Previous Notes: ‘Using the Scripture, write down a prayer. We could start here.’
Praise You, LORD, for You are good;
we sing to Your name, for it is pleasant! (Psalms 135:3)
We give thanks to You, for You are good, and Your steadfast love endures forever! (Psalms 136:1)
You are the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exodus 3:6, Acts 3:13, etc);
You are the God of Israel (Isaiah 37:16, Luke 1:68, etc); You are the Creator and Lord of Heaven and Earth! (Genesis 1:1, Acts 17:24, etc)
You are Creator of Time and Space, setting the sun, moon and stars in the heavens, establishing the borders of the oceans and the firmament (Genesis 1);
Oh, Lord, You are great in power, and Your wisdom is beyond measure! (Psalm 147:5)
We thank You, Lord, for You are the God of our Salvation (Habakkuk 3:18); Salvation belongs to You (Revelations 7:10), and we have it in and through Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ! (John 3:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, etc)
Thank You, Lord, for through Jesus Christ we have been made righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21), we have been reconciled to You (Romans 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:18), and we shall not perish, but have everlasting life! (John 3:16, John 11:25-26, etc)
We are confident that You hear us and You are always thinking of us (Luke 4:6, 1 Peter 5:7); We are bold to run to Your throne of grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
We give thanks, o Lord, because we know You are for us, and not against us. (Romans 8:31) You never leave us, nor shall You forget us or forsake us. (Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5, etc)
Thank You, Lord, for through Christ, absolutely nothing can ever separate us from Your love (Romans 8:38-39) and through You, all things work together for good! (Romans 8:28)
We are confident to make these claims because of the Holy Spirit who now dwells within us (2 Timothy 1:14), causing us to call out to You, God, as our Father! (Romans 8:15)
To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:25)
Bible Study with Pastor Joedy
So much to talk about but there’s one thing that leaves me impact – it’s the finished work of Jesus, and the implication of the New Covenant in particular. And it’s the blood covenant.
‘This is the blood of the New Covenant‘ – There’s more to it that we can discover and apply in our lives. Sometimes our prayers aren’t standing on what’s already there – we’re asking for stuff that’s already there. We ask for healing when it’s already there. Nothing wrong with that, but again, it’s already there. It’s a finished work – rather, it’s part and parcel of the finished work of Christ.
We shouldn’t be praying like we’re trying to convince God. We ought to be praying out of what has already been finished. We access the grace of God by faith.
Citing the story David Livingstone, who immersed himself in African culture to the point that he eventually died there – versus Hudson Taylor who went to China and then eventually went back to get more missionaries.
But’s more about Henry Stanley, another missionary who looked for David Livingstone. He was running out of supplies and was getting weaker by the day. He had a white goat which he depended on for milk.
In his travels he encountered one of many warring tribes – and in this particular tribe, he was told that the only way for him to survive was to enter into a blood covenant with the chief of said tribe. The process was similar to the blood compact that we have here in the Philippines. Obviously he refused at first because of the paganistic themes, but then he realized this was more like a Jonathan-David agreement, where he becomes one with the chief – rather, he identifies now with the chief.
The blood covenant involves an exchange of gifts, and the chief saw Henry’s goat, and expressed his desire for it. Against his preferences, he gave his goat, and the chief gave him a 7-foot metal spear.
Later on, he would discover something so powerful with the spear he received. He proceeded with his search and encountered another warring tribe. He raised the spear he had with him, and the warriors bowed before him, gave him food, and offered to protect him! It so happens that the spear was a symbol of the chief’s authority.
The tribe didn’t know Henry Stanley, but they knew the chief. They bowed down before the chief’s authority, and before Henry as if he was the chief himself.
This is what happens to us in our redemption and salvation – We have the name of Jesus because of the blood covenant. We gave Him our curse – our sickness, our rejection, our sadness and anxiety, and He gives us Himself – the right (exotia – ‘power’, more authority) to become a child of God – the Father present with us in our affliction, accepting us in a world that rejects us, His perfect love casting out all our fear!
We should no longer be begging and pleading, but we should be commanding; Policemen don’t beg for criminals to stop, they speak in the name of the law.
17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”Luke 10:17-20
Ptr Joedy emphasized verse 19, but I would also want to put it in context with verse 20.
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.2 Timothy 1:7
In lieu of the spear, we have the blood of Christ – 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Colossians 2:15
We have protection and authority – 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.Ephesians 2:4-7
This is not symbolic, but here and now! We are raised with Christ, and seated with Christ in the heavenly places!
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”Matthew 16:18-19
We access this grace, not by our arrogance, but by faith: Grace gives, faith receives. Faith without works is dead, BUT the works are to receive. Yes, we rest, but we are not passive. We labor to enter His rest – BIG difference from passivity.
We do NOT have arrogance – we have authority from God; Power and authority to execute the Word.
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.Ephesians 1:15-21
The body of Christ is the authority, the manifold wisdom of God in this world. We are the display of God against power and principalities in this world.
When the church walks in her authority, God’s Kingdom rule will be established here on earth and He will be glorified.
We aren’t trying to change His mind to heal us, but we receive the healing that has already been finished.
17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Romans 5:17
What is the enemy doing to prevent this? He lies to us. He incites fear. He is as the serpent and the roaring lion. He is as the oppressing dragon of Revelation.
But our spirit feeds off of His Spirit. As the Lamb, He is the Truth. As the Lion, He is the King of Kings, who is our Life.
The power of life and death is in our tongue. – Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.1 Timothy 6:12
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Revelation 12:10-12
The enemy does all he can – as in sickness, he has us questioning the Word or what God really said according to what we feel. He scares us with the words of the world, either undermining the Truth or drowning with lies. Finally, He oppresses us by way of pressure.
20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.Proverbs 4:20-22
25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Do not give the devil a foothold, do not grieve the Holy Spirit.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.Ephesians 4:25-32
Forgiveness trumps bitterness. Forgiveness, as Christ forgave us.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.2 Peter 1:5-9
Remember your forgiveness in Christ. Forget everything else here, but remember first, how you have been forgiven by Christ.
The blood covenant speaks of forgiveness, before everything else. The forgiveness is finished!
Personal reflection, possibly for Sunday:
Before Christ:
Sin unto shame, unto pride
Flesh insisting on its lusts
Now, with Christ:
Righteousness unto authority.
Righteousness unto what we really desire.
God bless you!
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