Covenant Relationships with God

Read I Samuel 18:1-4

The first step in making a covenant with someone is found in the exchange of the robes or garments. "Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle."
The robe was a garment worn over a tunic by men of rank, or a garment of the High Priest. What Jonathan was saying in effect to David was, "I’m giving you my life; all that I am and all that I have." Jonathan was the Crown Prince, son of King Saul, destined for the throne. From birth he had been trained, schooled, and groomed for Kingship. He had everything to live for, possessions beyond our imagination, money, prestige, and a future to be envied. However, he was ready and willing to give it all away.
God, in his humanity, Jesus Christ wants to exchange robes with us today. He would like to take your sinful flesh and attach it to the cross and give you a new robe or garment. He left the indescribable beauty and the unspeakable glory of heaven to manifest, or robe himself in our filthy humanity in order to give to us His Robe of Righteousness.
Isaiah 61:10 states "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness," Ephesians 4:24 declares, "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Ephesians 4:24 is written in covenant language which the Jews understood far more deeply than we generally do today. Paul was emphasizing that there had been an Exchange of Life. We are now to walk in another man’s garment, taking on His Identity, reflecting His Nature, manifesting His Goodness. You and I do not carry the weight of our own identity, but we carry the identity of Jesus Christ. Our names were changed. In biblical times you were known as Joseph ben Jacob or as you and I would say, Joseph, the son of Jacob. Well, when I entered into a covenant relationship with Jesus, my name went from Tim ben Frank to Tim ben Jesus. That is why it doesn’t matter who your earthly father is, if you enter into covenant with Him, you take on his garment. This was what Jesus had in mind when He said: John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
How about you today? Are you willing to exchange your filthy flesh for the glorious robe of Jesus Christ? He is standing at your door and knocking to begin that covenant relationship. Now, will you go answer the door?

“I was born in the fire, and I dare not sit in the smoke.”
- Unknown

Read I Samuel 18:4

Have you ever said something to someone in secret and they let the cat out of the bag? How did it make you feel? Were you hurt, upset and defensive? That is how we often respond to the hurts from a friend, but in covenant relationships, we must give that up. When we get hurt, the first thing we usually do is build up walls that will not let anyone else in. Covenant goes through the walls to the exact place of our vulnerability.
The second step in creating a covenant is found in the exchanging of the belts, or the weapons. "And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle."
By giving up his personal weapons of defense, Jonathan was surrendering his ability to defend himself against attack. His entire defense was now in the hands of his "Covenant Friend". He deliberately made himself vulnerable. He also rendered himself incapable of hurting his "Covenant Friend" it was a commitment of utter loyalty holding nothing back. A Covenant does not depend upon the faithfulness of the other person. David could have broken that relationship by turning and attacking Jonathon with those weapons that he just gave up, but the principle of covenant is that you make yourself totally vulnerable to that other person.
Ephesians 6:13 demands, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” I Samuel 17:45-47 shares, “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands.” Deuteronomy 20:4 says, "For the LORD your God is he that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you."
As our covenant partner, God Himself, is committed to fight our battles, to be our defense, and preserve us to everlasting life. It is tragic that many born again children of God are unacquainted with this provision of our covenant with God. We continue to live as though we must fight our own battles. I am amazed at how easy it is for us to have the hairs on our neck raise up and we want to go to battle for something that, in all actuality, God is taking care of. I wonder how many times our situations become so much worse because we try and fix the situation without letting our covenant-friend take care of the circumstance.
Will you become vulnerable today? Will you place all of your “weapons” in God’s hands and let Him fight for you and protect you? Here’s the hardest question, do you trust Him enough to place all of your defenses in Him? It is my suggestion that you do everything possible to enter that aspect of the covenant today.

“When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable.”
- Madeleine L'Engle

In Covenant...

Sorry that I have disappeared for a while, but I'm back and in the saddle!!

Read Genesis 2:24

I would like to talk over the next couple of days about covenants. We are people of covenants. Covenants are not contracts. Contracts can be broken; covenants are designed to be permanent. When you enter into covenant with someone or something, it is until death. Contracts are time sensitive and if one party does not fulfill their side of the contract, the contract is null and void. Covenants are binding whether or not one party fulfills their particular responsibility. For instance, Jesus Christ made a covenant with all mankind that He would pay the penalty for our sins. His blood was shed and it does not matter whether you and I respond to that shed blood, it was shed nonetheless.
In literal terms, covenant means “to cut”. It is a solemn agreement, negotiated or unilaterally imposed that binds parties to each other in permanent, defined relationships with specific promises, claims and obligations on both sides. There are two types of covenants: “Parity” covenants, which are among equals and negotiated mutually, or covenants of “sovereignty” which is among non-equals; the greater party sets the conditions and the lesser either accepts them; or rejects them; non-negotiable.
God is a covenant God when he created man He made a covenant with Him in Genesis (Edenic). We are created in God’s image and are therefore created for covenant. Adam and Eve were in covenant relationship. Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Matthew 19:5 “and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” Being joined basically means "cling to" or "stick to," the same word is used in Deuteronomy 11:22 when the Jews were commanded to "stick to" or "hold fast to" the Lord. This was part of their covenant with God. If you remember, when God gave them the Ten Commandments, they made a vow and said, "Yes, we want you to be our God, we’ll do whatever you say." So it was a covenant. Both parties agreed to do what they promised. God promised to take care of them and make them prosper, and they promised to obey him. So when we read here that the husband is to cleave to his wife, it suggests the idea of a covenant. When you take your wedding vows, it’s a covenant. It’s a promise. It’s a deal. You can’t go back on your word. In God’s eyes it’s permanent. You’re stuck with and to each other. Once you realize that, you’ll be much more willing to work on your marriage than to just give up when it gets difficult.
Among friends, Jonathan and David were covenant friends. I Samuel 18:1-4 “Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.”
Jonathan recognized Gods call on David, and so he made a covenant of love with David. By doing so, he gave up his own position to usher David into his purpose. Jonathon legally had the right to the throne of his father Saul, but loved David and God enough to realize that the covenant he would make with David would usher in an everlasting kingdom. For David’s part, he fulfilled the covenant with Jonathon after Jonathon had been killed by taking in Jonathan’s crippled son Mephibosheth as his own family.
It is imperative that we develop a covenant relationship with God, and with someone that we love dearly. I think it is quite obvious why we should be in covenant with God, but because we are created in Him image, we must find those people in our life, either marital spouses and/or friends that will help us stand in the last days when everything else seems to be falling apart.
The question becomes, how do you establish covenants? I am so glad that you asked. Over the next couple of devotions, I would like to share with you the nine biblical steps in making a covenant.

