2013-10-18
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I have been led to continue writing with the goal of dealing with this question: We all want unconditional love. Are we willing to give it? However, before coming to any kind of answer, there are several issues we need to examine. Hence, I write this segment of the “Our Covenant” messages called “Our Covenant Bond.” Last week, we saw that we are created in God’s image [GN 1: 27] and not created to be alone. Even our God doesn’t act alone, as He is a Trinitarian Being –the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are His three personalities. 1 PET 1: 20-21 gives us a rare view into the “pre-creation council.” “He [Christ] was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, Who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” As I’ve written before, we can think of the Father as the Decision-maker, the Son as the one Who carries them out, and the Holy Spirit as God’s mouthpiece on earth conveying His messages to us and guiding us to godly thoughts and behavior. The unbreakable link [RO 8: 38-39] between believing mankind and his Creator is our covenant relationship with Him and with other believers in Jesus Christ.
While it is the Father, Who decides to bring us to faith and repentance, it is the Holy Spirit Who guides us to follow Christ’s teaching. The Father decides to “transform us inwardly by the renewal of our mind [RO 12: 2], and the Holy Spirit guides us to a perspective that is new for us, one based on Biblical truth. 1 COR 2: 14-16, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” The enormity of this truth should never be underestimated!
This doesn’t mean that we can’t backslide or make mistakes. Such things happen when we take the Lord for granted or even forget to make use of the wisdom He gives us through the Holy Spirit. That is why we are reminded, in EPH 2: 8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has already prepared for us to do.”
Having said all of this, let’s look at how this covenant relationship-- one in which we recognize our need to be dependant on God and to tap His wisdom often before taking action or having an opinion—impacts our relationships with others, our outside interests, and our choice of friends. All of these things are reshaped by our covenant relationship with God. Is it right for us to have on-going relationships only with current believers in Christ? I think not! We’ve been called to reach out to other people who have not yet come to faith in MT 28: 19-20, the Great Commission. To do this, we must a good working knowledge of the Scriptures, an active prayer life, and some real courage. This three things are enhanced by a discipleship of service to others, study, prayer, and general reverence for the Lord as a matter of one’s daily life. Yes, I said daily. That means we must develop self-discipline, which God will give us, if we ask for it and make becoming self-disciplined a priority of our lives. What we learn from God can’t just be a head trip, it must be a heart matter, which is automatically transferred to our hands. We must dedicate our lives to God and make God’s agenda foremost in our actions. Recently, a friend shared a wonderful story with me. She told me that another person that she didn’t know well said, “You are a blessing to our congregation. You are active in helping and caring about so many people here.” My friend decided instantly that she wouldn’t allow such a lovely compliment to go to her head. Instead, she would continue to be the blessing to her congregation that the man who gave her the compliment had described. My friend told me this compliment was humbling, because living up to it would be a hard thing to do.
As I look over my own life, I can certainly see tremendous changes in my outside interests and criteria for choosing my closest friends. Humility, service to God, love of the Lord, the habit of keeping promises made, living up to commitment responsibilities, a sense of humor, and willingness to have the courage of his convictions are some of the things I look for in the people who are closest to me. These criteria never entered my mind before coming to Christ, but they sure do now. As for outside interests, these have completely changed with the possible exception of painting pictures, sewing and handwork, since I came to Christ. I’ve always had many interests, but most of what interests me has something to do with my covenant relationship with God. He has lit the lamp of interest in Bible study, prayer, service, caring about others, and made it possible for me to study Hebrew and Greek. I also hope I will live on earth long enough to become proficient in these languages, so that I might read the Scriptures in the original languages, and that I might also learn Italian [one of my foster brothers lives inItaly]. The handwork (knitting and crocheting) that I do is making prayer shawls for others. This doesn’t make me any better than anyone else, just refocuses my skill set for the benefit of God and others.
PRAYER: O Lord, as always, we come before Your mighty throne with reverence and awe. We are grateful to have You in our lives, guiding and intervening for us when we need it. Your wisdom is so far greater than ours, that we would be foolish for not seeking You out [IS 55: 8-9]. Today, we have seen one example of how You have impacted an ordinary person by “transforming her by the renewal of her mind.” Before I was aware of You, all I wanted to do was to ask: what’s in it for me? Now, You give my life, as You do with all the lives You impact in people who accept Your Son as their Savior, a real purpose –one that is lasting. Moreover, You have allowed this believer, as You do with all believers, to have meaningful relationships which help in Your task of bringing maturity and eventual glorification. You have shown us that You love us beyond what we can imagine, and that You will never abandon us [PS 9: 9-10; PS 16: 2]. We confess that we are imperfect and in great need of Your guidance and intervention, so we ask for it. We often forget to come to You first, but will try to remember to do that. Understanding that working through our challenges is Your way of growing us, we won’t be angry or foolish enough to blame You for our shortcomings. Our covenant relationships with You and others are the most precious things in our earthly and heavenly lives. We will work to nourish them and be of service to You, with the understanding that our salvation is a gift of Your grace and not the product of our work. We thank You for Your Son’s ministry and His great sacrifice on the cross for us. We promise not to waste His blood shed for us [JN 3: 16: RO 23: 24-25]. We offer You praise and thanks today, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: In this continuing segment, “Our Covenant Bond,” it is necessary to look into why we are not alone, just as God’s three personalities work together in concert with each other. We’ll look at the expanded definition of the word “family” and once again I will share some of my own experience with the God-forged family I have. PS 16: 9-11 expresses the essence of our covenant relationship with God. “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. You will make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasure at Your right hand.” What better way can be found to experience lasting joy, joy that lasts throughout our lives on earth and eternity? This kind of relationship with God and others allows us to meet our adversity with the knowledge that God won’t allow so much that our resolve to believe in Him is broken [1 COR 10: 13]. It is a fact of earthly life that we will experience pain, disappointment, and loss. However, nothing the devil ever delivers is as strong as our power to call upon the Lord and banish him in time. Remember 1 JN 4: 4, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them [dirty works of the evil one] because the One Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” We knew from as early as GN 3: 15, that in the end, evil will be defeated. God will protect those who love Him. Now that’s a message that should give us great comfort! Praise and thanks be to the Lord!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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