God’s Eternal Blood Covenant Pattern
Will We Be Ready for War?
Beloved Family… at this point of human history, we are all about to be put to a severe series of tests, on a global scale. As is sometimes said, ‘It will be Biblical!’ And that being the case, God has supplied these texts to remind us of what the underlying issues will be during these times:
“You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”(Deuteronomy 8:2)
“But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.” (Matthew 10:17-19)
“You have sent to John, and he has testified to the Truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.” (John 5:33‑35)
Notice what God’s Living Word says to His skeptical enemies who refuse to acknowledge and embrace Him for who He really is: “The testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.”
What does that mean? It means that the Testimony that truly matters and is to be believed and acted upon is the Testimony that God Himself gives concerning the Credibility and Reliability of His own Living Word made flesh. Neither God, nor anyone else can depend upon the flaky testimonies or approvals of fallen men! The issue of our salvation is much too important to toy or gamble with by relying on such grossly imperfect foundations! Only the Testimony of Almighty God is to be believed and trusted and counted upon. Nothing short of His Absolute Authority and Perfect Credibility will do!
And so, THEREFORE… whether or not God can be believed and trusted and relied upon with an airtight, unquestionable faith, can never depend on us or our grossly Sin-damaged faculties and wits. Nothing should be set in stone or permanently settled according to what we think we see or know or opine, or on the fleeting sensations and moods and impressions that we entertain from within our fallen flesh!
“Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.
“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?
“I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:5-10)
And so beloved, the Word of God is giving us insight into what He actually means when He speaks to us about putting on ’the full Armor of God’ (Ephesians 6) as we prepare ourselves to engage the powers of Darkness in the days of combat that are now upon us. The Lord Himself is our Armor! The Covenant makes us to be one with Him for that very purpose! So, if we know our Covenant and the standing it gives us and the Reality in which it encloses us, then we are fully armed and covered and ready for combat.
We dare not try to cover ourselves by the hopes and assurances, opinions and pontifications of mere men. No! If we rely on such things, we are ‘wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked!’ (See Revelation 3:17-22) We can only be fully armed and protected IF we cover ourselves with the Living Word of God made flesh! The Person of the Living Word (as He is revealed through the written Word… and all the Fullness of Almighty God that the Word contains within Himself, is the only True, Full Armor and Covering of God. And this is true whether we can figure it out, or define it, or feel it… or not.)
In the Lord’s eyes, if something happens to us, IT HAPPENS TO HIM! And, if we are armed and equipped with that same understanding, and respond to whatever happens with the understanding that we are one with Him and He is one with us… then we are covering ourselves with Him, as He really is… in His Infinite, Eternal Perfection. And then, thanks to the fact that He has all authority in Heaven and on Earth, we truly do become invulnerable and invincible, no matter how intense and destructive the ferocity and chaos and carnage may be that takes place between the forces of the Word, and those of the Serpent!
So we dare not fall for and swallow the hooks attached to their lies, deceptions and fake-out routines that are calculated to get us to separate ourselves from our risen Lord, and go back to our radically independent Self-life paradigm and practices. We must be able to abide at all times in our Covenant Union with God’s own Word, as He has actually been given to us… THEN the Word Himself will be our Invincibility! And that is what this message is trying to get across.
By the Eternal Blood Covenant Bond that God initiated and established with the human race, that special God-created bond obligates God to serve as the Ultimate ‘Blood Covenant Friend’ of the entire human race. This is how He reveals to us that, from all of Eternity, He has always been, and always will be, committed to serve as our ever-Faithful Defender and Ally, to the end of time, and beyond.
“Now may the God of shalom, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep BY THE BLOOD OF AN ETERNAL COVENANT, our Lord Yeshua, make you complete in every good thing to do His will, accomplishing in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Messiah Yeshua. To Him be the Glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21 TLV. Emphasis added.)
This means that, in the mind, heart, will and intention of God, even before anything in His physical Creation came to be, God already had the entire human race in mind. His purposes and way of interacting concerning us had already been decided, determined and established. God would always be our Covenant Friend, our ‘Blood Brother,’ our Perpetual Ally, Defender, Provider, and Shepherd. All of that is an expression of His Perfect Eternal Nature! It is who He IS! So of course, that everlasting faithfulness He showers upon us is essentially and permanently established in His will and purposes. It existed even before the creation of this dimension of time and space… before any portion of His physical Creation ever came to be! So the Blood Covenant Pattern best reveals and expresses the heart and the ways of our God. And so the ‘Blood brother’ standing and safety with Him that we can enjoy, is as solid and reliable and credible as Almighty God is to Himself!
