Covenant Matters

This is the Truth Network. What my impression is for my life or in any situation is that in prayer you can hear and sense the presence of the Lord. You can hear His voice, the strongest impression that He is making on your spirit. So we pay attention to what we hear in prayer. And right now there are two things that are coming out of the Spirit of God that seem very strong to me.

I'm just going to pass that along. It has to do with the voice and the leading of the Spirit, how it affects our understanding of covenant, the power of the new covenant. First of all, the voice that I hear, the voice that I hear, that means that I pay attention to, heed, take into my heart to integrate into my life and then to apply it to my life, that voice, the voice that I hear from the outside, that really matters.

It's Luke 8 18. So the way that I hear, as I hear, the way I take in the voice that I hear, it matters. And secondly, the voice has a message. So the message matters.

It's synchronized really. The voice and the message are really one. So this voice has a message that is said more than once. Anything that I say more than once reinforces what is being said and therefore what I hear. So it also matters that the message is clear, is clear.

It's where we get the name for our ministry, A Clear Trumpet, that is the corporate name of our ministry. It matters the way we communicate the thing that God is saying, the message he is giving. It matters that we communicate that message clearly.

So again, secondly, this message and this voice are one, so it matters that it's clear. I hear the Lord reinforcing to me this word, covenant, his covenant with me. And so what difference does it make that I have a covenant with him? He and I have entered into a covenant relationally based on really the fact that I am born again.

You can do the same thing by virtue of your born again relationship with him. And it really does matter. So think about it this way, whatever you talk about is the thing you reinforce. And therefore it affects the context with which you approach anything that is going on in your life, the way God is leading you and the way that you perceive and understand God's response.

So this is how it works. He speaks to us, as we said as we began this episode. It depends what he is saying, what you are sensing. So it begins with him.

It doesn't really begin with you or me. It begins with him as he's speaking what it is he says and how he is communicating with us. So he is talking about something that we hear, then we begin to talk about what he is talking about. Luke 8 18, it matters what you hear, the sons of God are led and therefore talk about what the Spirit of God is talking about. So what does the Lord say about his covenant?

This is what I think. He applies covenant to everything. So it matters what my expectation and understanding of this covenant I have with him, what it is. Everything that I need, I draw from the Spirit of God and I do it on the basis of covenant. Now that incorporates many things that we learn from his Word. We learn from walking with him, but it's really covenant. In the same way that God quote, cut the covenant with the patriarch Abraham, Abram. The way that he cut the covenant, beginning then, fast forward to the new, God calls a better covenant. That is of the Spirit, not just the letter, not the letter of the law. It's something that is written on the heart, has to do with relationship.

Basically has everything to do with the relationship that I have with him, that you have with him. And to that point of relationship, two passages in the New Testament say basically the same thing. Luke 22 20 and 1 Corinthians 11 25, I quote, this cup that is poured out for you, end quote, is the new covenant in my blood. So this new covenant in the blood of Jesus is quote, poured out for me. The blood of the covenant is a cup that is poured out for me.

It bears repeating. This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. So the truth here is impacted because it applies to our life through the shed blood of the covenant, a blood covenant, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So for me, it's a way of expressing what's going on in my heart because I understand the power of the blood. I understand the power, the supernatural rendering of a blood covenant.

This blood was poured out, was completely emptied and poured out for me. This is covenant language. It's a covenant understanding that God Almighty, my Heavenly Father, has quote, cut a covenant with me because of the blood of Jesus Christ.

So see, that's the point from which my appeal originates. Again, I don't mean to overly simplify anything, but just to say, it really is important how you understand that your relationship with Him as a born-again believer is based on a blood covenant, where He has set up provision for you from every possible reach. Anything that life would bring, any encounter that you have as you walk with Him, we understand that things do not always go well.

But then they don't always go badly, you know? We have a big say because we are a covenant partner with Him. It's like David, the shepherd boy. He understood the character of God. He understood the covenant provision so the giant, Goliath, had to come into a perspective that, you know, was consistent with the fact that God is God and Goliath is not.

