The Bible is the Covenant Book which binds God and all of His children together. Faith in the Name of Jesus qualifies us for it. The Bible contains the words of the Covenant itself. This is why we should never take every alphabets, punctuation marks and words in it for granted.
God’s voice comes to our world today from the Holy scriptures. The Spirit of God speaks by pointing us directly to the scriptures, so that we may know God’s purpose for everything going on in our world today (Psalms 119:101 and 105). This is how God works on the earth to reveal His purposes and His will to us.
You have to be taking God’s word literally for what it says, about your personal life and every other thing that you do desire for life. That’s why it’s important to be making every conscious effort to search through the scriptures, for what God’s word says about your desires in life before ever going to God in prayer.
This is one of the things that we have to do regularly, in helping ourselves to develop a solid foundation of faith in His promises (Hebrews 11:6). We need to be sure that those desires are in line with the Covenant itself.
There are those who are just being ignorant about what duly belongs to them in the Covenant Book. Their ignorance of the will of God has deprived them, of what duly belongs to them in Christ Jesus under the Covenant (Romans 12:1-3).
These are those who will normally pick up the Bible to read and then will begin to wonder: “What am I going to do with this Book? I need a new job, I need to pay my bills, I need to get healed of this terrible sickness. But how am I able to get all these done, by just reading this book?”
Such people do have all the answers to their questions in their hands; but they are unable to gain access to those answers. They don’t have the time to be searching out for those answers in the scriptures. It’s easier for them to get their solutions in the very way, that the ungodly resolves their problems. They do not have a working knowledge about how to exercise their faith in the promises of God.
They find it hard to experience God’s Kingdom in their lives. And it’s impossible to be Covenant minded if you’re still struggling to experience the Kingdom of God itself. A Covenant minded Christian takes God’s word seriously. He knows that God means everything that He says in the Bible. This attitude of heart commitment makes God to favor him.
Stay focus on those promises of God
Covenant is everything that God Almighty is all about. He is looking out for the faithfulness at heart of those, who do believe and are walking in their Covenant with Him. Being Covenant minded has to do with our positional stance before Him, in the promises that He has given to us. It’s important to be focused on those promises and nothing else.
The enemy will do everything possible to take your eyes off the promises of God. But you must never yield to him. God will do exactly what He says He will do. He cannot and will never lie. But He needs you to have faith in Him, to be able to do what He has promised you.
The Prophet Isaiah said:
“For the Lord GOD will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.”
Isaiah 50:7 NKJV
This is the appropriate stance posture of a Covenant believer in Christ Jesus before God Almighty. To set your “face like a flint” is the spiritual posture of a person, who is focused on the expectation of his heart from the Lord. This is the way that we approach the Lord with our Covenant promises. And He sees the attitude of our hearts from afar.
That’s why the Apostle Paul also said:
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16 NKJV
Paul was reiterating here what the Prophet Isaiah had already declared in the Old Testament. You should not expect anything from God under the Covenant, if you’re not going to make a demand on it. And you can’t do this with a double heart. You have to make your demand known boldly before Him. God sees your Covenant relationship with Him as being special. He is looking for our commitment to live by the conditions to His promises.
Every Covenant benefit is conditional
Jesus said:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33 NKJV
What does “all these things” means? “All these things” literally means everything that had been promised, in the Covenant Book to us by God the Father. This includes your healing, deliverance, debt cancellation, the new job, financial prosperity and everything else that you want, in accordance His promises in the Book. If it’s in the Book then it’s yours.
But our commitment to the things of the Kingdom of God first in righteousness, is what will move the heart of God to give us all of those things. This is the most important condition which has to be fulfilled, for “all these things” to be added to us. The problem with many is that they want “all these things” added to them, without fulfilling the condition of seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness. They are looking for a short cut away from the process by which God’s Kingdom operates. After some time they get frustrated, because of their lack of success in sidelining God’s ordained process.
This is why many of them are no longer looking at the Bible or the Church for their pathway into prosperity. The Devil has enticed and bewitched them (Galatians 3:1), with the prosperity of the ungodly in the world that surrounds them.
When the condition of seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness is met, then God begins to show us how to get the bills paid off, how to get the new job; how to get healed and get all the debts paid off so that we may begin to prosper.
It’s impossible to be seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness, while the lust of the flesh from the world, is still reigning in the life of such a believer in Christ Jesus. If you’re seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness, then it’s important to be separated first from the desires of the flesh. His Kingdom and His righteousness can’t be in those who are still pursuing the lustful desires of this world.
Live a holy life to have a stronger foundation in Covenant with God
That’s why we must therefore be separated from the world, and be consecrated to the Lord (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). God’s Temple is Holy, and that’s who you are. Don’t let the devil lie to you, that you can’t live a holy life in a world that is so full of sin (1 Thessalonians 4:7).
Holiness has nothing to do with your outward appearance. It has everything to do with the Covenant keeping God, who alone is Holy living inside of you. Holiness is the right attitude of your heart towards God and the things of His Kingdom. And to have the right attitude for the things of God’s Kingdom, you will need to be righteous.
