so that you can be free. He will give you His resurrected life!
These three Hebrews were made righteous by faith.
It says in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned, including these three Hebrew boys. It says in Romans 6:22-23, "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." These boys were, as Daniel chapter 3 says, "clothed in other garments." Isaiah 61:10 says, "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
The reason they did not burn was that Jesus took on their sinful nature and burned in their stead. They took on Jesus' righteousness and as a result, could not be injured.
The result had eternal value, much more than just the deliverance of these three men. King Nebuchadnezzar sent out decrees worldwide that the Hebrew God should be worshipped. God's fame was made known by this king throughout all of the inhabited earth, at least as far as his kingdom reached.
"Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.' Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon" (Daniel 3:28-30).
That is the concept of a blood covenant. Two parties exchange places. If you need to exchange places with Someone, if you need a new start in life, a new birth as it may be, read on.
As you discover the love of God in the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant, you may be brought to a place where you begin to worship Him as these Hebrews did. You will discover then, as Jerry Seville once said, "If you don't bow, you won't burn." Your life will not even "smell like smoke," and your influence will make God known to others.
You will also, progressively, begin to understand better who you really are in Christ. The blood covenant image will bypass your mind and go directly into your heart. This will give you an accurate image of who you really are. It will dispel the lie that attaches itself to you, telling you that you are unworthy. As you see your new self- image, you will simply find yourself living a different life, no longer desiring to do those things that are unpleasing to God. The next result will be that the power of God in you will do warfare against the satanic powers in your realm of influence.
[1] Excerpts From the book The Blood of The Everlasting Covenant; a book by International School of The Bible scheduled for publishing in 2008