And so, because David believed that, understood it with a revelation, he was able to encounter an overwhelming, odd kind of contest and came out victorious. So, I think about that a lot and it should really frame the way that we pray and then the way that we say. Another thing that I strongly believe is that there is power in what we say, how we say it, the degree of faith that we have as we say it, which would resonate as confidence, as boldness, because it's not the power that I have, it is His power flowing through me, made available to me on the basis of His Word promised and I say to every promise of His, yes and amen. His Word says to every promise, yes and amen. I have wisdom to agree with what He says to His promise, so I say what He says, yes, yes and amen and amen. Hebrews 12-24, Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant, He's the go-between and He is the mediator of a covenant and the sprinkled blood that speaks.

You see, there's power. There's so much power in a spiritual sense when we understand the value of what we communicate with our words. Our message should be clear, it should be easily and well understood, we should understand that the blood of Jesus that was sprinkled on the mercy seat has a voice and that it speaks and is speaking concerning you. So as you pray and as you petition the Lord and as you walk with Him, think that way. You have the mind of Christ, that means you think like Him or you have the potential to think like Him and so you can say as He says and what He speaks the same thing, the same words and often, often say it. Declare over your household the covenant of the blood of the Lamb with Almighty God that you have by virtue of being a born-again believer who trusts in and adheres to that trust that His wealth of love for you cannot be separated from you, you cannot be separated from, but it holds.

His love for you holds. And so we say pray big prayers, ask God for everything, reach for everything that is in your heart. Don't hold back, believe the supernatural God for a supernatural display in and through your life so that the manifestation of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ in the earth looks like Him, reflects Him, His love, His power, His kingdom dynamics, everything poured out. This cup is poured out for you and for me on the basis of covenant. So the voice and the message matter. These two things, again, the voice that you hear, that you pay attention to, that you heed, that you take into your heart and spirit to integrate it into your life and to apply to your life, the voice matters. Luke 8 18, the way you hear and apply matters. And secondly, the voice is also a message and the more you hear the voice, the more you hear the message, you are reinforced in your understanding. It matters that it's clear that you hear clearly and that you hear the Lord reinforcing to you His covenant with you. And what difference does it make?

It makes all the difference. We are in the world, but not of it. We function in a natural environment with a supernatural endowment. We have the mind of Christ, His thought life, and we allow this mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, to be in us. And the context of that scripture out of Peter is relational. The context is about relationships.

Listen, you need to think about the covenant the way God thinks about His covenant. You need to see and perceive it as He does and then implement that. Let Him show you that. Let Him show you that. And then let your prayer come this way. He impresses you in your time of prayer with Him.

You may hear one word, you may hear a phrase, you may hear a sentence, but that is God speaking to you. Write that down. Write it down. Don't let it get away from you. Don't think you will necessarily remember later because the Word says, as soon as the Word is sown into the heart, the enemy comes to steal the seed of the Word lest it become fruitful and productive.

So don't wait. As you hear Him, write what He says and then ponder that, operate and consider that, and then apply and integrate that into your life, and then appeal to Him on the basis of what He has already said to you. You see, it's such a supernatural process. It's not you telling God what to do.

It is the Lord instructing you. You respond and hear and then obey Him, and then you sound just like Him. And He loves that. He loves that. He said that He would look for a man that would stand in the gap.

You know, you can't stand in the gap unless you're hearing Him, and then you're synchronized with Him, and His cadence is your cadence, and His pace is your pace. Think about it. It's powerful, and it's possible. It's possible for you. And you know it has no bounds.

It doesn't matter where we live, what our status in life is. We have the same Spirit, the same speaking Spirit, and we are covered with and affected by the blood of Jesus that speaks a better covenant than anything that's going on around us. That's why the martyr's testimony is that His grace is sufficient because they knew Him. They know Him that clearly. I want that. I want that.

I know that's what you want. So as we're running with horses, as we're running with the horses that are pulling the king's chariot, we have this energy, and we have this endowment, this download of power, and therefore we can speak to the culture whatever it is to our generation, whatever it is to our nation, whatever it is. We are not limited. The Word of God is not chained. It is not.

So it is unlimited, and you are unlimited. Please think about this, these two things, that the voice you hear is important, and the message, the messenger, the clear voice that you hear is important because it determines then what you will say. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support this podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media, or leave a rating and review. Don't forget to check out the show notes or visit acleartrumpet.org where you can subscribe to Shirley's email list. Download the ministry app and purchase your very own copy of Shirley's 365-day devotional, Running with Horses. Thanks again, and we will see you next time.