The good news about this is that righteousness had been given to you as a gift from God, when you believed and accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior (Romans 4:5). You are now righteous, but righteousness must be developed and cultivated towards a holy life for God.
Righteousness was given to you by faith in Christ Jesus. But as you continue to seek God’s Kingdom and grow in His righteousness, for every affairs of your life you will be transformed. That’s when you will begin to cultivate the attitude of holiness towards your Father in Heaven.
By striving to live a holy life, you are positioned to have a special place in the heart of God. You will get to know God more intimately, than those who are just taking their relationship with Him casual (Hebrews 12:14). Holiness will set your heart on fire for God. You will become one in the Covenant union with Him on the earth. God is looking for vessels to be used for His glory on the earth. Holiness will make you a trustworthy partner with the only one God who is Holy.
Holiness is not a religious cliche. It’s about living in Covenant with the God who Himself is Holy. You can’t walk in Covenant with Him, if you’re not seeking to be holy. Holiness is what God and His presence in your life is all about.
That’s why you need to be cautious about your lifestyle, when you are dealing with the people of the world. The world does not know what holiness is all about. That’s why the world can’t understand you. And they will never be able to understand you, because they don’t have a relationship with the God who alone is Holy.
Heaven is a holy place. No sin or sinner can ever get into it. Neither can the crooked or fake Christians ever get in there. Jesus once illustrated this to us in the Parable of the wedding banquet. In the parable a man was invited to the banquet, who came without being properly dressed for it.
Jesus said about the man in the Parable:
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 22:11-14 NKJV
This is how the crooked and the fake Christians, who are not pursuing a lifestyle of holiness will be surprised when they get to heaven. Just like the man in this parable who was thrown out of the wedding, they do not have their garment of righteousness on (Isaiah 61:10), to be ready for the wedding banquet in heaven.
Are you clothed in righteousness or in crookedness with your Christian life? Get ready, because Jesus is coming back only to get those who are dressed up in righteousness. They are His righteous people, who are ready for the banquet.
Heaven is full of His Holiness. The Bible says about what the angels are doing continually in heaven:
“And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
Isaiah 6:3 NKJV
And:
“The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
Revelation 4:8 NKJV
The angels do this at all times in the heavens. And every time they do this they do catch a new revelation about God, which has not yet been made known. This tells us about what heaven is going to be like. We will forever be discovering new things that we don’t know yet about God.
Living a holy life will cause God to reveal Himself to you in new ways. This is why the Bible advised us to:
“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:”
Hebrews 12:14 NKJV
The Father is interested in our commitment to follow Him, as we fulfill the condition attached to the desires of our heart. Pursuing a holy lifestyle is one of them. To see God more and more in your life, you have to be pursuing holiness.
This is the place where many have often missed it. They want “all these things” (Matthew 6:33) added to them; but they are not prepared to seek to live by what the Covenant book, had laid out for them as being conditional for “all these things” to be added to them.
For “all these things” to be added to us the conditions has to be met. And these are based upon our obedience and dedication to continually seek His Kingdom and His righteousness in our lives.
There are others who are committed to attending every Church activities, but who are not seeking God’s Kingdom in their lives. They are reading the Bible daily, but they are not allowing God’s word to transform their lives; so that God can approve of their faith for “all these things” to be added to them. They are reading the scriptures, but they are not allowing the scriptures to read their lives to them, so as to transform them (James 1:22-24).
They had received Jesus as their Savior, but He is not yet the Lord of everything in their lives. It’s important to note here that anything which a believer in Christ, is unwilling to sacrifice for the Kingdom of God, is automatically under the curse of the law (see Galatians 3:10). Such a believer in Christ cannot be fruitful with such things.
There are some other Christians who are suffering under self inflicted curses today. They know what God is demanding of them to do, but they just won’t do it, because of their struggles with the lust of the flesh. They are not committed to their Covenant with God, even though they do love to pay lip service to it.
They are seeking God’s Kingdom but they are not committed to seeking His righteousness with it. They are those who will rather be living in the same way, that they had been living before accepting Jesus into their lives, as their Savior even though He is yet to be their Lord. The lust for the pleasure of the world is still strong in their lives, separating them from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
My friend, just because you are a good person, who is committed to the Church; does not necessarily means that you have been imputed with righteousness. Church membership is not the requirement for the benefits in God’s Covenant Book.
You must be born again (John 3:6). You can’t get born of God through crookery. You must be straight forward with God to get into the Kingdom, and then gain access into the Covenant benefits that are meant for you.
But above all of these things a holy life will get you into a relationship with God, where the enemy can’t touch you. Holy living is Covenant living. It will take you to a place in God where you won’t need to pray for some things in your life, because they will automatically be following after you (Deuteronomy 28:1-14).
That’s where you have to be. That’s where you belong in Christ Jesus. As the pandemic goes away, begin to seek to live a consecrated life to the Lord. It will make God to put His mark on you for protection, fruitfulness and increase. You are blessed to be a blessing. Live a holy life, for your God who alone is Holy is the Almighty God.
