A Covenant Keeping God

Scripture Reading: Luke 13:10-17

“On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.”

It is interesting that in Luke 13:16 Jesus did not know the name of the woman but He remembered His covenant to Abraham. There are many times we see Jesus moved with compassion. But here Jesus is moved to action by His covenant.

Psalms 105:8-9 says: “He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.”

2 Corinthians 1:20 says: “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

All the promises of God, Old Testament and New Testament are YES in Christ and AMEN in Him because all the promises are fulfilled through Him. God loves it when we remind Him or let Him know that you remember and believe His covenant and promises. Moses constantly reminded God of His promises to Abraham, and this is an ongoing theme throughout the Biblical record of Israel’s history.

In Luke 13:15-16 Jesus rebukes the Jewish leaders because their teachings and traditions were actually hindering the fulfillment of God’s covenant or promises. We don’t want to get in God’s way when He is fulfilling his covenant. When Israel refused to enter Canaan, the Promised Land, God had them all die in the wilderness until the next generation was willing to believe God and enter into his covenant promise.

God sometimes cannot move in our lives because our beliefs and traditions hinder God from moving and hinder us from coming into His promises. But if we refuse to enter in, God will find a people and a way to fulfill his covenant.

I want to encourage you today, that God is a covenant-keeping God. Take time to review the covenants in His Word. Pray and allow these to become alive to your situation. Do not let doubt or disobedience hinder you from pressing into those promises. Most covenants have requirements for us to fulfill. Remind God of His promises and be willing to step out in faith and maybe do something that you have never done before. Step out of the box of your routine and ability into the vastness of God’s greatness, and see Him work on your behalf.

May God by His Spirit and Word encourage you today.

Andy Clark

Compassion

Matt 9:36-38
“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." NKJV

In the kingdom of God there is a direct connection between compassion and harvest. The success of Jesus ministry was not built upon programs or finances but on the anointing of the Spirit fueled by compassion for people. He had compassion for wealthy, corrupt, tax collectors, prostitutes, as well as poor fisherman, lepers and the destitute. Compassion motivated him to lay down his life, minister for long hours, and to live with almost nothing. Holy Spirit compassion caused him to heal the sick, cast out devils, and bring grace and hope to both wealthy and poor. Compassion drove him to the cross and caused him to cry out for the forgiveness of those who put him there and ridiculed him.

1 John 4:7-8 says: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” God is love! That is his very character and nature. He cannot help but love. His love is not based on human response, circumstances or environment. His love is unconditional because He is love. If we are to touch our world, we need a baptism of God’s love in order to see the world as God sees it and to respond as God would respond. If we are not careful, we become calloused and cynical because of the constant exposure to our sinful world.

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” I Corinthians 13:4-8 Love, joy and peace are fruits of the Spirit. They are not dependent upon our circumstances, environment or response of people. They flow out of our relationship with the Holy Spirit. God is love, and when His nature flows through us we can love the unlovely.

Romans 5:5 says: “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Hope is an expectation from God. Our godly expectations never disappoint us if they are fueled by Holy Spirit love because love believes all things, love hopes all things, love endures all things. Love never ever fails! Love does not seek its own way and thinks no evil. Love is the ability to embrace people where they are at and to continue to pursue them no matter what their response because there is the undying expectation that love will overcome.

God does not love a saint any more than he loves a sinner because He is love. May you know today that God loves you unconditionally, and may He help you to love those around you unconditionally.

Andy Clark

Our Ministry

Our Ministry

Beholding and Reflecting

2 Corinthians 3:18-4:1

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.

Our first ministry as Christians is to behold the glory of the Lord.

Behold: to hold in view or attention: to fix ones gaze intently.

Behold with unveiled faces. A veil is something you hide behind so people cannot see who you are.

Part of our transformation is not only fixing our eyes on Jesus but being transparent in our relationship with Him. The result of this beholding and unveiling before God is that we are transformed into his image The fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:22-23) become part of our nature.

Our second ministry is reflecting the glory of the Lord.

2 Cor 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory. NIV

What you are focused on is what you will reflect!

The glory of the Lord can only be truly reflected through unveiled faces.

Just as we must be transparent before God, we must be transparent before the world.

No matter what culture we live in and minister in, the world is looking for real people.

My prayer for you today as that you will experience God in a new dimension, that your relationship with Him will be refreshed and the world you are in will see a fresh image of Jesus.

Andy Clark

The Power of Love

As part of a Prayer Focus this past week for World Horizons, we have meditated on the fabulous Epistle to the Ephesians. It is an epistle of profound prayers that reveal God’s heart and plan for His church, a people group redeemed by His blood, called by His Name and empowered by His Spirit to reach the world with His redemptive message of love.

This epistle reminds us that we cannot fulfill God’s mandate on our own. It reveals that all our efforts are futile, and our fruit will not remain if we endeavor to do this in our wisdom and ability. Our cry is for God to grant us “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, that we may understand the hope of His calling, the glory of His inheritance, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.” This revelation of truly knowing Him comes only out of deep relationship with Him. It is this relationship that guides us, sustains us, and empowers us to effectively reach out and love others.

It was Paul’s prayer “that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith; that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that we may be filled with all the fullness of God.” The Apostle John said, “God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (I John 4:6) Love is the root of our relationship with God from which our life springs forth.

This love relationship with God is what enables us to do what we do no matter what the cost. I Corinthians 13: 4-8 says, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. This kind of love is not possible on our own. It is a fruit of the Spirit that flows from our relationship in the heart to the Father who is love. It bears all things and never fails no matter what the circumstances because it flows from the limitlessness of God. I had a missionary friend who read this Scripture every morning to remind himself why he did what he did.

It is the power of this love that enables us to do “exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think.” It is this love that enables us “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” It is this love that causes us “to redeem the time, because the days are evil.” It is this love that enables us to “sing and make melody in our heart to the Lord and to give thanks always for all things.” It is love that empowers us to “open our mouth boldly to make known the mystery of Christ.”

As I meditate on these portions from Ephesians, I am awed by the greatness of our God and His love and favor toward us. May you experience the power of His love like you never have before. May you fall in love with Him all over again, and may it rekindle a new love in your heart for the people you encounter every day.

Andy Clark