AWAKE, ARISE, AND TRIUMPH
Friday – February 17, 2023, Sh’vat 26, 5783
FRIDAY NUGGETS
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – PART FOURTEEN – LOVE – PART FIVE
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 fourteen and part five 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. What is the testimony of our lives, the fruit produced by our lives 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. You may be asking yourselves why so much about love (agapē/agapaō)? Remember, this is not love as the world loves, but as God loves.
1 Corinthians 13:13 (TLB)
13 There are three things that remain—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
There are three major components to this love (agapē/agapaō) of God imparted and made an intimate part of our being. Apart from love we cannot operate in the Kingdom, in the Spirit, but remain in the flesh which is death. 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.
Now, let’s talk about Blood Covenant. Love is based on and subject to the Blood Covenant that started in Genesis and is eternal because of Calvary. The behavior, the actions, and the words of the person loved are to have no effect on you and me. In a phrase, this love involves 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. We will now plunge into a very brief teaching of Blood Covenant, and I emphasize very brief. Agapē/ agapaō, the God originating love is covenant love, specifically Blood Covenant love. 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. Our exercise of love will bring about the performance of the Blood Covenant which is sealed by the sinless blood of Jesus. 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).
- 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).
- 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).
- 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).
- Breaking the blood covenant leads to death, Scripture says that the wages of sin (breaking covenant) are death (Romans 6:23).
- 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).
- 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).
- This blood covenant requires a respect (honor) between the parties. (1 Samuel 2:30b)
Please take the time to meditate on each of these ten points and see if this is the reality of your life. The Blood Covenant is the foundation and the guidelines for our recognition and access to Scriptural love, the very love of God Himself, even into His presence (Hebrews 10:19). One essential point about this Blood Covenant, and this love, is that for it to have full force one must be dead to self. Just as Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane to the Father, not my will but yours be done (Luke 22:42).
Lord willing, I will pick up right here next Friday.
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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