Covenant

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The LORD had said to Abram, 

"Go from your country, your people and 

your father's household to the land I will show you.

"I will make you into a great nation, 

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you."

So Abram went, as the LORD had told him...

- Genesis 12:1-4a

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.
Is anything too hard for me?
Therefore this is what the Lord says:
...You are saying about this city,
'By the sword, famine and plague it will be given into the hands
of the king of Babylon';
but this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says:
I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them
in my furious anger and great wrath;
I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.
They will be my people, and I will be their God.
I will give them singleness of heart and action,
so that they will always fear Me
and that all will them go well for them
and for their children after them.
I will make an everlasting covenant with them:
I will never stop doing good to them,
and I will inspire them to fear Me,
so that they will never turn away from me.
I will rejoice in doing them good
and will assuredly plant them in this land with all My heart and soul.

 - Jeremiah 32:26-28, 36-41

The month of October ends today.

Another opportunity for me to look back at what the Lord has been speaking.

Another opportunity to write down the events of the past weeks while they are still fresh in my memory.

And... another opportunity to give the month a name that will best sum up the lessons that I have learned during the 31 days of this month.

It has not really been that easy to put the events of the month into words.

One simple reason is that there have just been too many moments to write about. Broken down into minutes, the past thirty one days equal forty-four thousand six hundred forty minutes... and during each minute of this month, God was saying... or doing something of eternal impact in my life.

When I look at it that way, it just blows my mind away.

Writing entries in my blog in this season of my life is becoming harder than it used to be. In the early years, it was so much easier to grab the electronic pen and paper and start writing down my thoughts. These days, it requires more determination and discipline from me.

It's not that I no longer want to blog. On the contrary, I believe maintaining a personal web log is one of the best things that ever happened to me.

What hinders me is the sheer volume of things to share. Events have been happening so fast, and much as I want to write about them all, it is humanly impossible.

There are also new assignments that I sense God calling me to do, and time is needed to process what is going on in my heart.

Internal sifting always requires time.

However, I am aware that there are many important things to write about - personal insights seen from a kingdom perspective that I need to record and put into words.

photo source

So tonight I am giving priority to my blog and will no longer allow myself to be deterred. Instead, I will take some time to re-visit the events of the past forty-four thousand six hundred minutes or so... and out of these, choose which ones need to be put into writing that my end of month entry may be a mouthpiece for God to impact the lives of whoever will pass this way and hear what He is saying.

I take to heart the words of the prophet Habakkuk:

I will stand at my watch

and station myself on the ramparts;

I will look to see what He will say to me...

Write down the revelation

and make it plain on tablets

so that a herald may run with it.

For the revelation awaits an appointed time;

it speaks of the end

and will not prove false.

Though it linger, wait for it;

it will certainly come

and will not delay.

- Habakkuk 2:1-3

In September, I had a full month. The message of that past month still rings loud and clear in my spiritual ears. "Hineni, here I am, Lord. Here I stand. Speak, for your servant hears and listens." 

This word "hineni" is a covenant word, and is the word spoken by Abraham in response to the Lord when he was asked to offer his son Isaac on Mount Moriah.

It was also the word spoken by Moses when God spoke to him from the burning bush.

And it is amazing that this word also contains part of the covenant name of God, "I Am."

In attending the Worship, Warfare, and Intercession Training Module conducted on September 1 by the Intercessors for the Philippines in Manila, I understood the new pattern of worship and intercession that the Holy Spirit is teaching us. I understood also the truth that God's eyes range throughout the earth, to show Himself mighty and strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9).

This month, the same message is reinforced. There is no more time for complacency, distraction, or dissipation... YET, these are the very things that the enemy throws across our paths to hinder God's people from truly understanding His end time moves.

We are entering a season of increased knowledge and understanding, but the temptation of intellectualism and spiritual pride, a "know-it-all" spirit, is also great.

Last month, I was able to participate in the celebration of the three fall feasts of the Lord, the appointed times that the Israelites were instructed to observe as holy convocations. There are seven feasts outlined in Leviticus 23, and when we pay attention to these feasts, we will have a greater understanding of the Lord's timetable for His plan of salvation and redemption for the world.

My time in Manila gave me a deeper desire to connect with the Hebrew foundations of my Christian faith.

After spending seven weeks in Manila, I returned to Bacolod on October 3. The Saturday after my arrival, I once again joined the Saturday morning dawn watch intercession time at the Negros Island House of Prayer (NIHOP).

At the end of our prayer time, I was able to share with the group what the Lord had placed on my heart regarding the feasts of the Lord. After a time of exhortation, the group agreed that we would celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles at sundown of the following day, the last day of the said feast.

About sixty persons showed up for the celebration. We watched the video of Paul Wilbur's Jerusalem Arise. It was held ten years ago in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles, but the anointing of that evening of worship and celebration was still strongly felt by all of us. There was a spirit of worship and rejoicing that filled the place.

At the end of the evening, Butch Yulo enjoined all of us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. My heart overflowed with gladness to be able to celebrate this feast with fellow intercessors in my home city of Bacolod.