“A covenant made with God should be regarded not as restrictive but as protective.”
- Russell M. Nelson

Walk in Peace

Read Ephesians 6

My brother had a habit when I first got married. Every time he came to visit us he would wear the worst shoes he owned and played on my wife’s heartstrings to go buy him new ones. My wallet was a little lighter every time he visited. Having said that, today we will look at the armor of the sandal, or the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. It is often said the peace is not the absence of trouble, but the strength to pass through the trouble. To a certain extent that saying is fairly accurate. In biblical times warfare was obviously not carried out with missiles that could travel thousands of miles. It was carried out in hand-to-hand battle.
What I believe Paul was trying to say was that even though you stand in the midst of the battle, if you had prepared in the gospel of peace, you would stand strong. Peace, in the Greek, means ‘a harmonized relationship between God and man”. The gospel simply means “good news”. Paul is saying that it is good news to have your relationship harmonized with God before you go into battle. I have often said that the thing that is most lacking in churches and saints today is the lack of confidence in the personal relationship of an individual and God. All too often, men and women worry about what someone else is doing, saying or how they’re being used. Too often we compare ourselves to someone else. God did not design us originally to be a horizontal people. He designed us for himself, which must be a vertical people.
Satan wins every time he gets us to look on a horizontal venue. When we begin looking at each other or even when we spend most of our time looking at ourselves, he wins. No matter how ‘spiritual” someone is, they are still human, and there is not one person better than another. Everyone has the same opportunity to reach God. The people that don’t think that they are worth anything are the people that spend the majority of their time focused on themselves or others instead of God. When your relationship is right with God, it doesn’t matter what others think, say or do because you know exactly where you belong. No matter what storm arises or what battle is raging, you have peace because you’ve prepared to walk in that personal relationship with Him.
The warriors of that day had no time to think once the battle began. They basically fought on instinct because things would move so fast and any step could be their last one. Paul is telling us that when we go into battles have your feet, or your mode of transportation, where God is taking you, wrapped up in that harmonized relationship between you and Him. I believe there are a great deal reading this today that would do a great deal of conquering if you just had confidence in your relationship between you and God. You have walked in trepidation because you feared what someone else may say or do and you have dodged the battle that needed to be waged because your travel was not done in confidence. The only way to become confident is to spend time with each other and listen to each other. I pray that every person reading this would become so strong in his or her relationship with Him that when he spoke we jumped. We remove the worry of who is watching. We erase the doubt of talent. We get rid of the thought that we aren’t qualified to do something. Listen; when God asks you to do something, you better believe that He trusts you. Why don’t you trust Him? Most likely it is because you have not prepared the gospel of harmonized relationship on your mode of travel.

“The feet of the humblest may walk in the field Where the feet of the Holiest trod, This, then, is the marvel to mortals revealed.”
- Phillips Brooks

Read Ephesians 6

We have entered, or about to enter, yet another year of school. Children all around are entering or have just begun a new year. This means that there will be new challenges, new pressures and new battles. It is imperative that our children are equipped with the tools necessary to stand in these last days. All adults everywhere need to be prayerful for each person entering the doors of our schools.
I remember a young man that was a few years younger than me that was raised in the truth. His father was a preacher, and his family was strong in the faith. This young man went to Bible College and then went on to a university. It was at the university that he was bombarded with false doctrines and mistaken philosophies. It is a sad story to see men and women that sat on the pew but never received for themselves the tools to withstand the onslaught of hell. Needless to say, this young man became entangled in all these false ideas to the point that he began to question whether there really was a God. I do not know where that young man is today, but I do know that he represents thousands of young men and women that once held to the principles of the Bible and did not possess the tools to withstand in the heat of battle.
The armor that Paul writes about can be obtained by falling in love with Jesus Christ. When we really fall in love with Him, He places the tools necessary for the fight at our disposal. The only thing we need to do is to pick them up. It reminds me of my grandmother. I spent an entire week with her and her sister at my uncle’s cabin. We had a blast. She showed us how to use an old fashioned sickle. After that week I was glad to have that battery powered hand clipper!! In the midst of showing us how to use this old farm tool she made a statement that I remembered while writing this devotion. She said, “Tim and Jeffy (my cousin), the only way to get something done is to do it. Use whatever you can and you will be able to finish the project.”
What about you? Are you like thousands of others that have the tools at their disposal, but you fail to pick it up? This week we are going to look at these different tools God provided for us, but like Grandma Cele said, “You have to pick it up to make it useful.”

“In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.”
- Mark Twain