Week 4: Familial Covenants (9th – 15th September 2016)

⁹“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; ¹⁰and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.
Deuteronomy 7:9,10

²³For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26

A covenant can be defined as a formal or informal agreement that is legally binding between two or more parties. A formal covenant is usually written, signed and sealed. An informal one can simply be by word of mouth. Covenants carry promises and conditions and in the understanding of scripture, they carry trans-generational effects that come to bear upon the descendants of the parties involved. Though usually enacted knowingly, it is possible to get yoked into a covenant through deception as will be exemplified later in this chapter. Because Satan has a mission to steal, kill and destroy, he excels in using deception to entrap people into covenants that give him a legal right in the realm of the spirit to carry out his evil agenda in the lives of the individuals concerned and in the lives of their posterity. While expecting a blessing, happiness, and fulfillment, the individuals concerned find themselves entrapped in a cycle that delivers the very opposite. Often the trigger point of the cycle will be hidden by the enemy so that the descendants will often not have a clue as to how they got into the state they are in.

Symbols
When a covenant is executed, there is often be a token provided as a symbol, to remind the parties involved, of the covenantal relationship, entered into. In some cases special gifts are exchanged: for example rings in the case of the marriage covenant.

God of Covenant
Covenants provide the legal basis for the realm of the spirit to operate in the human realm. Strange as it may seem, God seeks the cooperation of men to operate in the earthly realm, which by His design in creation was given to men. Jehovah is a God of covenant. He never establishes anything with man without first entering a covenant or an agreement with him. This is what He has done through the ages. In all the covenants He has entered with men, His aim has always been one – to bless mankind. Covenants entered between God and men are positive and are established to operate under the principles of God’s word and righteousness. They result in blessing for men and the furtherance of God’s plan and purposes in the earth.

Satanic Covenants
Satan knows the laws upon which the Kingdom of God is founded; he knows the laws that govern the operations of the universe. It must be remembered that during the wilderness temptation, he had the cheek to quote scripture to the Lord Jesus, the Living Word!! So he understands the laws of God and in setting up his kingdom after his fall from heaven, he did so in such a way that he perverted everything that God says. So he understands the operations and power of covenants.

Being the Master of deceit, he has worked over the generations to gain an advantage over mankind by trickery and deception. He well knows that once one enters a covenant, they are bound by it. He has therefore embarked down the ages on a plan to lure mankind into unknowingly entering covenant with him. His covenants carry seemingly good promises at the onset, but the end result is to hinder God’s plan for the individual, families, and nations concerned. Jesus clearly stated that when satan comes into any situation, his three point agenda is to steal, kill and destroy. Because he is a master of deceit, he will promise to bless to the unsuspecting individuals who often unknowingly get bound by agreements and promises to the powers of darkness that come back to haunt them and posterity.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly
(John 10:10).

Any covenant that man enters into with another spirit being other than God is a covenant with the kingdom of darkness. Such covenants do not bring life, they only cause death. It could be the death of our marriages, businesses or relationships etc. The Spirit of God through the Prophet Isaiah gives these sobering words to the adamant children of Israel:

You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.” Your covenant with death will be annulled: your agreement with the grave will not stand.
(Isaiah 28:14-18).

Covenants are very significant in the spirit realm. They are vehicles of Satan’s operations. They enable him to legally torture and oppress his victims. For that matter, Satan takes great interest in entering covenants with as many human beings as he can (especially those in leadership positions) to steal, kill and destroy them. He commonly likes to make;

Covenants with death and hell

Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men that rule this people, which is in Jerusalem. Because you have said, we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come to us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves
(Isaiah 28:14-18).

While covenants with God or based on His principles and statutes bring blessing and life, any covenants made with any other spirit being will ultimately result in curses, loss, death, and destruction. As already explained earlier in this chapter, the shedding of blood is a common feature of ancient covenants and it is thus easier to understand why Satan would hoodwink people into rituals that involve some form of shedding of blood. Unfortunately many African cultural rituals and protection rites fall into this category. This include:

Tribal marks (usually body incisions done for some form of initiation).
Body incisions on barren women seeking to bear children.
Body incisions for protection and for business success.
Body incisions for traditional healing.

The Covenant of Life and Peace

“The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers. When I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people…..I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34).

When God spoke these words through the Prophet Jeremiah, He was making an everlasting covenant first with Israel, then with the rest of humanity. According to the terms of the covenant, God Himself would put His laws in the hearts of men. He would forgive their sins and remember them no more. The everlasting symbol of this covenant of life was to be the sacrifice of God’s begotten son who died on the cross to secure the legal grounds from which this covenant could “speak” throughout the generations, for all time to come.

