Covenant Relationships

We hear about it and have no clue! What is a covenant relationship? I asked my pastor that question one day. The associate pastor participated in the discussion, also.

"If I have never experienced a covenant relationship, how am I supposed to know what my responsibility in a covenant relationship with God is supposed to look like?", I asked.

My pastor responded with, "your responsibility is to watch, pray and obey".

"Oh, just shut up!", I responded. "That is a corndog answer that doesn't mean anything to me and you know it"!

The associate pastor laughed and said, "Errol, your responsibility is to show that you trust God". Before I could jump down his throat, he continued with, "Let me give you an example. God led Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt down to the Red Sea. Pharoah's army rode down upon the Israelites to destroy them, but God blocked the army of Pharoah with a pillar of fire, WHILE Moses led the people across the Red Sea. God proved that He was trustworthy there. Right?"

"Well, yeah", I said.

(Sidebar here: God is able to multitask)

"OK", he continued. "So, the people are getting ready to go into the Promised Land. The Jordan stands between them and Canaan. Water is raging. Joshua commands the Levites to take the Ark of the Covenant and step into the river. God did not stop the flow of the Jordan, until the people showed they trusted God to stop the flow of the river, just as He showed he could part the Red Sea".

And there it was.

God shows me he is faithful and them I have to show Him that I believe He will do it for me, by stepping out on that faith, KNOWING, not hoping, that He will show up when I need Him.

Not when I want Him, but when I NEED Him.

The Israelites had many opportunities, before then, to keep their part of the covenant. They had a chance to go into the Promised Land 40 years earlier, but let 10 of the 12 spies talk them out of what God had already promised them. They were toast when Moses agreed to sending the spies. God had already promised to give them the land.

So, who has talked you out of what God has already shown you He is able to do? And if God has already shown you He is faithful, that is He is able, why would you question Him? How do you serve a god that you have no faith in? Help me here, He can save me for Eternity, but He can't bless me or heal me or deliver me? Why serve a god like that?

Don't feel bad. I didn't have an answer, either.

The bottom line is I struggle to make the correct decisions, in the midst of those opportunities He provides me that help my faith and trust in Him to grow. The reason has to be I have not sought God's face (like Caleb and Joshua did). I only seek His hand. Think about that for a minute...if He has proven that He is able to cover my butt, the only purpose of those crises and challenges is for me to show Him I believe Him. Until I seek God's face and enter into a serious relationship with Him, I cannot enter into the Promised Land He has already given me.

Don't you want to go to the Promised Land? Listen, there has never been a time that God has solved a problem the way I thought that He should. Rarely, has He ever provided for me in the manner that I expected Him to. So, the only remaining question is do I want to do God's will or do I want Him to do mine?

Father, if it is possible to take this cup from me, I would appreciate You doing that. Yet, not my will, but THY will be done!

Amen.

Discipleship is NOT a Requirement for Salvation!

Wha.....? WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?

You heard me. Discipleship is not a requirement to be saved. Want me to prove it? Go read John 3:16. Go AHEAD! I'll wait.....

Well?

You read,"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son. That WHOSOEVER (that's us!) believeth in Him, should not perish, but should have everlasting life.

Fire Insurance! That's what it is. You didn't want to go to Hell, so you ask Christ to be your Lord and Savior. The ONLY requirement for salvation is to believe that you are saved by the blood of Jesus. But, you are struggling with that "Lord" part. You want to discuss things with God, when He confronts you about your issues.

And HERE is where your dilemma occurs.

You believe that you MUST become a disciple to get into Heaven. The problem is you do not desire to become a disciple. Your flesh struggles against your spirit (Check Romans Chapter 7:17 - 8:1 for reference). And, since you refuse to feed your spirit (read your Bible!), your flesh wins out. Now, you are dealing with the shame of letting God down. That disqualifies you, in your mind, from going to ask God for anything, let alone forgiveness.

So, my first question to you is did Christ die for the sins you committed BEFORE you accepted Him or for ALL of your sins?

My second question is does anything that you EVER do catch God by surprise?

My third question is why would you need a Savior, if you were expected to be perfect?

When you get a chance, go back and read John 3:16 again. But, this time, read what it says. Do not add anything to it. Do not add the requirements of your religious upbringing. Do not add the expectations of your Mom or Dad or Pastor from the church that you grew up in (none of them were perfect, either. If they thought they were, then they are guilty of the sin of pride!). Just read what it says. As you read it, think about David. David, according to God, was a man after God's own heart. David was an adulterer and a murderer, among other things. So, even if you have killed somebody, salvation is available to you.

And Salvation has NOTHING to do with being a disciple.

A disciple is one who freely chooses to live by the principles that Jesus taught and modeled. The operative phrase in that statement is "freely chooses". Nobody is going to make you do anything. Nobody is going to force you. Nobody (well, maybe those who don't think they have earned God's forgiveness, so they appoint themselves to judge the hearts of others) is going to point out your faults and failures.

We have them, too.

Even God will not override your free will and force you to follow Him. The beauty of being you and me, is we are the only creation of God that has the ability to choose to love God or not. That ought to blow you away! God seeks relationship with you, because you choose to love Him back. Not because you are perfect. Not because you make all of the right decisions. Not because you never lose your temper or you never yell at the wife and kids. He seeks you out, because you CHOOSE to love Him.

Being a disciple is my way of telling God that I love Him. And Failure is part of my journey to Success. If I never mess up, I never learn about God's Grace and Forgiveness. If others never hurt me, I cannot give away Grace and Forgiveness. And I cannot have more Grace and Forgiveness, unless I give that which I have received from God, away.

Back to David. If he was so terrible, what made God so giddy about His relationship with David? David always tried to make the next right decision. See, you think that disciples never make mistakes. Not true. Disciples just know it does no good in trying to cover mistakes up. Disciples know that it does no good in trying to justify your actions, when you know in your heart your actions do not glorify God.

God knows your heart. He knew David's heart, too. He knew that David wrote Psalm 51 from the heart.

Want to be a disciple? Live Psalm 51.

And forget about being perfect.