I
had a dream from the Lord recently. In the dream, I saw my father telling me,
“Get covered”. Every time I see my father in a dream, it also speaks
symbolically about my Father (God) in heaven. As I sought the Lord regarding
this dream, I realized God was speaking to me about His covering for His
people, the Body of Christ.
1.
The
covering of the blood of Jesus
Here’s an illustration.
Many years ago, I had an opportunity to visit a sheep farm. There, I saw a
little lamb running around in the farm, and on its body, there was a layer of
skin of another lamb that had died. And that skin was still stained with blood.
When I asked the farmer why this was so, he then explained this little lamb was
an orphan. He had intentionally placed the skin of another lamb that had died
in an accident on this particular lamb. The reason is so that the ewe (the
mother of the dead lamb) would smell the familiar body scent and think that
it’s her own baby. As a result, she would be willing to nurse and milk the
orphan lamb.
That was truly an eye-opening
experience for me, and it brought me to the understanding of God’s redemption plan
for mankind. In Genesis 3:21, the Bible says that God made tunics (or coats) of
skin in order to clothe Adam and Eve. In order to get the skin for the
purpose of covering, an animal has to be killed. On record, this was
also the first time God killed an animal and shed its blood. As you can see,
the reason He did this was to cover Adam and Eve. Indeed, His redemption
plan for mankind was already on His mind even in Adam and Eve’s days! Today, as
a believer in the New Covenant, know that Jesus has already become that very Lamb
who died and shed His blood for your covering.
Jesus chose to die on the cross for you and cover you with His blood
so that when the Father (God) sees
you, He sees Jesus whom He loves! (see Romans 3:25, Romans 5:8-10,
Colossians 1:14, Ephesians 2:13)
People of God, because
Jesus is God’s righteousness and He is in you, God also sees you as righteous. And
because Jesus is God’s beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased (Matthew 3:17),
God also sees you as His beloved child, in whom He is also well pleased! As
Jesus is, so are you in this world! (see 1 John 4:17)
In other words, under
the covering of the blood of Jesus, God sees you like He sees His Son –
righteous, precious, worthy, beloved, and spotless! He sees you in Christ!
In fact, you have already
come under the covering of the blood of Jesus the moment you choose to accept
Him as your personal Lord and Saviour. As a believer, you can now expect to
receive the fullness of His spiritual blessings, such as salvation, restoration
(of the broken heart), healing, renewal, liberty (from oppression), and
providence (see Luke 4:18-19). Thus, always remind yourself that you are now under
the covering of the blood of Jesus and you are entitled to every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus
(see Ephesians 1:3). Amen!
2.
The covering
of God’s leading and guidance
Throughout the course of
my spiritual ministry, I have also learned that I can only succeed whenever
I allow God to lead and guide me every
step of the way, and in every decision I make. Whenever I choose to follow
His leading and guidance (e.g. where to go, what to do), He would also always cover
me with His protection, providence, and anointing which leads to good results.
In Psalm 91, King David
wrote about having the protection of the Lord by dwelling and abiding under His
covering. However, it takes you to choose to ‘dwell in the secret place of the Most High’ before you ‘shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty’ where ‘He shall cover
you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge’ (see
Psalm 91:1-4).
In His presence and under His covering, you can
receive His leading and guidance. As long as you follow His leading and guidance, you can also be rest assured that no matter how ‘hostile’
the places you are going to, or how ‘risky’ the things you are to do, God will be
there to cover you with His protection.
When Jesus sent His disciples
out to the cities and places where He was about to go, He told them not to
carry money bag, knapsack, or sandals (see Luke 10:4). So, wherever God leads
you to go to bring the good news of His kingdom, or to minister His kingdom, God
will also see to it that He will cover
you with His providence, no matter how high the cost of living is in that
place, or how expensive the air ticket is to make the trip.
In John 15:5, Jesus said,
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He
who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can
do nothing.” In spite of the lack of training/qualification/ability on your
part, God’s leading will always come with His anointing (or His enabling) for
you. You will therefore never lack any good result or success when you are
under the covering of God’s leading and guidance.
3.
The
covering of love
In John 15:16-17, Jesus
said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose
you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit
should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These
things I command you, that you love one another.”
As God covers us with His love, let’s also give this covering
of love to one another in the Body of Christ. Jesus promised that when
you choose to love one another (John 15:16-17), you are also coming under the covering
of His love where you will taste long-lasting success (‘bear fruit, and that your fruit should
remain’) and your heart’s desires are being granted (‘whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you’).
Therefore, cover and accept those who are weak
in faith (or those who may have stumbled in their spiritual walk) in the Body
of Christ by giving words of encouragement, godly advice, and gentle admonition.
Willingness to accept a sinner does not mean that you are condoning the sins being
committed. James 5:19-20 says, “Brethren,
if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him
know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from
death and cover a multitude of sin.” A church gathering should be a place
full of acceptance and love, not judgment and rejection. Remember, it’s the
goodness of God that leads one into repentance (see Romans 2:4).
Also, cover and complement each other’s
weaknesses and shortcomings in the Body of Christ with your spiritual gifts or
natural talents. 1 Peter 4:8-10 says, “And
above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude
of sins’. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has
received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold
grace of God”. No one is good in everything. Accept one another (even each
other’s way of doing things) as no one is the same. Strengthen one another this
way, and you’ll see the whole Body of Christ being strengthened as well.
Last but not least, cover and pray for your spiritual
leaders. No man or woman of God is perfect. Even Noah who was accounted to
be a just man in his days, and whom the Bible says ‘perfect in his generation
and someone who walked with God’ (Genesis 6:9), could still end up drunk and
naked (see Genesis 9:18-21). One of Noah’s sons, Ham saw and
exposed his father’s nakedness to his brothers. However, the other two sons
(Shem and Japheth) chose to cover their father’s nakedness. Ham was
later cursed by his father to be ‘servant of servants’ to his brothers, but his
brothers (Shem & Japheth) who did not expose their father in turn received
blessings. Hence, don’t be too quick to expose your spiritual leaders’
weaknesses and in doing so, ended up ‘touching’ God’s anointed. Cover
them in prayer instead, and let the Lord intervene. If an action is required of
you, allow the Lord to lead and guide you, instead of reacting in the heat of
emotion.
Well,
I know it’s never easy to love others. But if you have experienced the love and
grace of God, under the covering of the blood of Jesus and under the covering
of God’s leading and guidance, you will have more than enough love from God
to love others.
Today, God has already provided the covering for you. What you need
to do now is to decide to come under His covering.
May you experience and enjoy every
spiritual blessing that comes from Him, His protection, His providence, His anointing,
a long-lasting success and fruitfulness, and all your prayers being answered, as you come under God’s covering today.
Amen!