OTD's BSSM Weekly: An Intimate Royal Covenant
Week 13 in the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry
It’s my birthday!! Thanks to everyone who sent a message or a prayer. God bless you. I’m so glad that God picked a most wonderful day of December the 6th to release me into this world. He’s got more fascinating days and years for me to live in it while maintaining and growing in my status as a royal member of His Kingdom.
One of the things I have learned about being a royal is that you can only make assumptions from the outside. Regardless of how well you know about royalty, you can never know the full story unless you are inside the family as a royal too. It would be easy to pass comments or support a motion when it doesn’t affect you personally. Everything changes when you know and see yourself as a vital member of the throne. The throne reflects you as much as you reflect the throne. Until you accept and embrace your role in the royal family, you cannot properly understand, interpret and act as you should. Here’s where I wonder about our concept of intimate knowledge. Is it possible to be intimately aware of someone but never see yourself as being directly affected by what happens to or with the person?
I think it is. What then makes us one with God, if not the intimate knowledge of Him? Make welcome - The Covenant. Kris Vallotton describes it as Judas wanting to be intimate with Jesus without entering and keeping the covenant with Him. The Covenant completes the purpose of intimacy by taking us further from having access to information to being responsible for the information and the person sharing with you. You and the person you are in covenant with become intertwined and their hurt becomes yours, their victory becomes yours. With God, when we came to Christ, we entered into an everlasting and new covenant to be a part of Him. John 13-17 gives us a deep view into God’s heart for what His new covenant is about. Jesus has called us friends to partake in everything that He is. This is why He says in chapter 14:15:
“If you love me, keep my commands. John 14:15
If we approach life in this way, we soon realize that our hearts ache for the things that God wants to be done. We suffer with Him and are glorified with Him. We are no longer intoxicated just by how much we know but by His power to do love the difficult and His love for the lost. We become slow to judge and quick to cover with love.
We are no longer worried about our needs because we know that the fruit of the covenant is to enjoy all that God is. Intimacy cannot be separated from the covenant. To do that may perpetually keep us in euphoria without actually living.
The Book of Exodus
The book of Exodus opens up two choices in our approach to reading it. One is with a focus on the sin and mistrust of the Israelites, which leads either to pride or self-condemnation as you see yourself in them. The other is with a focus on God's unrelenting love and mercy, which leads to humility, conviction, and an openness of heart to receive His Word as the only way to live.
I’ll implore you to choose the second. It is easy to criticize when we stand outside of the frame and can view the entire scene and backdrop in full. The problem is that you can’t do that when you are one of the subjects too, which you are. While it is fun to read the stories as an observer, a few minutes of reflection soon shows us how much of God’s mercy we enjoy simply because He is faithful. We also begin to see that the journey of the Israelites is part of the story of mankind. We cannot bash them without banging our thumbs with the hammer too.
I have found it fascinating to read these historical stories and wonder what character I would have been if I were there. Would I have grumbled along with the children of Israel or would I have been Joshua who always tucked himself to Moses’s side?
The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. Exodus 33:11
Joshua’s focus on the awe of God’s Presence with His master is what gave him the requisite training for taking over leadership from Moses and leading the Israelites into the promised land. There were reasons to complain or be disgruntled. He even had every right to be pissed off with these hard-hearted people and remain disgusted at their attitudes. But he seemed to have his eyes fixed on God and learning as much as he could from his master.
As we listen to stories, past and present and as we take stock of circumstances in our lives, our focus should be on God and learning His ways. This is life.
This week, I’d like to close with a note from Jason Vallotton as he taught on healing and wholeness.
If you are retreating from the past or blaming the past, that means you are retreating from the battle that has been assigned to you.
The past and all of its consequences are battles that the Lord has equipped you to fight because He has already guaranteed the victory. Whatever may have hurt you and regardless of how the journey has been, you have to know that in God, you have all it takes to keep moving forward. Don’t wait for things to change before you do. Move forward as you are.
Love and love,
OTDamilola
P.S: Fictional book recommendation. The Naive Wife by Ufuomaee. Check it out on Goodreads and on her website - Ufuomaee. See my thoughts on the trilogy below:
I yelled, laughed, groaned, teased, spoke in tongues and considered murder by blood bending as I read the Naive Wife Trilogy by Ufuomaee. The stories are relatable, the themes captivating and the characters remind me of people I've known or know. This is a well-crafted body of work that fully entertains while drawing attention to the vital issues of relationships, marriages and our approach to them as believers. Ufuoma highlights foolish decisions without degrading the decision-makers. She shows the frailty of those who try to do good and the availability of grace for all. She addresses difficult subjects showing the dilemma of making tough decisions. She places before her readers the tension between love and justice. I found all three books both exciting and enriching. Single, married, separated, divorced, whatever your status, this book is highly recommended.