Satan’s Plot to Destroy Us Began to Unfold in the Garden
After the Serpent began to stalk our first parents, Adam and Eve, with the intent of destroying them, he laid a deceptive Sin Trap into which they quickly fell. And Sin inflicted all the fatal consequences that followed after they severed themselves from God’s Living Word. He was their one and only Source of Life, so when the Serpent got them to separate themselves from Him, they became mortal and were no longer legally connected with God. Thus the Serpent trapped them hopelessly within his ‘coils.’ The humans had given him the legal authority to exert complete domination over them and their human descendants.
“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written, “He catches the clever in their craftiness.” And again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are useless.” (1 Corinthians 3:18-20)
“And even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world (the Father of Lies) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so they might not see the light of the Good News of the Glory of Messiah, who is the Image of God! For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Messiah Yeshua as Lord—and ourselves as your slaves for Yeshua’s sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-5)
So once the deed was done and mortality gained access to the human nature of our first parents, that lethal virus entered their DNA and was passed on to each of their unborn descendants. In that sense, the Serpent managed to ‘bag the entire human race with one shot.’ So our consideration of God’s Blood Covenant Pattern, and how God reacted to the reality of our fall from His grace, will help us to better understand how the Serpent managed to do such terminal damage to all of us through just one event. And the Covenant Pattern that God chose to use to rescue and restore us will help us understand what the Serpent’s lethal act meant to Almighty God… and what our downfall meant to Him, and how God, in His Eternal Perspective, knowing in advance what was going to befall us, felt compelled to preordain, and do, and insert into the time and space mix of Creation, as a result.
This Pattern will help us to see that the Serpent very foolishly chose to attack God’s beloved ‘Blood brothers!’ And the Blood Covenant God had made in Eternity now obligated Him to do whatever it would take to come to our rescue in this dimension of space and time! The everlasting Blood Bond He had established between Himself and the first Adam and his entire household, aroused God’s perpetual wrath against the Serpent and ‘his demonic household!’ So God’s own Covenant required Him to come to the defense of His Covenant friends, and wreak revenge on the Serpent, and completely reverse and undo the damage that he had done to His ‘Blood brothers.’ The Covenant Bond that God had sworn by Blood Oath to protect and uphold and maintain, required that, no matter what kind of situations it would lead Him into… and no matter what it would cost Him to come after them and save them, God had obligated Himself to pay any price, do anything, and suffer any consequence that rescuing us would require of Him!
“Adonai Elohim said to the serpent, “Because you did this, cursed are you above all the livestock and above every animal of the field. On your belly will you go, and dust will you eat all the days of your life. I will put animosity between you and the woman—between your seed and her Seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush His heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15. Emphasis added.)
The Eternal Blood Covenant Makes Us One With Our Indwelling God
So now, thanks to the light that God’s Blood Covenant Reality shines on this dismal event and our disastrously lethal condition, we can see that when the Serpent chose to attack and destroy God’s beloved Covenant friends… who were one with Him… the Serpent attacked God Himself and aroused the Covenant wrath of the Creator of all things against the Serpent himself, and all of his demonic realms!
“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, YOU DID IT TO ME!’” (Matthew 25:37-40. Emphasis added.)
“As he (Saul of Tarsus) was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I AM JESUS, WHOM YOU ARE PERSECUTING!” (Acts 9:3-5. Amplification and emphasis added.)
This is why God’s wrath was never directed against Adam and Eve! They were God’s Blood Covenant friends, His Blood brothers, and no matter what they had done, the New Covenant restoration God made available to us all does not come as a result of our personal performance! So God’s wrath was directed squarely upon the one that had dared to harm His own! The Serpent’s deadly malice against the humans was actually a declaration of war against his own Creator! And God’s Covenant with the human race meant that now He was required to unleash His Heavenly Hosts against this rebellious demonic being, and his cohorts, who dare to try to harm the beloved human Covenant partners of the Living God!
So perhaps these facts will help you better understand why it’s so important for all of us to become deeply aware of God’s Covenant Pattern, and grasp the meaning that underlies it and understand the true motivation in God’s heart that directs all of His actions that pertain to us in any way. Thanks to this awesome Pattern that God uses exclusively in His dealings and interactions with us, we can always know how God passionately favorably and lovingly He regards us in His heart of hearts. And it shows us that the true directional thrust of His nature, character and disposition is always working toward our best and highest good. We can know that His perpetual attitude toward us is motivated and directed by His Eternal Covenant Love for us. That Love is what underlies His every thought, word, action, reaction and interaction toward us.
