Covenants: The Highway to Divine Exemption 2

Introduction

Covenants are the highways of exemption from the oppression of the season. The sure way to exempt us from the fire that is coming from the heat that is coming. God has made up His mind to bless you, it is left for you to make up yours.

Every blessing of scripture is anchored on or tied to instructions. Every blessing placed in you or prophesied to you that is without instructions is just entertainment and it matters not who is prophesying or preaching it.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV)

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

All scripture are inspired of God and given for 4 main reasons:

1. Doctrine (Principles)
2. Reproof
3. Correction
4. Instruction

Observe:

The only reason which centers on principles is doctrine, the remaining 3 are talking about what to do. We can therefore summarize by saying that 75% of scriptures by God are filled with instructions and only 25% are filled with principles, which means ¾^th of the time God speaks to us is filled with what we should do.

The church is therefore not an entertainment arena, a platform for fun, a cinema, an events center or a comedy show. The church is a place of instruction. You need instructions to escape destruction. Instructions are antidotes to destruction. So when God is speaking to your heart or your life, He is instructing to deliver you from the destructions of the world. If you came to church and you listen to messages and they don’t tell you what to do, they are just entertaining.

Motivational speakers teach you principles and they make lots of money doing so. However every man teaching you principles must back them up with instructions on how to make those principles work. Principles will fail without instructions because from the scriptures, principles are just 25% of the need of man to survive on the earth.

When you despise instruction, you welcome destruction into your life.

Proverbs 3:11-12 (KJV)

11 My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: 12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

The more I love you, the more I correct you, why you may ask, because until I see the glory of God show up in your life, I am not going to back up from you. If a father refuses to correct a child then he is giving him up for destruction.

Principles are good, principles are great, however they will not work unless instructions follow. God has declared the year 2017 as our year of a ceaseless flow of grace but it will not happen in your life if you do not ask how to walk in the ceaseless flow of grace.

Proverbs 4:20-22 (KJV)

20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

If you have life and you want longevity in soundness of health, you take instructions.

Psalm 50:3-6 (KJV)

3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. 4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. 5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. 6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

God is looking for someone to sign a covenant with. That was the reason he found a person like Abraham.

Genesis 22:1-18 (KJV)

1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. 15 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

When someone asks you to do something and your heart is not in doing it, you seek counsel. If you are married and you have a ministration to be a blessing to someone and you are not sure you want to do it, you would usually seek advice from your spouse. All of a sudden, there will be an analysis of situations and reasons why you should not and why you should do the deed. This opens a window of doubt.

The motivation for Abraham’s movement and obedience was his love for God. His heart was sold out for God, his heart condition made God’s heart pleased with him. God actually swore because of Abraham’s love for Him and till today that oath is still speaking. A heart for God will give you your place on the earth. Today we sing “Jehovahjireh (originally from Genesis 22:14) my provider, His grace is sufficient for me”, the origin of which was the obedience of a man who had a heart for God. You can sing that song for an eternity, if your heart is not sold out for God, nothing will “jireh” for you.

A heart for God is the only thing that can guarantee you a place on the earth. Your heart condition determines your earth condition, your placement in God’s heart. If you make God secondary, He cannot make you primary. You can receive prophesies from not to eternity from anointed men of God and even with the laying of hand on you, if you don’t walk in instructions, it will all amount to nothing.

Proverbs 23:26 (KJV)

26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

Here the expression “my son” is an endearing one, instructions are given from a loving father to his beloved son. God is saying let your heart be set on Him. A heart that is not for God gives you no guarantee on the earth whereas a heart for God guarantees you a place on the earth. You cannot be a covenant practitioner if your heart is not for God. Abraham could not have cut a covenant if his heart was not for God. He risked everything so that his heart could be in place for God and then God gave him a place. So if you want God to give you a place in 2017, then your heart must be in place for him. If you are not sold out, you will sell out and only a man with a heart for God will refuse to sell out when the pressures of life rises against him. It is only a man with a heart for God that will rather die serving God than live serving men.

We live in an age of compromises and even inside the church we struggle with right and wrong. Sometimes there is no line between good and bad, we consider everything justifiable.

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