Repent and the LORD Remembers

The LORD will act accordingly when we spurn Him. When I walk contrary to Him, He will walk contrary to me. After all, that is me not wanting or seeing the value in Him, so why should He want or see the value in me. But, what happens when I repent and come back to Him?

“⁴⁰But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, ⁴¹so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, ⁴²then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.” – Leviticus 26:40-42 (ESV)

I will spurn the LORD and walk contrary to Him. And He will walk contrary to me in discipline to me. I deserve it all. But, He is waiting on my to turn back to Him. He is waiting for me to humble myself in the heart and “make amends” to where I hurt Him. When I do, He remembers the covenant He has in place with those who came before me.

This passage is of course well before the coming of Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection for my sins. It does though demonstrate that the LORD is waiting on me to come back to Him. He, even in my contrary walk with Him, is still with me. He is there to ensure that the discipline I face is for the turning away from Him, but He is still there waiting.

“¹³For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” – Romans 10:13 (ESV)

When I call on His name, He remembers and turns back to me to protect, comfort, and love me.

What is your view of turning back to God? Are you aware that He is just waiting for you? What if you were to repent and turn back to Him, call on Him and bask in His remembrance of the love He has for you?

There are Actions Required on Our End

I am continuing my study of the word “will” and am allowing God to lead me to what it is He would have me learn. This morning He has placed on my heart that I have actions to demonstrate my alignment and obedience with Him.

In Genesis, God made a covenant with Abraham to make him the “father of a multitude of nations”. God promised to make Abraham great and that great would extend into his immediate family and beyond.

“⁴’Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.’” – Genesis 17:4-6 (ESV)

All of this was provided by God to the man who He was pleased with. God took big action in the covenant with Abraham as we would expect Him to do. But, what about the other side of the covenant. After all, a covenant is an agreement between two or more.

Covenant: “1: a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement 2a: a written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action” – Merriam-Webster Online

So for the covenant to be active, there is action needed from both sides, and God had laid out His part. There is the obvious action from Abraham to seek and follow the LORD always, but there was also action to demonstrate understanding and obedience.

“¹⁰This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹²He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,” — Genesis 17:10-12 (ESV)

And there is the action, circumcision. And not just for the future generations, but of Abraham and all in his house at the time. The LORD required bold action from Abraham to demonstrate he was all in with his side of the covenant with the LORD.

We have actions we are required to take in our relationship with the LORD. I have to remember this as there is a part of me that prays and waits for the LORD to fulfill. When in a lot, if not most of my requests, there is action needed on my end to demonstrate my obedience to Him. I may not be asked to circumcise those in my house, but there is action, bold action required of me.

What is your view of your relationship with the LORD? Are you of the mindset that God is there to do all the work at your request? What if you were to take bold action as a demonstration of obedience to Him and to fulfill you end of the agreement?

God Will Remember

Have you ever taken the action to tie a piece of string in a bow to your finger to remember something. This string is a reminder that there is something to remember. Do you know or remember that God created a bow to remember?

“¹³I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” – Genesis 9:13-16 (ESV)

God destroyed the earth and everything on it through the flood. And then, He made a covenant with Noah that He would not do it again. And as a reminder, the LORD put the rainbow in the sky as a reminder of the covenant He made with Noah, so that when He would see it, He would remember.

We need reminders to keep us grounded and back on track. God placed the rainbow in the sky to remind Himself and we should have reminders as well. It is easy for us to forget things as we get distracted by all that is going on. It is these distractions that the evil one is counting on. It is up to us with the help of the LORD to get rid of the distractions and stay on task for the LORD.

I have to, as I do in the mornings, devote myself to time with God so that I can learn from Him. I must dedicate myself to the time with Him to ensure that I do not forget Him. I need the constant reminder of His power and glory in my life and the life of the world. Days like this morning and remembering the covenant God made with Noah and the rainbow reminder are anchors to keep me with the LORD all the day.

The LORD has a reminder of the destruction He rained on the world and that He has promised not to do again. We need reminders as well. One of those is to make time to be in the Word of God to study and learn of the ways He is working for our good.

What is your thought on reminders? Are you hoping that you will just remember things? What if, like the LORD, you used reminders of the LORD’s work to keep you tracking in His Will?

The Promise, The Law, Now Faith

I am continually reminded of God and His wisdom and faithfulness. This morning I am reading in Galatians and have been led to the passage of the law and the promise in chapter 3. As I am reading I find that God started with the promise of a savior in the lineage of Abraham. And the promise is not amended or updated or changed by anyone. God made the promise and then kept it as we all should have as well.

Next, the law was introduced to keep the promise as the human spirit will always look for the ways to get around things. The law was not to take the place of the promise, only to keep things in line until the promise was fulfilled. Once the promise was fulfilled the law will then become obsolete.

And then the promise was fulfilled with the coming of Jesus. He provided the completion of the promise and faith now takes the place of the promise as that promise was kept. A new promise was made and again it will not change by anyone, God or man the like.

“¹⁶Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ. ¹⁷This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void…²³Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.” — Galatians 3:16-17 & 23-24 (ESV)

So why the law in the first place, if the promise was to be kept? Why not just bring faith immediately instead of waiting “430 years”? Well, my thoughts are this way. What good would it be to promise something and then meet the promise at that moment. Wouldn’t it be just to act on as opposed to promising to act on? I know that I my work, I have things that are to be done and there are things that are done. If they are done, there is just the completion of the work. If there are things to be done, I commit to taking care of them by a point in time. Credibility in the promise is what is gained as the work is not that impactful in the grand scheme of things. I see that God has gained the credibility with the grand impact of Jesus. He promised and then delivered.

Until I am able to deliver on the commitment to complete things to be done, it is my duty to provide updates as to where I am in the process. I can complete things early, or if not able to meet the point in time, I am able to negotiate or report on the new point in time when expected to complete them. God provided updates in the form of laws to guide us through the time between the promise made and fulfilled. We had no defined point in time when the promise would be fulfilled, yet the laws were there to keep us on the path moving forward as we waited on the fulfillment of the promise. God gave us the promise and the updates to keep us engaged in the promise until fulfilled.

“¹⁹Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. ²⁰Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.” — Galatians 3:19-20 (ESV)

As I sit here this morning, I have to take away, once again, that our approach in this world to completing work is driven by the example God provides for us. God makes promises (I make commitments), God provides laws until fulfillment (I provide updates), then God fulfilled with faith (I provide completion). I am thankful for the LORD and His wisdom in my life to guide me through it all. God promises (to come again) and then fulfills those promises (returns with victory), yet He does not leave me unattended through it all, He guides me with His Word until the promise is fulfilled.

What beliefs are you finding in this world? Are you leery of the promises that you have been given? What if you were to lean on the promises that God has made and fulfilled as the example of how we should proceed?