“And now this admonition is for you O priests, “If you do not listen, and if you do not honor my name,” says the Lord almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me…and you will know that I have sent you this admonition so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty, “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.”
Malachi 2:1, 2, 5

Initially made with Levi, the covenant of life and peace had the following requirements. The priests had to

Revere the Lord
Stand in awe of His name
Have true instruction in their mouths
Entertain no falsehood on the lips
Walk with the Lord in peace and uprightness
Turn many from sin

From the above, there are many parallel lessons for us today who have come under the everlasting covenant made through the blood of Jesus.

Reflection

Are there ways that you or your immediate family have entered satanic covenants? During this week ask God to open your eyes to things you may be blind to.
Ask His forgiveness and release from consequences that may have arisen as a result of satanic covenants.
Renew your family covenant to serve the Lord and walk in His ways, and pray for the spiritual, mental, emotional, physical and material needs of your family.
Pray and consider gathering family both – nuclear and extended – for a time of praying over issues that affect them.

2062 SECTOR FOCUS: THE ECONOMY, BUSINESS, AND ENTERPRISE

We desire to see God’s Kingdom fully manifested in the Economics, Business and Enterprise Sphere of Uganda by 2062

Uganda is richly endowed with abundant natural resources and arguably the best climate in the world but we have not yet harnessed these adequately to improve our quality of life. In spite of improvements in recent years, Ugandans are still ranked among the poor in the world. According to a 2013 expenditure review by the Directorate of Social Protection in the Ministry of Gender, 67% of Ugandans are either poor or prone to poverty. This represented both the Ugandans who spend below the poverty line of $1.20 per day and those who are below twice the poverty line, $2.40 per day. According to the World Bank, even those who are below the poverty line are likely to fall back into poverty. We are a nation still under economic bondage and one of the major issues adversely affecting our economy is corruption.

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is the servant to the lender”
(Proverbs 22:7).

According to this scripture, as a nation, we are servants (slaves) to the nations we owe money. We need to be freed from this debt prison as a nation otherwise we will forever be dancing to the tunes played by other nations; being forced to do things and pass laws that we do not want to pass.

Items for praise and thanksgiving:

The increasing awareness in the population about economic matters;
The registered improvements in the economy and revenue collection.

Ask God’s forgiveness for:

Laziness in the nation;
The general failure to take responsibility for our own future;
The mentality that continually looks to others to do for us what we are supposed to do for ourselves;
A dependent mentality that always expects to receive from others but never sees ways in which it can give (Proverbs 30:15);
The misappropriation and theft of public funds.

Pray that:

The Lord will make the going rough for the corrupt and those who steal public funds, and that they will be removed from any critical positions that they currently occupy;
There will be a firm system established and robustly enforced to dealing with those who steal public funds (Remember that government is the servant of the Lord to bring terror to the wrongdoer – Romans 13:3);
The Lord will quicken the day when these thieves and criminals will live in terror of government;
The spirit of mammon, which is behind fraud and theft in our country will be defeated;
Men and women of upright character and integrity will be elevated to the policy and decision-making places affecting the economy of our land;
There will be policies in place to make the situation conducive for the harnessing of our natural resources to the benefit of our citizens;
There will be continual positive change in the economic life and indices of the nation;
There will be increased employment so that the young and able-bodied will have work and the brain drain will be stopped;
The workforce will be effectively utilized;
There will be an environment in the nation where those who deal righteously will flourish (Psalm72: 7), but those who deal wickedly will have a hard time;
God will raise businessmen and women who are delivered from the love of money and are resource stewards of the Kingdom of God;
Our nation will be delivered from the bondage of national debt and perpetual borrowing;
There will be increased investment in Uganda so that the wealth of the nation is released for blessing its citizens and other nations as well;
A strong biblical work ethic will develop in our nation to replace the prevalent lethargy and laziness that makes many able-bodied young men sit around doing nothing all day long;
Those in the private sector will develop their God-given skills and abilities to create jobs;
Our people will experience job satisfaction and be compensated sufficiently;
The tourism potential of our country will be realized to the maximum;
The Lord will deal with unfair trade practices on the world market whereby the poorer nations are constantly placed at disadvantage;
The Lord will deal with those who harm the economy. This includes those that print counterfeit currency, corrupt public officials, bichupuli businessmen, money launderers, (those that bring in ill-gotten money from crime like drug dealing or prostitution and then invest it in apparently legal business).
The Lord will deliver our nation from those who parasite on the national treasury through various corrupt means.

Pray for the Ministry of Finance for:

Good leadership and management;
Wise allocation of resources;
Exposure of corruption and removal of the corrupt from office;
Promotion of righteousness and justice in the governance and service of this ministry.

PRAY THAT GOD WILL BE GREATLY GLORIFIED IN THE ECONOMY, BUSINESS AND ENTERPRISE SECTOR IN THE YEARS LEADING UP TO 2062.