Covenant With God

[Albert Finch]

Throughout the history of God's dealings with man, He has revealed Himself as a covenant-making God. The Almighty covenanted with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David; He renewed His Abrahamic covenant in His call to Isaac and Jacob. Each covenant:
a. Was linked to their DESTINY,
b. Initiated a new wave of redemptive power into the world, and
c. Forever impacted the human condition.

The word covenant means "to fetter" or chain together. Contained within the Lord's covenant with man was His divine intervention, His supernatural wisdom and strategies, and His provisions.

Our salvation has been secured, not only because Jesus died for our sins, but because His death was part of a covenant He had with the Father. The terms of Christ's covenant were such that, if He would live His life blamelessly and offer that holy life upon the cross for sins, everone who looked to the Son of God would be granted forgiveness. The Father would look to Christ's sacrifice and see justice; and sinners would look to Jesus and find Mercy. As maturing disciples we find that Christ's covenant-mission is a pattern Christ calls us to follow.

It is right to pray for the Lord to bless our lives. However, praying for the blessing and provision of God is not the same as covenanting with Him. A covenant is an altar upon which the Lord and His covenant partner give themselves fully to each other. The quality of a covenant relationship with God does not cease once prayers have been answered. For, in covenant love we mature from simply being "believers" to becoming living sacrifices, given to God's highest plans for us.

A covenant with God accomplishes three interconnected goals:
1. It thrusts us beyond "subjective prayer" (prayer made primarily for our personal needs),
2. It brings us into a deeper commitment to God,
3. Out of greater commitment comes greater grace to accomplish God's redemptive work in the world.

A covenant with God gives us the power and focus to bring forth that for which we were predestined.

Making a covenant with God takes us further into our vision (destiny).

Questions to Ask Myself

Am I willing to take the High Road and seek that for which God has predestined me?

Am I willing to covenant with God for the fulfillment of the personal destiny He has presently revealed to me?

Affirmations

I am not designed to drift -- I am designed for destiny.

There is a destiny that God has for me that only I can discover. I can discover it only by detaching from the world and making myself available for the Holy Spirit.

I allow Him to bring me into intimate relationships with others that will thrust me forward into my divine destiny.

My future is not ahead of me -- it lies within me.