“I will remember the lovingkindnesses of Adonai, the praises of Adonai, according to all that Adonai has granted us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has granted them according to His compassion, and according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses.
“For He said, “Surely they are My people, children who (thanks to their Perfect Representative and Champion,) will not deal falsely.”
“So He (through His Living Word made flesh) became their Savior.” (Isaiah 63:7-8. Amplification added.)
“Adonai has made His Salvation known. He has revealed His Righteousness before the eyes of the nations. He has remembered His Lovingkindness, His Faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the Salvation of our God. Shout joyfully to Adonai, all the earth. Break forth, sing for joy, and sing praises.” (Psalm 98:2-4. Emphasis added.)
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land; but if you refuse and rebel (and run away from my extended grace), you will be devoured by the sword.” Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 1:16-20. Amplification and emphasis added.)
Dear ones… it’s vitally important to remember that God never changes. He is eternally the same; with Him there is never any variance, or fading, or fluttering or changeability of any kind. He is eternally CONSTANT. His Lovingkindness (that is, His Blood Covenant Faithful Loyalty toward us) IS EVERLASTING! We can always count on Him to be faithful and true to us and to our wellbeing – all the time, with no exception whatsoever! And this is why we can all afford to trust and rely upon Him with an AIRTIGHT, never-ending level of faith, hope and trust!
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever! (Psalm 23)
“When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” (Luke 23:33‑35. Emphasis added.)
“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “IT IS FINISHED!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” (John 19:28-30. Emphasis added.)
What “It Is Finished!” Really Means Concerning Our Redemption
The significance of the Last Adam’s Perfect Finished Work of Redemption is this: True to His Eternal Commitment to us, God, through His Living Word made flesh, has utterly destroyed any legal hold that the Serpent once held over the human race! So we are now made to be one with God’s Living Word made flesh! That means that when He died and made full Atonement to God, we were included with it… because we were IN HIM! And, because we died with Him, that Death was our Exodus from our slavery to the Serpent. That broke any legal hold and claims he may have had on us through our union with the first Adam! And so when we died to all that we originally were, we were set completely free and clear of any legal claim or hold that the powers of Darkness may have had on any of us!
The Last Adam completely reversed and undid all the legal damage that the first Adam had done to himself and his family… and to the rest of Creation! In His role as ‘The Lamb of God,’ God’s only begotten Son offered Himself, in all of His Divine Perfection, as the Perfect Atoning Sacrifice. With that act of Covenant Loyalty and Faithfulness, He fulfilled God’s Perfect Standards of Righteousness, Truth and Justice, in our name. Therefore, before God, we were set completely free of any trace of the Sin, Guilt, Condemnation, Curses and Death that were coming to us through the Covenant violation of our original Representative, the first Adam. And now, all that is left for each one of us to do is to believe, trust, identify with, and obey God’s Living Word… who has summoned us all… to Follow Him at all times and in all things!
So we must acknowledge and believe and trust in this Truth. Faith and trust must come first. Then we must obey the Word’s call to follow. And if we willingly, deliberately and wholeheartedly accept the benefit of this awesome Covenant Blessing and Lifestyle for ourselves… we will identify with our Messiah and absorb our new identity and status before God as the new paradigm of ourselves into which the rest of our time on Earth will be rooted. And when we train and condition and accustom ourselves to be one with our Messiah, we’ll automatically be repenting of, and forsaking our former radically independent, enemy of God identity that we inherited at birth.
“But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved!” (Romans 10:6-13. Emphasis added.)
“Therefore, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also get rid of every weight and entangling sin. Let us run with endurance the race set before us, focusing on Yeshua, the initiator and perfecter of faith. For the joy (of coming after us and taking our place that was) set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame; and He has taken His seat at the right hand of the Throne of God. Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3 TLV. Amplification added.)
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and (consider his former life to be dead. Then he must) take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the Glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds!” (Matthew 16:24-27)
Do not be Fooled by Appearances or by Your Own Feelings
Beloved, there will be times, as we strive to keep up with our Master as He leads us into situations in which He has chosen us to participate, when we won’t be able to understand what He is doing, nor will we be able to explain why He is permitting it. To us, it will very often not make any sense, and may in fact appear to be a wrong or foolish thing to do! And, at such times, He may remain silent and not explain Himself to us. He will simply act, and continue going on His way, and our Covenant faithfulness and our testimony that we are one with Him and we follow Him in all things, will be sorely put to the test! And we will have to choose… between abiding with Him according to our Covenant… or reverting to our old Self-life ways.
