God's Covenant with Jacob (Israel)

COVENANT with ISRAEL
Genesis 48:3-4, Genesis 50:24-26, Exodus 1

Genesis 48:3: “Jacob said to Joseph, ‘God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me, and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and will give you this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’”

By now, God’s covenant had passed from Noah, to Abraham. Through Isaac and on to Jacob. They are the patriarchs of our faith. The Lord God renamed Jacob, Israel. Israel’s son Joseph brought the family to Egypt during the famine. Joseph was governor of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh.

On route to Egypt to meet Joseph, Israel’s wife, Rachel died. She died in Canaan, and he buried her in Bethlehem. It was when he was at Luz, in the land of Canaan, that God blessed him. God revealed to Israel that He would make him fruitful. From Israel would come a multitude of people. God’s covenant was that He would give them this land as an everlasting possession. (Esodus 33:1-3, Leviticus 20:24, 25:38, Numbers 34, Deuteronomy 1:7-8, Joshua 1:1-6, 14:9).

WOW! How did they know for certain this land was really theirs? (Hebrews 11:1).

After Israel died, Joseph got Pharaoh’s permission to bury his Father in Canaan. Joseph and his father’s entire household returned to Egypt. Joseph lived to be 110 years old. He made his children promise to carry his bones out of his coffin in Egypt, and bury them in the land which God swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Pharaoh died, and a new king, or Pharaoh, came along. This new ruler of Egypt did not know Joseph. There were over seventy people in Joseph’s family. All Jacob’s, or Israel’s, children had been fruitful. When the new Pharaoh saw how plentiful they were. He grew afraid of their strength.

He said to the Egyptians, “The children of Israel are more than us! They are mightier than us! Let us deal wisely with them so they do not grow any more abundantly than they already have.”

He made the Egyptians stern taskmasters over the Israelites. They afflicted the people with heavy burdens. They were to build the new Pharaoh’s treasury cities.

But the harder the Egyptians worked the Israelites, the more they multiplied. The Egyptian king grew alarmed about their strength, so he made the Egyptians bear down even harder on them. The Egyptians made the Israelites lives bitter with hard bondage.

Take Home Nugget

The king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives to kill any son born of an Israelite woman. The Hebrew midwives feared God, and they let the boy babies live. Pharaoh was angry by their refusal, so he charged all his people with another command. They were to toss every male child into the river, allowing females to live.

Hard times are never easy
And people grow weary
But we serve a God who’s kind.
He breaks chains that formerly bind.

J.D. Griffith

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God's Covenant with Abraham

COVENANT with ABRAHAM
Genesis 15:5, 16, 17

Genesis 15:5: “He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then He said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’”

God gave Abram a covenant. (Who’s name God later changed to Abraham.) The covenant between God and Abraham was to multiply Abraham exceedingly. That means he’d have scads of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren. More numerous than the stars in the sky. Problem was, Abraham’s wife, Sarah was barren. How would God keep His promise to Abraham when his wife couldn’t conceive even one child?

This covenant, (or agreement, promise, bond, pact, or contract) made Sarah and Abraham uneasy. WHEN, God? HOW, God? Sarah was not able to conceive. They had no idea how this promise would be fulfilled.

We see things through human eyes. God sees things through Eternal eyes. He has infinite, uncompromising, all-knowing eyes that we cannot fathom. Often God gives us a promise that we don’t understand how it’s going to happen. We can’t see the how or the when.

But God is our omnipresent Father. He is everywhere at once. He is omniscient, knowing all things. He is omnipotent, that’s all powerful. When He gives us a promise, it WILL come to pass. Sometimes it takes all our faith to embrace the promise and believe its truth.

That’s what life is all about: faith and belief in what’s unseen. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1).

So when you read in the Bible about God’s promise, you can believe it. Often people break their word, but when God says something, it is absolutely true. God cannot lie. He never says things to tease. He doesn’t treat us like kids; we’re all His children. He gives us promises so that we can have hope in our future.

Take Home Nugget
Abraham was promised more descendants than the number of stars in the sky. But he and Sarah were past child bearing age. That was their problem. God provided Isaac in answer to their problem. Isaac was Abraham’s link to spawning the Jewish nation. Abraham’s other son, Ishmael, became father of many nations. Abraham was indeed the father of more people than the number of stars in the sky!

God’s promises are true.
Sometime we haven’t a clue
How He makes things flow
Better than we’ll ever know.

J.D. Griffith

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God's Covenant with Noah

COVENANT with Noah
Genesis 6:13-9:16

Genesis 6:9: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.”

Ever hear the phrase, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”? That means that if someone buys you lunch, there’s always a catch.

People don’t do something for you without expecting something in return. Sometimes ‘free lunches’ cost people more than they’re worth. The sacrifice it too steep for us to agree to. Free lunches can be anything. If a school mate suddenly warms up to you, clearly wanting to be your new best friend, chances are he wants something.

