2012-05-18
Hi There Dear Ones,
Last week, the Holy Spirit led me to end with COL 3: 15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And, be thankful.” This isn’t always easy to do, most especially when someone has tricked you into thinking, doing, or saying something you don’t want. We never know when a non-believer we meet and/or interact with might be a potential believer. Just as with Saul of Tarsus, many of us would never have pegged this persecutor of Jewish Christians for the Sanhedrin [Jewish ruling council] would become Paul, one of the most effective apostles for the faith there ever was. Paul was known to be short, balding, and have a very ordinary speaking voice. But the Holy Spirit fueled him to build the faith in others and to write the great epistles which are in the NT. His efforts were instrumental in spreading and building the new Christian church well beyond Jerusalem’s boarders. In my own experience, I have made it my business to welcome newcomers to our congregation and to answer any questions they have. However, I remember teaching a class in sewing, when I encountered a very loud, brassy woman. She was at times disruptive and had so many questions that she robbed my time for helping other students. The Holy Spirit took leadership over my initial distaste for her and led me to ask what this woman’s other outside interests were. She told me opera and doing crossword puzzles. While I’m no expert in opera, although I like to listen to it. But crossword puzzles are a daily habit with me; I could even say I’m addicted to them. I told her this, and she began calling me outside of class to discuss one when she got stuck, and I did the same with her. A great friendship which lasted until her death arose from this. She stayed in my sewing class, where I discussed Biblical truth from time to time as we worked on our projects. This lady’s faith began to grow, as the Holy Spirit took hold of her. Then, I realized I was being used for this purpose by Him.
I’m led to discuss the assurance that arises from our covenant relationships with the Lord. One of them is that the Holy Spirit might choose to use us to bring another to faith or to strengthen faith in another, as above, through indirect means. We have also seen that friendships can cause the parties involved to be matured spiritually. Consider the friendship covenant that came about between David and Jonathan [1 SAM 18: 3]. We can believe that God was very much involved in this [1 SAM 18: 4-5]. Jonathan loved and respected David, and David returned his love. When the time came to make this covenant, both of them understood how serious a commitment this is. It would not only involve them, but their families for generations, as well. It would affect their choices, their lifestyle, and even their loyalties. In the end, Jonathan had a tough choice to make, one between being loyal to his earthly father, Saul, or to David, by then the true king of Israel [1 SAM 20: 4-42]. Both David and Jonathan had inherited a background of covenant making, one that is paramount to the practice of the Jewish faith and later to Christianity. When Jonathan was rudely forced to see the extent of his father’s aberrant behavior, in 1 SAM 20: 32-33, he knew Saul intended to kill David. Jonathan had asked his father why David should be put to death, and Saul was angry enough to hurl his spear at his own son to kill him! (The Holy Spirit intervened causing that toss to miss). When one keeps his covenant with God, God will protect him from harm in a situation like this. It is surely never futile to pray for God’s protection from the misdeeds of others. If God has no purpose in such a wasteful death, it won’t happen. IS 46: 9-10, “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’”
To better understand the mindset David and Jonathan shared, we need to look into a typical Jewish boyhood of their day. From the time they were children, Jewish boys were taught about the rainbow covenant [GN 9: 11-13, also known as the Noahtic covenant]. They were also taught about the Abrahamic Covenant of GN 12: 1-3. They were shown the need to not break promises they make, and to make promises with the understanding that a vow before God was meant to be for real. God was a part of almost everything a Jewish boy did. When they tended the flocks, they might have acted out these stories to help pass the time, or were told them at night in their tents. Surely, the boys made sling shots out of forked tree branches or pretend swords with straighter ones. They learned that Israel was their land and didn’t belong to usurpers. From the story of Abimelech, the king of Garar who argued over a well Abraham built and then came to make a covenant of peace with Abraham, the boys learned how covenant relationships were built and a part of their heritage. Even Abimelech had reverence for God instead of fighting Him [GN 21: 22-23, 30-31]. Abimelech gave Abraham seven ewes in recognition of the covenant made with him and God. This was his witness that Abraham had indeed dug the well. The place where that well was is called Beersheba because two men swore an oath there; its name means “the well of the oath” or “the well of the seven” in Hebrew.
PRAYER: O Lord, You are so very kind and caring, to give us the assurances that come from our covenant relationship with You. While the stories above are mostly about famous people from the Bible, these same assurances apply to us, as well. We love and thank You for Your patience, compassion, and even-handed wisdom applied to our lives. While we must endure physical death, there is no reason why we can’t look forward to an eternal life of bliss with You, if we are willing to live by Your teaching in the Scriptures. PS 119: 24, 93, “Your instructions give me pleasure; they are my advisors…I will never neglect your precepts, because by them You have preserved my life.” We might ask why You allow us to suffer illnesses, stress in the workplace, unemployment, and other problems. And yet, You have promised those who are obedient to Your word, protection. Your protection may not apply to the ravages of cancer or heart disease, or even to other trials we suffer. But it does apply to gaining eternal life, a much more important issue. We understand that You allow trials in our lives to test our faith and to strengthen our spiritual maturity. We think of the amazing story of Your test of Abraham’s faith, in GN 22, when You commanded him to offer Isaac on the altar. At the last moment You substituted a ram as the sacrifice, thus saving Isaac’s earthly life and maturing Abraham’s faith. At that moment of sending a substitute sacrifice, the Lord uttered, in GN 22: 15-18, “’I swear by Myself,’ declared the Lord, ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me.’” Immediately, we are brought to think of RO 8: 31-32, which reminds us of You giving Your only Son for our salvation. “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He Who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for all-how will He not also give us all things?” We bow in reverence and awe to You, and offer this prayer in the holy/mighty name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I am led to continue writing about “Covenant Assurance,” as this is an important subject that bears further attention. As I write these weekly devotions, I am reminded of a very comforting assurance resulting from our covenant relationships with God. PS 145: 18-20, “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked he will destroy.” His protection of those who love Him may be of more than just their physical lives. It may extend to His presence and intervention while we are going through our trials. NH 1: 7, “The Lord is good; He protects His people in time of trouble; He takes care of those who turn to Him.” This kind of protection may apply to strengthening faith or to actual direct intervention to stop some kind of evil. My own experience with this still amazes me many years after it happened to me. My first marriage was coming to an end, and I was living alone with my son [who was age 5 at the time]. I didn’t have enough money for groceries and was too foolishly proud to admit that to anyone. Suddenly representatives from the church we attended showed up on our doorstep with two big bags of groceries! The Holy Spirit, Who I was only newly acquainted with at the time, was behind this decision to offer help where it was badly needed. If we turn to God in prayer, something I had done beforehand, He will answer those prayers for His purpose. Praise and thanks be to God!
Grace Be With You Always
Lynn
JS 24:15