2012-04-06
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We’ve seen that a covenant with the Lord means the death the death of our independence. Had Christ been simply another human, such a promise unto death would have been foolish to make. But our Lord is part human and part Deity; moreover, He is perfect. This gives us assurance that He will keep up His end of the covenant with consistency. Having said that, we also know that His death on the cross led to the temple veil being rent from top to bottom, not by human hands, opening the Holy of Holies to all who believe in Him [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25; MT 27: 51; MK 15: 38]. This unprecedented access to God is for all of us [HE 10: 19-20]. Enabling us to know God’s will, through prayer and study of His word, allows us to make God’s purposes our own. The significance to us of this is huge. We can now choose to live righteously and to gain eternal life through our faith, repentance, and confession of our sins [RO 10: 9-10]. God’s grace and forgiveness is granted to us forever [1 JN 1: 9], and we are justified, i.e. deemed acceptable to the Father [RO 4: 3]. We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and become God’s adopted children [JN 14: 14-16, 21]. The net result is seen in 1 JN 3: 9-10, which shows us that a child of God cannot habitually choose to sin, for God’s nature is indwelt in Him through the Holy Spirit. This unconditional promise unto death is fulfilled when we come to the Father by means of faith in the Son [IS 42: 6; JN 14: 6].
Today, I am led to write about the application of the Lord’s teaching on our covenant with Him. Kay Arthur in her book Our Covenant God tells the story of Dr. Robertson McQuilkin, the former president of Columbia Bible College. He and his wife, Muriel, had been married for 42 years when Muriel became very ill. She needed her husband’s help. He remembered the marriage vow, which said “in sickness and in health.” Dr. McQuilkin knew and understood God’s will for him. After prayer, he realized he would give up his lofty position at the college and devote his time to helping his wife, Muriel. He had the strength and commitment to her, given to him by God. He also remembered that Muriel had cared for him sacrificially and with the same commitment all those 42 years. Now it was his turn to help her.
No matter what the cost, a truly ordained marriage involves such an unbreakable commitment. The same is true for any covenant we have with God. That how I feel about being called to be a minister. It’s an unbreakable commitment forever. If we go back to God’s words in GN 15: 13, we can better understand His commitment to the Jewish people that they will be brought into the Promised Land. GN 15: 13, “Then the Lord said to him [Abraham], ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.’” In actuality, the Jews spent 430 years in Egypt, in which 400 of them were spent as slaves. God also kept His promise [GN 15: 14] that Egypt would be punished, and the Jews would be allowed to leave Egypt with a lot of Egypt’s material wealth (15). When God makes a promise, He keeps it. He wants us to do the same.
If we jump forward to JS 1: 5, 9; JS 6: 4-5, 17, and 21, we will see what happened. “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I [God] was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you...Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go…[Later at the walls of Jericho] Have seven priests carry trumpets of ram’s horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in…The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab, the prostitute, and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent…They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it-men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkeys.” If this seems bloodthirsty to us, we must realize the former inhabitants of Jericho were practicing a wicked religion with many gods. Our God knew they would never accept Him as their one and only God. God also considered their animals unclean too. The Promised Land was to be the one place that was set apart by no idolatry practiced. That was God’s will, and it still is today.
The successful taking of Canaanite territory was made successful by God’s presence and His will. These Scriptures cited above show that His will and His hands were all over this siege. It is reminiscent of a young David to come in the future of the Jews who would kill a giant named Goliath with one stone accurately sent from a sling-shot [1 SAM 17: 48-49]. David had previously said in, 1 SAM 17: 45-46, that he was coming against Goliath in the name of the Lord Almighty [El Shaddai] with the armies of Israel which Goliath had defied. We must remember that “Nothing is impossible for God” [MK 10: 27].
PRAYER: O Lord, we may not be privy to the specifics what happens with Robertson and Muriel McQuilkin, or any of the others who understood the unbreakable nature of their covenants with God. However, we can assume they will be rewarded with eternal life and blissful fellowship with You in heaven in Your perfect time and way. We are deeply grateful that Your Son obeyed Your command, gave His physical life sacrificially on the cross for us, making it possible to have close access to You in prayer and study of Your word. By our faith in Him and repentance, You make it possible for us to choose to live righteously in accordance with Your teaching. We are so grateful that we would like to let You know how important it is to us to seek to discover sins and expunge them from our lives. We also want You to know that we choose not to waste a drop of the blood He shed for us on the cross. We are aware of the love You have for us and want to honor that with our fidelity, reverence, and obedience to You. We offer You praise and thanks for all You do. PS 106: 1-3, “Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, because He is good; His love is eternal. Who can tell all the great things He has done? Who can praise Him enough? Happy are those who obey His commands, who always do what is right.” PS 150: 6, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” Dearest Abba, You have given us the most important promise of all, the hope of the resurrection. HE 6: 17-20, “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose clear to His heirs of what He promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our Forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a High Priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Praise, thanks, and glory be to You, in Christ’s name. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I am led to continue with ways God’s teaching can be applied and examples from the Scriptures. It is my hope to discuss modern applications too. When we are amidst our own trials, it is very easy to forget how blessed we are. We are blessed with a God Who is always here for us, a God Who listens to every prayer we utter. Even at times when it seems He is not answering, this may be a way He is communicating with us. He gives us His perceptions through Scripture, and that is one of many reasons why we should spend daily time in the Scriptures [2 TIM 3: 16-17]. As for prayer, it should be more than our urging Him to grant our supplications. Prayer is meant to acknowledge God, to confess sins we have, to ask for our needs, and to offer God acclimation for His deeds. This is the time to ask Him to teach us His ways, to ask for mercy and His direction, to acknowledge His wonderful attributes, and to request help in a time of trouble [PS 86: 5, 7, 11, 13, and 15]. We should always listen for God first, then speak to Him with reverence and awe, then listen for Him again. Our God loves us beyond measure. PS 146: 5, “But happy are those who have the God of Israel as their Helper; whose hope is in the Lord their God.” We must remember 2 CH 16: 9, “The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those who hearts are fully committed to Him.” We can have real confidence and freedom to approach His mighty throne with our needs. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 14: 15