Example of Section Blog layout (FAQ section)
The Blood of the Everlasting Covenant - Chapter 4 (Continued)
- Details
- Written by Administrator
- Hits: 29727
Part Two of Chapter 4
How to respond to a blood covenant. Intimacy!
We have an inheritance through the blood covenant that is so great that sometimes it is difficult to believe. We have grace by inheritance, but we must position ourselves and respond in a covenant manner to receive the inheritance. Satan is trying to block it, but Jesus is our Judge, Advocate, and our Mediator.
The idea of not violating your own body with harmful substances, as I just wrote, is not a legalistic ritual, but rather a preparation for intimacy. Our typical Christian thinking often focuses more on God's redemption than on His original design for us. Redemption is powerful and we do need to appreciate the vast price that Jesus paid for it. However, at the same time let us not neglect God's original purpose. Redemption is to bring us back to God's original purpose, which I believe is the fulfilling of God's good pleasure of enjoying intimacy with us His creation.
God cut and established the blood covenant with you so that He could have intimacy with you. He designed man in His own image, and His image includes a deep longing for intimacy. Too many people, even too many Christians miss this idea. The Father wants intimacy with His children, and His children need intimacy with their Father.
I have seen people all over the world whose minds and emotions are so wounded, that among other things, they cannot enjoy intimacy with their spouses. This is simply because their father and/or mother never gave them the intimacy they required and craved. The intimacy I am referring to is in no way limited to sexual activity. True intimacy may include that, but it goes way beyond it as well.
My wife and I have both somewhat taken this father issue for granted. We both have had a great relationship with wonderful fathers who gave us the love and affection we needed. It is only by seeing others who are suffering and are wounded by the lack of the father's proper role have we been aware of the healing that is needed. Even if your father and/or mother did not give you the proper intimacy that you needed, God the Father is now standing here to heal you through His grace and forgiveness.
I have been amazed at the countless numbers of Christians who are really surprised by the fact that God wants His voice to be heard by them, and vice versa. They know that God speaks through His word perhaps, but they cannot believe that God would have a personal, custom word, right from His lips to them personally. This is called a rhema. It is when the Holy Spirit takes the general Word of God, the logos, and makes it alive and personal, converting to a rhema. 'Rhema' means 'from God's own lips'.
Psalm 5:3 says,
3 “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.”
Revelation 3:20 says,
20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
The original meaning for the word voice is defined in the Strong's Dictionary as:
fone phone {fo-nay'} the idea of disclosure; to be seen, to appear to shine, to be real and manifested. A tone, a song, the sound of uttered words, a language, a tongue.
When you hear His voice in this way, it results in intimacy. Worship is spontaneous. The Father responds with affirmations of love, and you respond with more worship, surrender, and love. Through this process, your character begins to change into His image. His Word is embedded into your heart, and it brings forth fruit, which glorifies Him.
Malachi 4:6 says,
6 “And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
I believe, that God wants us to respond to the wonderful covenant of blood by becoming intimate with Him, your new Father. You may recall in the previous chapter we discussed the idea that we have a new Father.
Recall what I wrote in the previous chapter about God the Father. He is Pater, our ancestor the originator of our race, and He is also Abba, our affectionate daddy. The two together express the love and intelligent confidence of the child. Is He a disciplinarian? Yes, but only after He makes you confident in His love and grace. And His discipline is for your protection.
A personal testimony.
I have learned a lesson first hand in the past few months as I have been re-writing this chapter in 2010. We are helping our daughter take care of twin boys who were born pre-mature. As most people know, newborn babies cry a lot, and often it is not something that can be resolved by feeding or burping. I have discovered that these babies quickly quiet down as we nurture them close to us. When these infants feel the physical touch of their Grandpa, me, and their Grandma Carol (nicknamed PaPa and Jama), they get easy, calm down, and fall asleep. I have also noticed that they are becoming close to their Father God even at this early age by responding in a positive sense to worship music. Often when nothing else will calm them, precious worship music will put them in peace and then sleep.
Your Heavenly Father wants to do the same for you!