A CONTRACT

GUARANTEED BY COVENANT ..

Genesis 15:8–9 And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

Are you discouraged because a breakthrough that you have been praying for has yet to manifest? Maybe it has been days or even weeks and you are asking, “How will I know that I will get it?” Abraham faced the same situation and asked God the same question. And God answered, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” What a strange answer!

But if you read on (Genesis 15:10–21), you will realize that God took Abraham’s question very seriously, and went on to show him just how serious He was about being his provider, protector and blesser. God was so serious that He was willing to bind Himself to a covenant.

What is a covenant? It is like a contract. Yet, it is more than a contract. A contract is binding only for a period of time, like five years or seven years, or until certain terms are fulfilled. But a covenant is perpetual. It is permanent. The only way out is through death. That is why marriage is a covenant, not a contract. It is permanent—“Till death do us part”.

In Bible times, when you cut a covenant with someone, you bring an animal, usually a ram or goat, and kill it by cutting it in two. Next, you will face your covenant partner and walk toward each other between the two pieces of the animal, passing each other in the center.

What all this means is that both parties are obligated to protect and provide for each other. Whatever belongs to you is your partner’s and whatever belongs to your partner is yours. Of course, the one who benefits is the lesser or poorer party.

Today, God is in covenant with us. We are the lesser, poorer party. We have nothing to offer God. But God, the richest and most powerful being in the universe, has everything to offer us!

My friend, God has bound Himself to a covenant, an iron-clad guarantee of His blessings and provision in your life, and it is all for your benefit. The breakthrough you are waiting for is guaranteed by covenant!

Thought For The Day :
God has bound Himself to a covenant, an iron-clad guarantee of His blessings and provision in your life.

CHANGE

WE WANT GOD TO CHANGE OUR CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT GOD WANTS TO USE OUR CIRCUMSTANCES TO CHANGE US ...

It can be easy to think that God is obligated to make life easy for us and to remove all of our difficult circumstances. But, the truth is that during hard times God is preparing us for greater things. If He removed the difficult circumstances in our lives, we would probably never mature.

James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." In other words, rejoice in "trials of many kinds", because they test your faith, which causes you to grow closer to God. Indeed, God assures us that something beneficial can come from the hard times in life.

If you are going through trials now, take hope in the fact that almost everyone in the Bible who did great things for God also had to endure great hardships. For example, in 2 Corinthians 11:24-27, Paul recounts many of the difficult circumstances that he had gone through: "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked."

Clearly, Paul had suffered greatly for the Gospel. However, God used those circumstances to make Paul more mature and to give him a great love for God and for spreading God's Word. Now, Paul is widely considered the second most important person in the New Testament—behind Jesus, of course. However, we must remember that Paul had to go through many difficult trials. It was those times of testing that caused Paul to grow closer to God, qualifying him to be a great witness for Christ.
This same principle can be seen in almost every other person in the Bible who did great things for God. It was during times of testing that such people developed the strength and character for which we respect them.

Therefore, don't always beg God to change your circumstances. Instead, view each as an opportunity for God to change you, making you "mature and complete, not lacking anything.

We need to learn how to protect the anointing on our life and that anointing is the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells with us.

Not getting rooted in the Word is what causes us to be defeated!

Our character is developed when we do what God tells us to do, whether we want to or not.

GETTING INTO HEAVEN IS NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE; IT'S ABOUT WHAT GOD'S DONE.

You have probably encountered a few people who hoped that they would get into Heaven because they have lived a good life. Indeed, there are many people in the world who think that all the right things they do will get them into Heaven. However, Paul knew that "There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10).

Fortunately, God loved us so much that He provided an answer: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Furthermore, 1 Peter 3:18 tells us that "Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."
Therefore, it is no wonder Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

Notice that nothing in any of those verses refers to our ability to reach Heaven. That's because it is impossible for us to reach Heaven on our own strength. Remember, "There is no one righteous, not even one." Therefore, our salvation must be based entirely on what God has done. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The only requirement for getting into Heaven is believing in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved" (Romans 10:9-10).

There is nothing that you can do to earn salvation. Jesus is the only way to Heaven. That's because getting into Heaven is not about what you've done; it's about what God's done.

 YOU MIGHTY MAN OR WOMAN OF VALOR!

And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” - Judges 6:16

Gideon lived with a lot of fear. In fact, he so feared his enemies that he threshed wheat in a winepress at night to hide himself and the wheat from them! Before he fought and prevailed against the Midianites, he first fought to insist that he was the weakest and least able of all the men in Israel (Judges 6:15)!

That’s how Gideon honestly saw himself. But how did the Lord see him? Just the opposite! He saw Gideon as a “mighty man of valor,” and even picked him to save Israel from the hands of the Medianites, which he did.

My friend, do you see yourself as a coward, a loser? Have people said that of you? Today, I want to challenge you to see yourself the way the Lord sees you—a mighty man or woman of valor! Take time to meditate on Gideon’s story. See the Lord with you as He was with Gideon. Then, trusting in the Lord, apply for that dream job. Go for that audition or course you’ve always wanted to take. Conquer every fear for He is with you!

CHOOSING JOY ...

Luke 1:46-47, "And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."

Here, Mary makes a very clear distinction between her soul magnifying the Lord and her spirit rejoicing.

Our soul is the part of us that is considered to be our personality. It is our intellect, emotions and will. Our spirit is the part that gets changed at salvation and it is always operating in "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 5:22-23). That's true whether our souls (feelings and emotions) "feel" it or not.

Many believers wait until their emotions feel like praising the Lord before they enter in to worship. They think it's hypocritical to act like they are rejoicing in the Lord if they don't "feel" it. But our spirits are always rejoicing in the Lord. It's actually hypocritical to go by our feelings and not magnify the Lord with our souls when our born again spirits are already rejoicing.

Our born again spirits are always in tune with the Lord and walking in the joy of the Lord. Our flesh is often dominated by what it sees and feels.

Sometimes it doesn't feel like praising the Lord, but the choice rests with our souls. If we choose to praise the Lord, our emotions will follow.

The decision is yours (Dt. 30:19).

Today, choose to walk in the joy of the Lord.

USING YOUR TIME WISELY

Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. - Ephesians 5:15–16, NIV

If you want to experience God’s best, stay focused on Him and on the things that are truly important. There will always be a thousand interesting and even worthwhile things to fill up your time, but there’s a good chance that most of those things will not help you live the best life that God has planned for you. There are many other activities you could get involved in that may be good in themselves; but if you try to do everything, you’ll wind up being average at a lot of things and not excellent at anything! Those who are living their best life now have their priorities in order. They make time for key relationships. People are God’s most precious creation and should be important in your life. Make sure to do what it takes to share quality time with those God has placed around you.

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