AWAKE, ARISE, AND TRIUMPH
Friday – February 24, 2023, Adar 3, 5783
FRIDAY NUGGETS
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – PART FIFTEEN – LOVE – PART SIX
Greeting dear and precious saints of God and welcome back to our Friday Bible Study named Friday Nuggets. I am currently exploring the Fruit of the Spirit, and today is part fifteen and part six of the fruit, love. As I move forward, please take a moment and share this teaching as widely as possible by every means at your disposal to expand, extend, our reach with this wonderful, nothing like it, news. There is no better news than that contained in the Holy Bible and demonstrated in our lives. Again, let’s all of us ask ourselves, what is the testimony of my life, the fruit produced by my life in Christ Jesus? Now continuing to read out loud, let’s read our primary Bible text.
Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Today I am continuing to deal with the fruit of love. This is the God kind of love and you will recall that God is love (agapē/agapaō). If God is love and we are in His image and likeness, and of like kind, then we also are love.
First on my list, Gods’ list, is obedience to Scripture.
John 14:21 (KJV)
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Next on our list is a selfless lifestyle, putting God, the Kingdom of God, and others before ourselves.
Hebrews 9:16-17 (KJV)
16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise, it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
Third and foundational to all is the Blood Covenant between us and God, sealed, guaranteed by the Blood of Jesus. The behavior, the actions, and the words of the person being loved is to have no effect on our expression of this love. In a phrase, we express this love in our obedience to the Word, having selfless attitudes, and actions with the force of the obligations of the Blood Covenant. There is no covenant stronger than a Blood Covenant. I capitalize Blood Covenant because one party to the covenant is God. By the way all of the elements of Blood Covenant listed below apply to our marriages (between one man [at birth] and one woman [at birth]). The word agapē is the noun form and agapaō is the verb form. The following ten points I am about to share were abstracted from E. W. Kenyon’s book titled, “The Blood Covenant” and are supported by Scripture.
- In a blood covenant, a weaker party covenants with a stronger and that is certainly the case with us and God (Matthew 26:28). Generally in a marriage the man is physically the stronger party.
- The blood covenant establishes equality between the parties. Scripture says that we are the sons of God (1 John 3:1). God called Abraham His friend (James 2:23). This is equality between husband and wife, one is not more important than the other.
- The blood covenant is perpetual or eternal and so is God’s covenant with the Church and with Israel (Genesis 9:16, Hebrews 13:20). Divorce is not a God approved option.
- This blood covenant is indissoluble, unbreakable. The Word of God stands no matter the actions of a person (John 10:35). For the flesh and the unrenewed mind the fact that the Blood Covenant is immutable is at times very inconvenient but at the same time if we will just keep marching it is also an impenetrable defense.
- The blood covenant is honored in succeeding generations. Over and over in Scripture we see God honoring His covenant, for example, with David and his descendants (1 Kings 15:4). And so the family of one party or the other to a marriage would honor that Covenant in succeeding generations.
- Breaking the blood covenant leads to death, Scripture says that the wages of sin (breaking covenant) are death (Romans 6:23). There may not be the physical death of a party but things will die.
- Blood covenant gives equal access to assets between the parties. We surely got the best part of this deal by far. God calls us possessors of Heaven and earth and joint-heirs with Christ Jesus (Galatians 4:7). No separate accounts boys and girls.
- The blood covenant provides for reciprocate (give in return) actions. Because Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac then the Father had to be willing to sacrifice His son, Jesus (Genesis 22:12).
- Blood covenant provides for mutual defense. By our being obedient to the Word of God we provide for His defense and our own (Deuteronomy 28, Psalm 91, Hebrews 10:13). Husbands are to have their wives back and wives are to have their husbands’ backs. No yakking about one another with others, other than God.
- This blood covenant requires a respect (honor) between the parties. (1 Samuel 2:30b)
As we read down through these points remember these apply to married couples. Unfortunately, from time to time, now is one of those times, there are perversions in both directions of the Covenant articles. For example, from domination by the man to domination by the woman.
Lord willing, I will pick up right here next week moving forward in the Fruit of the spirit.
By: Dr. David R. Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
2 Chronicles 20:20 b (KJV)
20 … Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Receive the blessing in Jesus’ name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (MSG)
24 GOD bless you and keep you,
25 GOD smile on you and gift you,
26 GOD look you full in the face and make you prosper.
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