The thing about covenants in the Bible are that God wants something from us, too. A covenant can be seen as a deal, a contract, or a pact. When God gives us a promise, there will be problems that pop up in association with that promise. Before claiming His promise, we’ll have to work through the problems that arise. His provision, or gifts in realizing the promise, are always better than we expect.

Promise, Problems, Provision. They go hand in hand in hand.

The covenants God makes with His children in the Bible are everlasting.

Before God destroyed the earth with floods, He gave Noah a promise that he and his family would be safe. Then Noah had to build the ark. People laughed at Noah. Housing two of every animal for months cooped up in the ark was another problem. After forty days of rain, it took close to another month until the water had dried up enough for Noah to open the doors. God fulfilled His promise with the provision that his family was to repopulate the earth. Then God gave Noah another provision. A rainbow would show us that God would never destroy the earth with water again.

Take Home Nugget

Sometimes we’re tempted to refuse a promise when seeing what it will take to accept it. But as we saw, when God promises us something, He will move heaven and earth to lead us through it. The problems can seem insurmountable to us. But our Father God will guide us through them all. What a teammate God is!

God’s promises to us are so enticing;
He knows what rings our bell.
As He leads us through the problems,
Awesome stories we will tell.

J.D. Griffith

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COVENANT 101
Galatians 4:6-7

Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

My sister always wanted to make deals with us. She’d try to trade us something for something else. We discovered early on that her deals often worked out better for her than for us. After pointing this out to her, she planned better deals—trying to give better than what she’d receive. Or at least an even, fair trade. As kids, we were enticed by her deals. Today, her deals are very grown up, and much more fair. We are as delighted as she is when agreeing to them.

Do you do this? Trying to negotiate a better deal than what’s offered? There is one deal that’s better than all the deals we offer to each other. God’s ‘deal’ is giving us His word with a promise attached. He calls it a covenant. God makes no promise without a covenant. Covenant is the most important word in the Bible. It means deal, pact, agreement, promise, or contract. God made covenants with His children. He made covenants with specific people and the nation of Israel. A covenant is permanent, everlasting.

God’s covenants with people are something like when Dad says he’ll take you to the circus this coming weekend. Dad gives you his word and there’s a promise attached to it. Dad probably told you to clean your room and help Mom before he’d take you to the circus.

God’s covenants are His Word with a promise attached, too. Usually we don’t see the promise happen today. Or even as soon as this weekend. But God’s promises are as good as gold. He wants something from us, too. He wants us to keep Him first in our hearts. We’re so sure that He’s going to make good on His promise that we wait in expectation. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1).

Take Home Nugget
When we see promises in the Bible, we often think that they are not meant for us. Don’t listen to the devil trying to steal away God’s covenant from you. Paul tells us in Galatians 4:6-7 that we are heirs, and can call God the Father, Abba. We are not slaves, but heirs along with the Jews of the Bible. Their covenants, or promises, are ours as well!

Oh Father God, how awesome You are
To bless Your children with promises that are above par.

Your covenant with us hinges on our part

Which is keeping Your Son Jesus first in our heart.

J.D. Griffith

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Hanukkah

HANUKKAH

Psalm 77:14: “You are the God Who performs miracles; You display Your power among the peoples.”

Sundown on December 4th will usher in the eight days of celebrating Hanukkah. (Chanukah, Hannukah.) There is nothing in the Bible about this “Festival of Lights”, but the Jewish people celebrate this holiday every year.

Twenty one hundred centuries ago, well before the birth of Christ, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth. They drove the Greeks from the land and reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. In rededicating it to the service of God, they sought to light the menorah. There was only enough olive oil for one day. Miraculously, that one day supply burned for eight days.

Just as we Christians celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th, the Jewish people celebrate eight days of Hanukkah beginning December 5th.

Christians respect this festival and do not intrude on Hanukkah, just as the Jewish people honor our celebration of Christmas. These traditions bring to light the differences that separate our faiths. Although we do not have Biblical references for this holiday, there is no reason for Christians to be rude to people who celebrate Hanukkah. They are our brothers and sisters, and we are commanded by Jesus to love one another.

In the heart of this festival is the nightly menorah lighting. A single flame is lit the first night. Another flame is lighted on succeeding days until the eighth day when all the candles are aglow. You can see these proudly displayed menorahs on mantels and window sills during this season.

Hanukkah customs include reciting Hallel and Al HaNissim prayers. They offer praise and thanksgiving to God for delivering His people from the hands of the Greeks. They also celebrate by eating foods fried in oil. Batkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiot (doughnuts), for example. Playing with the dreidel (a spinning top on which Hebrew letters are inscribed) are traditions observed by Jewish people. Also, it’s customary to give gifts of money to children.

Take Home Nugget
What similarities can you see that compare or contrast Hanukkah and Christmas? Can you open your heart into accepting Hanukkah as a holiday for people who are different from you?

