The goal of covenant is that 2 would become 1.
Luke 6:2-7 Jesus tells us to love those who can’t love us back, do good to those who can’t do good to us and credit will be given to us. The word credit is 110 times translated as grace. As soon as you obey, grace is given to you to do what you couldn’t do 1 second before you made the choice to love those you couldn’t love. Sometimes the world hates us just to see if we have love.
The Bible doesn’t say arise and reflect, it says arise and shine. I don’t need your love to give it back to you, I have a source of love that you don’t even have.
David serves Saul well but jealousy, bitterness, unforgiveness and hatred stir up and Saul begins to chase David. Unforgiveness has no friends. The people you wanna love, you’ll hate. In the midst of Saul chasing David, the Lord gives David a word, that He’s gonna give Saul into his hands, and he can decide what to do with him. David’s men want to kill Saul & David says “Far be it from me to touch the Lord’s anointed”. Saul says, “You are a better man than me and you deserve the kingdom.” But he’s so angry and bitter that a spirit of insanity comes upon him. He goes after him again, same thing happens. David is anointed King, he has Jonathan’s robe, He has the word of God, yet, David says “I choose to honor him even if he doesn’t deserve it. I choose to love the person who doesn’t love me.”
We live in a world that’s all about making me happy. Happy is about pleasure. Pleasure is good as long as it doesn’t take the place of virtue. If it does, I’d rather take joy instead because I can consider it joy when I face various trials, but I can’t consider it happy. To ruin a perfectly good marriage, try to get your spouse to make you happy.
Covenant expresses itself in camaraderie, but not all camaraderie is rooted in covenant. Fellowship rooted in warfare is fuelled in hatred not forged in love e.g. gangs, bullies. Camaraderie without covenant always needs an enemy. Covenant needs no enemy because it lays down its life for its friends. When a culture of covenant is absent from a community, society adapts an ‘us & them’ mindset. Covenant destroys the ‘us & them’ mentality and bonds people through God’s love not mutual agreement. The Church shouldn’t be known for what we’re against, but for who we love.
2 Timothy 1:2 You can’t take suffering out of the gospel because suffering is a part if the Kingdom. Not sickness or death, but passion and sacrifice; it doesn’t always make you happy.
Be in the background, lay down your life & make it work! Passion won't make it work on hard days, but sacrifice will. Covenant makes no difference if you were in a tent or in a palace.
Lord, take me from camaraderie to covenant. Teach me to live in a way that I lay down my life not because I have to, not because I don't have rights but because I choose to take those rights and say you can have them; here's my armor, here's my robe, here's my sword, here's my bow and here's my belt. I'm not prepared to work against you or war against you, I covenant with you and in hard times I'll renew my covenant and remind you that I'm with you. In Jesus name. Amen
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