Covenant Mindedness 2 by Apostle Femi Lazarus: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

What It Means to Be Covenant-Minded

To be covenant-minded is to be conscious of the weight of an agreement. Once you have made an agreement with a person — whether with God or with men — to be covenant-minded means to have fidelity, to stay faithful to the weight of it, without breaking it or walking out of it.

If God tells you: I want to do certain things in your life and I want you to give me three days of dry fasting every month — and on the basis of this, here is what I will do — that is a covenant waiting instruction. If you are going to see the move of God, you do it. Let his word carry so much weight in your heart that you stick with it.

One dangerous thing about God is that if you stop sticking to what he has told you, he will not shout. It may take you time to even notice. The way God wants to speak to a believer is through the inward witness on the inside. If you kill that antenna, you are predisposed to error. You become like a city without walls.

We Have a Generation That Uses Words Without Weight

Many use covenant language carelessly — attaching it to relationships that have not even been tested by time.

• If you have a friend, it is fine to call it friendship. Do not call it covenant friendship if it is not deep.
• Do not call someone your covenant sister because you have prayed together twice. You are placing on each other demands you may not be able to meet.
• A relationship that has not passed the test of time cannot be referred to as a covenant relationship.

Love requires knowledge. You cannot love someone you do not know. The moment you rush a relationship into covenantal language before it has been proven, you have invited chaos. Be careful what you say to people when you are not yet sure of your journey together.

Until you have full comprehension of where your life is going, you cannot honestly know who you should marry.

Marriage: The Covenant That Needs to Mean Something

Marriage is not a relationship to be broken like a digital conversation. Look at Genesis 2:23-24 — for this reason shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Proverbs 2:17 calls marriage the covenant of her God — the strange woman forsakes the guide of her youth and forgets it.

The oath taken at the altar must carry weight. You stood before the living God and said: I take you as my lawfully wedded spouse. That must count for something. The moment you say I do, no other gender should be making sense to you anymore.

• Before agreeing to marry anyone, check what the weight of their words means to them. How do they treat the important relationships already around them?
• An ex who knows you are married and is still keeping relational conversation with you is a dangerous person. Old flame still burns.
• You are not just honoring your spouse with your body. You are honoring God.

If you love joy, if you love peace, if you love length of days — stay faithful.

Covenant Friendship: David and Jonathan

Look at 2 Samuel 9:1. Despite Jonathan being dead, David was still asking: is there anyone left in the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? He remembered the agreement. He stuck with it — not because things were good for the other side, but because covenant people do.

Proverbs 27:17 — iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. If you call someone a covenant friend, you are declaring: if this person falls down, I will be there. Not just when things are fine. Anyone can show up when things are fine. The test of covenant friendship is the days of trouble.

Building interpersonal relationship is an art. The only person who will reward you based purely on the quality of your heart is God. As far as this earth is concerned, you must learn to express what is in you — because what you bottle up causes you to lose favour, lose relationships, lose meaningful people.

He that must have friends must show himself friendly. Do not expect harvest where you have not sown.