Day 15 Honor, The Language of Covenant
Remember Jacob was tempted by “Achan, the troublemaker”, to break Covenant with both his father and his betrothed bride, Sarah. Jacob chose Honor, the language of Covenant, to stop the tempter in his tracks.
Satan Tempted Jesus to Break Covenant with His Father and His Bride, Matthew 4: 1-11
Satan tempted Jesus with the 5 Covenant Exchanges; Identity, Authority, Protection, Provision and Possessions.
Jesus answered using Covenant terms from God’s word and he spoke in the language of Covenant – Honor.
Provision
Satan tempted Jesus to to break covenant with his father – to provide for himself outside of his father’s covenant provision…”Jesus, you are hungry. Just turn these rocks into bread”. Jesus answered from the Covenant, the Bible; “it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”.
Protection
Satan tempted Jesus to break covenant again, to protect himself by throwing himself off a mountain to see if the angels really would come and save him. Again Jesus answered from the Covenant, the Bible, “it is written, do not test the Lord your God”.
Possessions, Identity and Authority
Satan tempted Jesus to break covenant again, this time with possessions – “worship me” Satan said, in other words, exchange with me your identity and authority, “and I will give you all the kingdoms of the world and all it’s riches”.
Jesus final answer was again from the Covenant, “away from me, Satan. For it is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” At the word of God, the Covenant agreement, Satan left and the Bible tells us angels came and ministered to Jesus; I bet the angels brought Jesus lunch.
Satan Wants Us To Break Covenant With Our Father God, With Our Groom Jesus, With Our Spouse and Our Children
We also are tempted to break covenant. We become weary in well doing. It sometimes seems like there will be no end to the hard work and trouble that comes our way. Others around us are prospering, not working as hard, not denying themselves, not setting themselves apart to God as we do.
Satan comes to us in many forms…busy-ness, striving to earn a living, the desire to “keep up” with the people around us or to fit in to the culture. He pulls us to look at other religions, men or women other than our spouse. He tries to tell us our job, our fulfillment, our reputation is more important than our children. When trouble comes Satan often is right there to bring doubt and fear.
We may doubt, is all this real? Is God really there? Is another religion the way? Often we are tempted by deep longings that seem to go unmet, even by God himself.
We are tempted to break covenant. To go into covenant with ourself; Satan knows when we do this we become impoverished and then he can begin to meet those “needs” we feel.
If this has happened to you, you are not alone and you are not weird. It happened to Jesus; it happens to every person who chooses to enter a covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
What do we do in that moment when we are tired, angry, longing and the temptation comes…just give in to this one little thought, this one action, no one will know and who will it hurt anyway?
It’s at this moment we remember. We are in covenant. We drank the Cup of Acceptance. We have set ourselves apart. We are known as one “bought with a price”. We have been cleansed of our old ways and chosen a new way of living; living in honor of our groom and the covenant agreement we made. We wait steadfastly for His return. We are the bride.
Like Jesus we must learn to use the Covenant Contract, the Word of God, like a sword to fight a deadly enemy.
What I Learned from Max the Dog
We bought a new house in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, an idyllic small community on the outskirts of the Franklin/Nashville area. The first time we looked at our home the neighbor was on her front porch and next to her was a big angry looking boxer named Max. Maxed growled at us menacingly but she assured us he meant us no harm.
We happily purchased our new home and on move in day sure enough, Max was there to greet us. Max’s family had kindly put an invisible fence in the front yard with the boundary line of the fence right at the edge of our driveway. The moment we pulled into the driveway that first day, and every day for two years, Max ran the line, growling, snarling and barking as if he was going to rip us limb from limb.
Of course, we knew Max had the shock collar that seemed to keep him on his side of the driveway, however, we did not have assurance that the batteries were charged or the fence plugged in. Every time we came out of the house, out of the garage or pulled into the driveway fear gripped us as we wondered…would this be the day Max would have his way with us?
Finally, it happened. The kids forgot to plug in the fence when they let Max out or the battery was dead, we don’t know for sure, but we pulled out of the garage on our Harley and boom…there was Max, coming right at us in a full snarling, charge ready for flesh.
What Max did not know was that we were prepared for this day. We knew it would come; we had pepper spray! One shot was all it took and from that day on, whenever the Harley would start, Max would tuck his tail and run to the back of his house.
While this worked with the Harley, it did not work when we came out of the front door, the garage or pulled our car into the driveway. Every time we or a guest or our yard guy or the man who tilled our garden came into our driveway Max was there with his menacing stance. Frustrating.
One day after months of this frustration, the neighbor lady happened to be home and see our terror. “Oh”, she said, “Didn’t we tell you? Max is trained for protection. All you have to say is ‘Max No’ and he will go back behind the house immediately”.
Thanks alot lady…anyway, the next time we left the house I tried it. Here came Max running full speed. I authoritatively yelled, “Max, No!” and she was right. He stopped in his tracks, turned and went around to the back of their house. Whew!
At that moment, God spoke to me. This is how Satan attacks. He comes at us full force, with an oppressive feeling…our needs will not be met, we are in danger, we are all alone, God doesn’t care. Satan comes at us like a barking snarling attack dog…and at times we fear for our very lives. But we have a weapon…God’s Word, our Covenant Contract. When we speak God’s Word, out loud, the oppressive enemy will run away (notice I didn’t “think” ‘Max, No’, I had to say it). Ephesians 5:16-17 tells us
“v16 Take up the shield of FAITH, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. v17 Take up the helmet of salvation (protect your mind) and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”
In this verse the greek word used in “Word of God” is ‘Rhema’, which means the “spoken word”. So we speak the Word of God out loud, holding our faith in our Covenant God as a shield and those fiery darts the devil throws at us are extinguished.
Speak the Covenant Language – Honor
Here are some Covenant Words you can speak out loud as the Sword of the Spirit. Allow them to increase your faith so you can hold up that shield of faith and watch the attacker run away, just like Max the dog did.
Your Covenant Identity
“it is written… Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:2-3
Your Covenant Authority
“it is written… 9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.” Colossians 2:10
Your Covenant Provision
“it is written…and my God shall supply every need according to His riches, not my resources”. Philippians 4:19
Your Covenant Protection
“it is written… v14 “Because he loves me”, says The Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him”. Psalm 91:1-16
Your Covenant Possessions
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Matthew 6:31-32
Speak the Word of God, The Covenant and Use the Language of Covenant, Honor.
All we must do is speak, out loud, the words of our Covenant. Speak language of Covenant, Honor for God and our other covenant relationships and the enemy will flee. And as we speak, suddenly our friend, the Holy Spirit, the comforter, the counselor, comes over the hill and into view. The oppression we felt a moment ago flees and we find we have help and hope for our future once again.
About the Author: Celeste Davis, is a passionate follower of Jesus Christ with a heart to walk fully in Covenant with Him. As Founder of The Wellness Workshop, Celeste’s heart is to teach women and impact their families to “Be Nourished” as opposed to dieting or trying different life strategies. We nourish our bodies with God-Made Food, our Souls with God-Made Relationships and our Spirits with the Word of God and Prayer. More Info about Celeste