We cling to our traditions learned years ago
But there are others whose rites we do not know.
Teach us love and patience, Lord
Hearts open, acceptance stored.

J.D. Griffith

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It's A Spirit Thing

IT’S A SPIRIT THING

1 Corinthians 2:14“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and spiritually discerned.”

Sometimes friends look at us as though we’ve lost our minds. The internal operations of our brain, heart, and soul are not visible on the outside. Sometimes we get an internal nudge to do something or to stop doing something, and we don’t understand why at the time, either.

We’ve all heard of stories about a person who had car trouble and couldn’t make it to the airport in time to catch a flight. The flight crashed, killing everyone on board. The person was angry at first, then grateful. “Dumb car”, kicking its tires. “Good car,” embracing the steering wheel.

But when we stop doing something we talked about doing with our friends, they cannot see the nudge that halts our actions. Sometimes we understand that it’s a warning from the Holy Spirit, because deep down we know it’s not a good thing to do. We didn’t weigh the pros and cons of how would we feel if we carry through with our original plans. We may have ignored questioning thoughts until it came right down to doing it. Then the Holy Spirit flashed red and we put on our brakes.

To friends who aren’t Christ-centered, our hesitancy appears foolish. Or silly, or just plain wimpy.

But we know that the Holy Spirit is our helper. We trust God in His Spirit’s warnings. We may not understand, but when we obey His nudging, it always turns out to be the right thing to do.
When we insist on doing the thing we’ve been warned against, we do a Spirit Shush. Ever notice how when we ignore Him and do it anyway, red flags are waving the whole time? We performed a Spirit Shush. When we are busy talking and ignore the warning to not pass on gossip, we shush it and say it anyway. Word gets around to that person, and they get badly hurt. Your friendship with that person is destroyed. Repairing a friendship is harder than doing a Spirit Shush. The next time you get His warning, you won't Shush Him.

Other times the Spirit is warning us because the timing is wrong. If we just hang on, it’ll happen. Children and adults need to test their patience. Why does this have to happen now? When it happens in God’s perfect timing, it will be perfect.

Take Home Nugget

The key to not stepping outside God’s internal warning is to be sensitive to the Spirit’s nudging. The Spirit is trustworthy, and aligned with God’s Word. As we read the Bible each day, more of His Word seeps into our hearts. Then it’ll be hard to miss His Spirit’s promptings. It’s never a good idea to push the envelope on God’s grace. Disobeying the Spirit’s nudges will cost us a great deal more than we bargained for.

When your friends want to know “How come?” Shrug your shoulders and say, “It’s a Spirit thing.”

God’s grace extends far and wide.
But when we ignore His warning flags
Don’t imagine He’ll let us slide;
Our conscience constantly nags.

J.D. Griffith

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Holy Spirit 102

HOLY SPIRIT 102
John 16:7-14, 15:1-4

John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

“A church in the land without the Spirit is rather a curse than a blessing.” C.H. Spurgeon

There are three important roles of the Holy Spirit. First, the Spirit wants to win souls to Christ. He wants people to recognize their sin and need for a Savior. He teaches us how far sin separates us from the Father. When we understand this, the Holy Spirit leads us to the knowledge that it’s Jesus’ death on the cross that brings us salvation.

He teaches us how to live in this world victoriously as followers of Jesus. Our relationship to others is impacted by His lead. He directs us to areas of service to the Lord. He shows us how to depend on His lead.

The Father wants us to know Jesus as our Savior. This salvation through Christ gives us opportunities to share our faith with others. This is done with our actions as well as by our words. Our character and conduct “speak” volumes.

As the Holy Spirit works in our lives, we have a fuller, well-rounded picture of who our Father is. We begin to see His hand every where in the world. We begin to understand how to produce fruit for God’s Kingdom. Who is so touched by knowing you that they, too, seek King Jesus?

We’re missionaries just living our lives. What would people say about your life? This thought alone, motivates us into right living. Our consciences and the Holy Spirit keep us on the right path.

Here’s His assurance that we won’t ever be alone: Jesus says, “Remain in Me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit of itself; it must remain on the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” (John 15:4).

This is what it means to abide in the Lord. Abide means to be a part of. The Holy Spirit is inside us. And we are part of God’s family. So He abides in us as we abide in Him. This gives us great confidence and hope. It gives us reasons to persevere. Living this way, we’ll end up victorious as overcomers. That means we’ll win the race by living our lives without succumbing to sin.

Take Home Nugget

God usually works in subtle ways. We rarely see God’s obvious presence. We cannot even see our own growth in maturity and wisdom. We get discouraged because we don’t see the fruit we bear for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Just because we can’t see it, God knows. God harvests. Nothing we do is wasted, Think of your life as God’s investment in eternity. The gift of the Holy Spirit is God’s deposit of things to come. (2 Corinthians 5:5).

How fun it is to live
Life as part of a vine.
Nourishment flows from the Head
Making everything divine.

J.D. Griffith

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