This issue will arise repeatedly. So we will have to keep making that choice between continuing to follow Him, or, shrugging our shoulders in discouragement and going back to pursuing our own former solitary way in this world’s system, like we did in the past. So be forewarned… in the heat of the battles in which our God-given commissions will require us to participate… our Covenant loyalty to our Commander, will be put to the test with great frequency! And this is why we must be trained and drilled to defer to our risen Lord continually. That is, we must choose to allow Him to live His Life out from within our regenerated spirit… and keep our original Adamic Self-life within our Sin-corrupted soul. As we keep deferring to our Lord… He will be free to continually abide and act from within us… AT ALL TIMES! He will be our Life… and THEREFORE, He will also be our Perfect Armor Covering… just as He has sworn, by Blood Oath, to be to us, regardless of what we may have to face.
“From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s!” (Matthew 16:21-23. Emphasis added.)
So during our times of testing, dear ones… we will do well to understand these unchanging facts:
- Everything the Lord is sent to do by His Heavenly Father, that pertains in any way to you, is motivated by the Lovingkindness that God’s Eternal Covenant requires. That Covenant requires an unbreakable, Victorious Blood Covenant response that showers upon His Father, and also upon you… and all the rest of His Blood brothers… at all times, and in all situations, including any current situation that you may be having so much trouble trying to explain and understand!
- He is fulfilling His Father’s Plan for your time on Earth, whether you understand what He’s doing, or not. He is providing what God knows you need at that time, even while He is doing the same for all of His other Covenant friends about which you may know nothing!
- And so, even if it seems and feels to you as if He has forgotten and abandoned you, do not allow yourself to fall into doubt and self-pity. That is a demonic trap! The enemy will be shouting at you during the fray, that God cannot be trusted, and that you are a fool for trying to serve the One who has abandoned you! Don’t fall for those diabolical lies. Your Covenant Lord will never leave you, nor will He ever forsake you, even if you cannot understand Him or what He is doing!
- The Reality of His Eternal Blood Covenant is always letting you know that, whether you understand what is happening or not, He is always acting on your behalf, and for your best and highest GOOD!
- It doesn’t depend on whether or not you are able to comprehend or define or explain it. It depends on God’s Eternal Nature and Covenant Love Disposition that compels Him to shower nothing but Lovingkindness upon His beloved Blood brothers!
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His Lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His Lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who alone does great wonders, for His Lovingkindness is Everlasting; to Him who made the heavens with skill, for His Lovingkindness is Everlasting; To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His Lovingkindness is Everlasting; to Him who made the great lights, for His Lovingkindness is Everlasting: The sun to rule by day, for His Lovingkindness is Everlasting, the moon and stars to rule by night, for His Lovingkindness is Everlasting!” (Psalm 136:1-9. Emphasis added.)
Exalting Our Risen Lord is Our Greatest Weapon Against the Serpent’s Lies
As we move further into the Last Days Era, the ‘birth pangs’ the Lord warned us about will become more frequent and excruciatingly more intense, and gripping, and stressful. The Lord has already warned us about that, hasn’t He? And, as all of that which has been prophesied is actually coming to pass right before our eyes, there will be many things taking place that will be purely and unmistakably evil and wicked and demonic in nature. And we will know it in the marrow of our bones! And it will be appalling and incomprehensible to us. None of us will be able to make any sense of it. And we will instinctively cry out to God and beg Him to deliver us from such misery! But He will not relent or turn away from His task… which is to expose the demonic lies and traps, and to discredit and depose and debase the enemy in the sight of the whole world. And your job is not to question or quibble or complain. Your job is to be part of His Invasion Force that is intent on goring the very bowels of the enemy lies and agendas.
Even when it seems as if He is ignoring you and turning a deaf ear to your pleas… and even when many in the ranks begin to doubt, and blame, and question God ,and desert their posts, do not join them! Many will be asking God, “How can You sit by and allow this to happen?” “Why don’t You do something to help Your people?” Yes, there will be many things that will stun and stupefy our poor befuddled human minds. Nevertheless, we disciples are required to persevere, and press on, and continue to render total, heartfelt Covenant Love and Loyalty to our God… purely by the willful, deliberate obedience of our Spirit-imparted Wisdom and Knowledge of our risen Lord, and our airtight faith that the Spirit empowers us to have in Him.
