The Forever Covenant

~~~ Genesis 17:3-9 ~~~ Psalm 105 ~~~ John 8:51-59 ~~~

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

God made a covenant with Abraham as 

he was changing his name.

A covenant with God is a binding spiritual contract.

God did not lengthy complicated legal documents.

God did not have his heavenly attorney 

draw up a document for this covenant.

God keeps his word there is no need for legal protection;

no one is needed to enforce the rules of the covenant.

I will maintain my covenant with you

and your descendants after you

throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,

to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

This covenant has now extended 

all the way through the ages to include us.

It boggles the mind to think about just how long ago God 

made this promise which we believe now.

What else would have survived for this many years?

God uses covenants to communicates us, redeems us,

saves us into eternal life with Jesus.

God's promises are never broken.

God's promises are not questioned.

God's promises are completely trustworthy.

The entire Bible is a covenant.

The Latin word for Covenant is Testament.

Thus we have the Bible in two parts...

the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Jesus said to the Jews:

“Amen, amen, I say to you,

whoever keeps my word will never see death.” 

We could not have asked for anything more from God

 than to be among his chosen people.

If today you hear his voice,

harden not your hearts.

God keeps his part of the covenant

 are you keeping you part?

God is the origin of his covenants;

 we are given the grace to fulfill our part.

His covenants are prefect and true.

~~~Peace~~~

Keeping Our Side

~~~ Deuteronomy 26:16-19 ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ Matthew 5:43-48 ~~~

The Covenant...
Today you are making this agreement with the LORD:
he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways
and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees,
and to hearken to his voice.

In the Bible, covenants with God were taken very seriously.
God never breaks a covenant he enters into with his people.
A covenant, like any other formal agreement, is not one sided.
Both parties come to an agreement to mutually honor their promise.

God wants us to be in relationship with him
 so much that he is willing to make these outlandish promises to us.
He made this covenant with us before we were even conceived.
Maybe it is because of this covenant that we have
a burning desire to seek his face.

Would you be willing to enter into a covenant
sight unseen with anyone else?
It might be a stretch for most of us.

Jesus gives us instructions on how to keep our side of the covenant with God.
The Gospel of Matthew begins with the
Beatitudes and then moves into a series of teachings by Jesus.

Today's teaching deals with how we view our enemies.
Keeping our side of the covenant with the Lord
requires certain attitude adjustment concerning our enemies.

...love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you...

Part of the covenant to being God's people states that we are to
observe his statues, commandments, and decrees.
Jesus was the Word made flesh...he was the living voice of God...
today we are reminded that we are to love those
who we would rather treat otherwise.

It goes against our gut reaction to love
those who would try to harm us in any way.

Keeping the commandment to love thy neighbor
 as thyself was never designed to be easy.

If our covenant with God is ever broken
 it is because we make the choice to ignore our part of the agreement.

Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

We are blessed to be included in a covenant with the Lord.
It is up to us to keep our side as well.
It is time to honestly look at what God requires
on our part to keep his covenant healthy.

Peace.

Timeless Covenant

~~~ Genesis 17:3-9 ~~~ Psalm 105 ~~~ John 8:51-59 ~~~

 

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

 

 Today we are being reminded that God remains

to his promises made to from as far back as Abraham.

We see these promises written for us from the beginning

in the book of Genesis.

The beauty of God is that he keeps his word.

He keeps his word for all time...until the end of the ages.

 

Today we live in a world where it is rare for us to experience someone

 who does actually follow through from their words.

Too often words are just holders for empty promises.

Soon we come to a point where we find it hard to believe what people tell us.

 

But it is different with the words of God.

He has been keeping his words from the beginning of time

and he will continue to do so.

 

I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

 

God promised Abraham that all of his descendants

would be granted the very same promises.

No one can make such a promise except God himself.

God is never changing; yet he is the living God.

The concept is almost contradictory,

since we know from experience

 that all living things change.

 

The Jews around Jesus could not let themselves believe

the words Jesus spoke to them.

They only had knowledge of one God

and this God did not walk as one of them.

 

When Jesus says I am this same God...

I speak on his behalf...

He sent me here to do his will;

they recoiled completely from the idea much less the reality.

 

But I do know him and I keep his word.

 

Jesus says I do know this God for I am he...

I speak his words to you right now.

 

The Jews want to measure time through their understanding of Abraham.

They considered Abraham their 'father'...

he was the one God spoke to...he was the recipient of God's covenant.

Or so they believed.

Jesus had no such authority, in their eyes,

to speak of himself in a manner reserved only for God.

 

Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM.”

 

 

Imagine their shock when Jesus declares himself 'I am'.

God alone was the I AM up until now.

This was a huge leap of faith for them, and many just could not believe.

 

This certainly should not be a leap of faith for us,

but we do need to be reminded often.

God will never abandon us...

He is a faithful and everlasting God.

There is no time for God

God is eternal.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the great

I AM.

 

I pray that I am given sufficient grace

to never join

 in throwing stones

 in the direction of Jesus.