Dear Sisters and Brothers in Jesus the Christ,

13 The Lord shall make you the head (leader), and not the tail (follower); and you will be above only, and you shall not be beneath, if you listen and pay attention to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, to observe them carefully.  14 Do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or to the left, to follow and serve other gods. Deuteronomy 28:13-14 (AMP)


13 If you will listen to these commands of the LORD your God and carefully obey them, the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always have the upper hand.  14 You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today to follow after other gods and worship them. Deuteronomy 28:13-14 (NLT)


The Old Testament/Old Covenant between YHWH (with inserted vowels YAHWEH, transliterated JEHOVAH, and commonly interpreted the LORD) and mankind included more than 600 commands for personal as well as national guidance for living under the authority of God. Such provided God’s direction for moral, spiritual, and social life; thereby rendering clarity as to the essence of God and the participation giving evidence of the individual’s, community’s and/or nation’s commitment to God.1 Such were referenced as the law of sin and death because to break even one of the 600+ laws manifest sin and death to the individual and/or community and/or nation. “ 56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.  57 How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord!1 Corinthians 15:56-57 (NLT). Nevertheless, as though 600+ of God’s law wasn’t enough, religious leaders added thereunto which is otherwise referred to as legalism; mankind has consistently displayed the propensity to think he should add to God’s way. Unbelief is disastrous because the Word of God is the “perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25) that manifest The Blessing. “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthlessJames 1:26 (NLT). Essentially, religion trusts in the traditions and rituals of men. YESHUA/JESUS never preached religion; He taught the Kingdom of God. By the grace of God the Father, the Good News of Christ is a firm foundation that gives evidence of: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The Gospel of Christ is the good news of receiving from GOD by the redemptive work of Christ Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s singularly about the grace of God the Father who sent His only begotten Son as the seed (Galatians 3:29) for the harvest of more sons and daughters. More than two thousand years ago on Calvary, the blood of Jesus the Anointed One and His Anointing paid the ransom for the sins of all mankind; hence those who believe and confess Him are redeemed, re-created, reconciled and restored every privilege and right as heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 10:9 & 8:14-17). 

  • 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 not of works, lest any man should boastEphesians 2:8-9 (KJV).
  • 23 Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.  25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.  26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,  27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise Galatians 3:23-29 (NIV).

The New Testament/New Covenant between GOD and mankind has a new commandment which encompasses all of the previous commands pleasing to God; this root command is: “Love one another/Love each other” (John 15:17). The Living Word said that the greatest of all commandments pertains to love: “Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them” Matthew 22:37-40 (MSG). Love is not a feeling – He is a person: “God is Love” (1 John 4:8,16). God the Father sent His only begotten Son who agreed to come, and He walked in perfect obedience to the will of the Father just because He too loved us. The plethora of gifts given to us by the redemptive work of Christ Jesus includes: the measure of faith and God’s kind of love because the operative power of faith is love (Ro 12:3 & 5:5; Gal 5:6). Therefore, it’s impossible to move contrary to the way of God and manifest The Blessing (Proverbs 10:22; Galatians 3:14a). The Lord Jesus said, it gives Abba Father great pleasure to give us the kingdom (Luke 12:32). Therefore, we are strongly advised to forgive because it serves to release hatred which is toxic as in self-poisoning. Forgiveness doesn’t render us doormats because by the Teaching of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26 & 16:13; Galatians 3:14b) we have peace in the clarity of mind as well as in the knowledge that vengeance and recompense is of the LORD of Hosts who is Jehovah Sabaoth (Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30; Deuteronomy 32:35; Psalm 94:1; Isaiah 35:4; Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 54:17; 1 Samuel 1:3; 2 Samuel 6:2 & 7:26-27; Isaiah 6:1-3; James 5:4). This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins 1 John 4:10 (NIV). By revelation of the information in God’s Word through the Teaching and empowerment of the Holy Spirit we may know that the  superior way for us is love/agap? (1 Corinthians 13:1-13); hence we agapa?. 

Speak the promise . . . Harriet  

 1 Zondervan. (1997). Life Application Study Bible: New International Version. (p. 251). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.