When we are deprived of any rational, satisfactory explanation for why any of these horrors are being allowed to surround us, we must have that precious boot camp training and the ‘muscle memory’ it instills in raw recruits. That’s what will continue to enable and sustain us, so that when we are in battle, and chaos engulfs everyone and everything… our training will automatically ‘kick in’ and we will automatically know what to do, and how to do what is necessary, to fulfill our appointed tasks and defend the integrity of our part of the battle line:
“And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His Name and His Tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in Heaven.
“It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.” (Revelation 13:2-10)
There will be times when the combat with the powers of Darkness will be so constant and intensely mind-numbing and overpowering, that we won’t know what is hitting us or from which direction we should expect the next blow. We won’t even remember our own names at such times! But it is precisely at times such as these, when we must be totally pre-programmed and ‘rehearsed’ and drilled in the fundamentals of what we must accomplish. No matter what does or does not happen in the midst of the fray, the ‘muscle memory’ instilled in us by our rigorous preparatory training will automatically enable us to remain fixed and rooted in our eternal, undying Covenant Faith in Yeshua, and continually filled and fueled by the realization of His already-finished Triumph and Eternal Sovereignty and Authority over all of Creation.
The proper boot camp preparations that we will have made, if we actually have paid our dues, and learned what was being taught at that time… will, later on, shield and prepare and equip us to ‘stand and hold and protect and maintain our Covenant Ground!’ Our perseverance must depend upon our Blood Covenant Bond and Relationship with the Perfect abiding Presence of our Lord and Master. It must not be dependent on our flaky perceptions and circumstances. We MUST be utterly hardwired and pre-programmed and absolutely convinced that our Covenant Friend is operating from within us… and that He can and will be TRUSTED and RELIED UPON, and CELEBRATED… no matter what else may or may not be happening around us!
We must know that the Covenant Ground upon which He has placed us is more solid and safe and secure even than the hardest granite that could ever be found. The Covenant is a manifestation, an emanation, of the Infinitely Perfect Eternal Nature and Character and Agape/Chesed Essence of Almighty God! His Infinitely Perfect Living Word is our Divine ‘Armor’ and ‘Covering.’ Nothing will ever be able to penetrate Him and His abiding Lovingkindness with which He is forever shielding us! And this is why it is so inappropriate for us to doubt or question Him and His motives.
And when we realize this, we’re ready and equipped to advance rapidly and aggressively toward the heart and core of the enemy’s assault. When we know Who it is that is eternally committed to be our Covering and Shield and Triumph… we will realize that the enemy is not coming at us from a position of power and strength and confidence. Instead, they will look at us, and see our Covenant Friend, the Lion of Judah, abiding within us… for we are now, forever one with Him! And our foes will flail at us… out of sheer terror, panic, desperation and total frustration! And they will know for sure, that, because of His Perfect Atoning Death and Stupefying Resurrection Return, there is nothing they can do to get through the One who is abiding in us and covering us with the impenetrable Armor of His Infinitely Eternal Righteousness and Truth! He is the very One that has already decapitated their leader… the Serpent… and He has exposed and discredited and trashed everything the Serpent and his deceived and blinded minions have been vainly trying to erect and establish. Their works have already been destroyed! And they are finished… and they know it, and they also know that there’s nothing they can do to change anything to stop their imminent doom.
“Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD!” (John 16:32-33, Emphasis added.)
“Then I saw a Great White Throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose Presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the Throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their (Self-life, or Christ-Life) deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire!” (Revelation 20:11-15. Emphasis added.)
This, beloved, is that outcome that is already settled and fixed! Our enemies will never be able to escape its consequences, no matter what they may try to do. And they know it! This is what drives them into such a crazed frenzy of frustration and destructive despair! This is why they lash out at us and do whatever they can to trip us up with their vast assortment of slanderous lies against God. They do this with such furious determination because they’re so utterly desperate. They’re driven to ‘grasp at straws’ in order to delay the inevitable and gain as much time for themselves as they possibly can.
Making Ourselves Battle Ready For The Front Lines
So we will be forced to confront and cut through the frenzied ploys and attempts to deceive us that will be coming at us thanks to the enemy’s utter desperation. And they won’t stop trying to attack us because sheer terror and desperation are driving them. But… as we persevere and keep cutting through whatever they try to throw against us, we must remember that we are witnessing the final gasps and twitches of those already-defeated and confounded demonic culprits. They, and their human puppets, will be kicking, gasping, contorting and twitching as their death throes engulf them and drag them into the inescapable clutches of their eventual doom and eternal perdition. And beloved, that is nothing of which to be afraid, nor should we be deterred in any way from continuing to tear into their ranks!