In addition to the Saturday dawn watch, a weekday dawn watch was also conducted daily by Juan and Helen Coromina at the House of Prayer. We offered heartfelt prayer for our city, province, and island, specifically against the spirit of deception, falsehood, and concealment prevailing over our city because of the Masskara festival celebrated during the month of October.

I am certain it was not by accident but by divine appointment that the Youth Convergence sponsored by the NIHOP and the Intercessors for the Philippines (IFP) was held in this city yesterday and today.

As this month came to an end, this was the strong message from heaven for Bacolod City:

Worship, warfare and intercession are our God-given tools as we enter into the end times.

There is a strong prophetic anointing coming upon intercessors who are committed to stand as the watchmen on the wall, determined to give God no rest, until His praise is established in Jerusalem and throughout all the earth.

The youth are being called to a higher level of understanding the times and the seasons. The older men and women of our generation are called to be the bows that will mentor the youth, and release them as arrows that will not miss the mark but hit the target.

Warfare is indeed getting more and more intense. False agenda abound in the churches. God is looking for those whose hearts are loyal to Him that He might show Himself strong on their behalf.

The foundation of our victory in Christ is the Word of God. More than ever before, we are to devote more time to feeding on God's word - it is to be the foundation of our worship, our warfare, and our intercession!

Rightly has our heavenly Father said that man will not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

God is raising in this hour the sleeping church, distracted, led astray by all kinds of erroneous teaching, propaganda, and most destructive of all, the false god of self-fulfillment.

We went down on our knees for the Body of Christ in our city and our nation that is divided by denominational, doctrinal, and relational walls.

We cried out to God to raise the church as the warrior bride, the ezer bride.\

In Genesis 2, God created a helper suitable for Adam, an "ezer", a military term that means an assistant or a deputy commander, one equally capable of performing any task God assigns to Adam. We prayed that God in these days will equip the church to really be an overcomer bride, the one deputized to execute God's will on earth for these end times.

The Warrior Bride

by Todd Thomas

Preparing the Warrior Bride of Christ, by Robert Misst

We called out to heaven to release to all of us the key of David... intimacy and worship.

There is a call to intimacy with God, holiness and purity - that God's end time army be men and women after God's heart, a prophetic company operating in David's three-fold office of prophet, priest, and king.

As this month comes to an end, I sense God's clear message to me - He is a my covenant God.

He keeps His covenant, and we are called to be people of faith who will not be offended, or judge with human judgment... but rather to judge with righteous judgment.

To be able to discern the times and the seasons of God, that we will not grow weary in the waiting, we are called to be men and women of humility, who will fix our eyes on Jesus, and not on our own perspectives of what is happening around us.

Personally I have grown tired of listening to godless talk and chatter around me from people who always think they alone know what is right or what is best. I am careful not to be offended by such people, but truly I am blessed and encouraged by the heart of my friends in the NIHOP - Lyndon and Ann, Butch and Mylene, and Patrick and Rita, Juan and Helen. I have sensed their willingness to be used by God as the leaders of the prayer movement for our city and island in this season.

I know that my own part in this movement started fifteen years ago, and God has moved me to sow seeds of intercession in my own prayer closet and with a group of willing friends like Trudi, Buddy, Melanie, Jun-jun, Emily, and Ely. In this season, God has not called me to lead, but to be a willing worker behind the scenes, a supporter, a warrior.

We are doing all we can to soften the ground for the unity movement, opening our hearts, embracing those of other denominations that there will be only one lampstand representing the united body of Christ in our city.

The speakers at the convergence, Nona Londonio, Joel Bataclan, Pastor Obet and his team of anointed worshipers, Edith Mendoza... all of them modeled for us true humility and servanthood. Even as I write these words, I can't help but let the tears fall.

Edith spoke of the holy interruptions in our daily routines, times when heaven breaks through our wall of pride, and we are called to respond in humble worship before the King.

God is calling out the bride. Are we ready to pay the price?

What is it that the enemy is setting up before us as a hindrance, a road block to the outpouring of His glory and anointing for the difficult days ahead?

The word from the prophets is consistent - we are all entering a season of martyrdom. It sounds scary... but really we are being forewarned that we may be prepared.

I know it is not easy to prepare, for the downward pull of our earthly concerns is strong. The enemy would have us distracted, even by the high positions of pride that many so called Christians sit on. High positions of self-righteousness... which make us think we are better than many others, but which brings so much grief to God's heart.

We are being called to choose this very day to be shaped, molded, prepared to be a warrior bride, passionate for her King alone.

God has promised to restore the tabernacle of David, because it was this tabernacle that ushered in true worship. David removed the partitions and the Holy of Holies was open for all to see - a pattern of heavenly worship.

As this month ends, I hold on to the covenant that God made with His people:

They will be my people, and I will be their God.

I will give them singleness of heart and action,

so that they will always fear Me

and that all will them go well for them 

and for their children after them.

I will make an everlasting covenant with them:

I will never stop doing good to them,

and I will inspire them to fear Me,

so that they will never turn away from me.

I name this month "Covenant."

And to my dying breath, let this be my song.


I Will Bow to You
by Bob Fitts

Lord I will bow to You
To no other God but You alone
Lord I will worship You
Nothing hands have made
But You alone

I will lay down my idols
Thrones I have made
All that has taken my heart
Lord I will bow to You
To no other God but You alone