“Arise, shine; for your Light has come, and the Glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you and His Glory will appear upon you.
“Nations will come to your Light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms. Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you. A multitude of camels will cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba will come; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth will minister to you; they will go up with acceptance on My altar, and I shall glorify My glorious House.
“Who are these who fly like a cloud and like the doves to their lattices? Surely the coastlands will wait for Me; and the ships of Tarshish will come first, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, for the Name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you!” (Isaiah 60:1-9. Emphasis added.)
So, dear friends, during these difficult and trying times… I ask you to remember these vitally important facts:
- When the Lord leads you into difficult times… and He seems to turn a deaf ear to your continuous pleas for guidance, direction and reassurance… don’t be shocked when He remains silent and keeps moving further and further into the troubles, trials and difficulties that lie ahead of you.
- He’s not ignoring you, beloved. He’s teaching and training you and continuing to show you where you really are, in relation to your basic training. He’s showing you your weaknesses so that you can persevere and turn them into your greatest strengths! The trials into which He deliberately leads us all, are the very tools He’s using to impart the vital boot camp training He knows we need! He also uses these tests to PROVE, to you, as well as to the powers of Darkness, that you are fit and ready for His service. And as He takes you safely through times like those, He will be demonstrating that He never intends or means to do anything but GOOD… to you, for your very best interests.
- Even when He rebuked Peter and His other disciples during the rigorous times of their training… He used those difficult times to reveal the Greatness and Goodness of their Heavenly Father, and He was demonstrating Father’s Everlasting Lovingkindness and Covenant Loyalty and Faithfulness to them. He was always with them, always for them, and always working on their behalf… to prepare them to fulfill their glorious God-given commissions in the difficult days ahead.
- And especially when they were going through their darkest, most difficult times during that training process… He was using those excruciating and incomprehensible moments as Living Proof that ‘their Eternal Blood Brother’ was always with them, always blessing them, and always looking after their best and highest GOOD!
“When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:23-27)
“A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.” (Matthew 26:73-75)
“So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep!
“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!” (John 21:15-19. Emphasis added.)
After the Lord ascended into Heaven, His disciples had to get used to living out of the obedience of faith, just the way we do. Now, we can only know God’s Living Word by faith and not by sight or feeling. And now, it is only by faith, that we must ‘gird our loins for battle!’ This is what we must learn during our boot camp training. The Last Days are no longer just a faint hint of far-distant things to come. No, those ’things’ are already here! And, because our foes are already positioning themselves around us, it is now time to make sure our ‘Armor’ is properly donned and everything we need is in its proper place. And by that I mean, we must have a deep understanding of God’s Blood Covenant Pattern, and His ‘Blood Brother’ ways, and we must be utterly convinced that the absolute safety and assurance we have from the New Covenant into which God has included us, is more than enough to assure our ultimate Victory.
The outcomes of all that we are heading into will not depend on us, or on anything we think, or say or do, or feel. Nor will they depend on how well we can improve ourselves and our efforts. It will all depend on God… and what He has already DONE to completely rout and dismember and devastate our enemies. He has done everything necessary… on our behalf… and it was already done in the mind and will and Plan of God… since before the creation of this now-fallen world!
So it’s not going to be about what is in us! It’s always going to be all about what is in God’s Living Word and in His Perfect Finished Works of Creation, Redemption and Restoration! It’s all been handled for us, in our name, beloved. It is Finished. It is Over. And it is PERFECT! So let us cover ourselves with God’s Perfect Presence… BY FAITH! And, let us move out and advance IN HIM… and WITH HIM… and FROM HIS INFINITE ETERNAL FULLNESS… into the chaos and heat of the battle. We’re not the ones that should be fearful. It’s the enemy that has no hope and no way of stopping what is about to steamroll and crush him and immerse him in total disaster and devastation.
“Therefore, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also get rid of every weight and entangling sin. Let us run with endurance the race set before us, focusing on Yeshua, the Initiator and Perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame; and He has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Beloved friends… if we embrace the Truth that we are one with our Messiah, and that His Perfect Resurrection Presence is in us and all around us, He will be God’s Blessing upon us. And He will keep us all safe, strong, and faithfully courageous and invincible… by His Everlasting Lovingkindness!