Friday: Further Thought – Covenantal Love
Daily Lesson for Friday 10th of January 2025
Read Ellen G. White, “The Privilege of Prayer,” Pages 93–104, in Steps to Christ.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
“Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. ‘The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.’ James 5:11. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. ‘He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.’ Psalms 147:3. The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 100.
Discussion Questions
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We went on a camping trip with several families some years ago. One family had a couple of kids and one of them was, as we say, on the spectrum. He was a serious behavioural problem and it was disruptive to our trip. It was a month-long trip and after a couple of days we were wondering how we were going to cope. Then I noticed the care and patience the parents had when dealing with this child. They never got angry -they were consistently patient and persevering. I met the boy again recently. He will always have some of the characteristics of being on the spectrum, but the kindness, patience, and perseverance of his parents has paid off and he is a fine young man. What had started out with the potential of being a very rough trip turned out to be a lesson in love and we look back on the experience as one of our treasured memories.
Spiritually, we are on the spectrum. We are God's kids, and although created in love, we have turned out to be rebellious ratbags.
It is time to thank God for his patience and persistence in our interaction with others.
"By this shall all men know ..."
Amen to this, Maurice. My mother was a very loving, affectionate, patient, cheerful woman. My father was a very angry, cold, rough sort of man. I inherited my fathers' temperament. I am now 80 years of age and still find myself at times giving in to those bad traits of character. I grew up as a Catholic until I turned 21 years of age and became a Seventh Day Adventist at that age. I love how the book of Hebrews has verses to always start my day with Heb 2:18, (to keep me from giving in to those bad traits of my character), then I go on to Heb 4:16, (to seek for God's mercy and grace if I do give in), then I go on to Heb 7:25, (to seek Gods' "Uttermost salvation"), then to Heb 10:19,20 (to seek Jesus' blood, flesh, bones and mind"), and finally to Heb 10:39 (to know that I am not of those who "Draw back unto perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of my soul.)
Thank you Pete. I love how you share the persistence and faith of Jesus in your life.
Having grown up in a family fractured by divorce, the concept of an ever present, ever caring, and involved heavenly Father, especially for me, has to be taken by faith. I still have in my memory of my nine year old self fighting back tears, standing in the front doorway of our house, as my Dad left for the final time.
Then my mother called me by my first and middle names and told me, "I need you to be strong. Because you are the eldest boy you are now the man of the house."
I was just a broken hearted boy, how could I possibly be "the man of the house"? I remember thinking that to myself. My Mom meant well, but being placed in such a position of responsibility at such a young age made me have to grow up quickly. I developed obsessive compulsive personality traits which I still battle with to this day.
I also still battle with the concept of an ever present, ever caring, and involved heavenly Father, though not as much as I did earlier in my life. I still fight the concept of God being absent, especially when my prayers aren't answered.
It takes a long time to heal a "father wound" and unfortunately it colors our perception of God. Those attributes of God that I didn't experience in my earthly father, I now choose to believe by faith in my heavenly Father.
Through it all God's been good in my life. He even healed my father wound when my Dad came to faith in my adult years. My Dad apologized and expressed his regrets for his failing of his family. Though the pain of it all has been healed, the scars still remain.
Tim - I’m glad to hear that you and your dad have reconciled. I can empathize deeply with your experience, as I went through similar confusion and heartache when, at 12 years old, my dad stood in our living room with suitcases by his side and told us he had decided to leave the family. We had never observed any problems between them and were totally overwhelmed by this.
My parents had been married for 20 years, enduring the challenges of the Second World War together. Despite everything, my mother never removed her wedding band. She always reassured us that our dad 'loved' us and held onto the hope that he would eventually ‘wake up’ and realize his mistake.
After two decades of faithfully supporting mom financially, my dad came to regret his decision. He divorced his second wife and asked mom to marry him again, ensuring she would be entitled to his pension. She agreed, but the trust that once bonded our family was irreparably broken.
Though we resumed some level of interaction with him, it was more out of tolerance than genuine connection. He acknowledged the pain he caused by breaking up the family but never apologized. Like with you, the scars from those years remain, but by God’s Grace and Love I have found the strength to forgive him.
I'm sorry that you experienced a similar paternal experience. Our fathers were most likely functioning out of their brokenness. The saying that "hurting people hurt people" still rings true today. God is gracious and can and has time and again turned that which the enemy has intended for evil around to bring good out of it. Romans 8:28 also comes to mind.
It is hard for folk who have had fractured relationships with their fathers to appreciate the "father" metaphor for God. Fortunately, God has given us several other metaphors that we can relate to. I like this one.
I have often encountered Masked Lapwing mothers carrying her rather wayward chicks under their wings. Masked Lapwing chicks are known for their independence, yet, when the big bad raptor appears, they know that mum's wings are a refuge. It is rather funny to see Mum walking around with three extra pairs of legs under wings, but each time I see it I am reminded that Jesus used that metaphor to express his love for his wayward children.
That is a very sad thing that unfortunately, many can relate to in various ways. I too, grew up with "father-wounds", and over the years have developed trust issues. In my mature years, I sometimes see how I have misplaced trust issues with my heavenly Father. I know that He can be trusted in all things but sometimes find myself having a difficult time trusting Him with my every need, concern, or question.
As we have become adults, I pray our strength that we who were wounded as young children will place this hurt in our heavenly Father and allow His amazing love to carry us through.
Thank you for sharing, what an awesome testimony.
Thank you for your illustration, Maurice. I do like the line: "Spiritually, we are (all) on the spectrum." How very true! And God loves us in spite of our weaknesses and failings.
... and great to hear from you too, Peter.
Jesus prayed, "Our Father in heaven..." and we are also told that He lifted His eyes to heaven as He prayed (Jn. 11:41 KJV; 17:1). Ellen White says, “Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him.” ~from Prayer, p. 8.
Satan is on Earth accusing us and twisting the truth. But when we pray, we are taken up into heaven directly to God's throne (Heb. 4:16; 10:19), above Satan's distortions and hurtful attacks, and we can gain God's perspective and the full peace of His loving, accepting presence (Phil. 4:6-7). What a gift to us!
Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection have set us free from the fear of death. We read in Gen.2:17, God telling Adam and Eve that if they ate from the ‘Tree of Knowledge’ at that time, they would surely die. Since then, humanity has desperately tried to avoid this death, yet all attempts proved futile without accepting to trust Him and return to our Creator, Father.
Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection have revealed God’s Truth regarding the ‘Way home’; offering believers the chance to live in His spiritual Kingdom free from the fear of death. By His Grace, the Father offered to form a New Covenant with man based on His Grace and our faith in that He loves us. It would be His Spirit which guides us to experience peace and security as we are 'hidden with Christ in God' - Col.3:3.
All He asks is for us to have faith in His Love for us and to respond with love for Him.
This Covenantal Agape-Love has been present throughout the ages, but it was through His Son, Jesus Christ, that it became fully manifested in human form.
Jesus demonstrated how the Father’s Love transforms the lives of believers. Believing His assurances, we can cast aside all fears and place our unwavering trust in the sufficiency of God’s Love - 2 Cor.12:9: “My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
God’s unconditional Love made known through His Grace overcomes any weakness or hardship we face, freeing us to love Him freely, unconditionally, with all our heart in return. No longer is there a need to rely on our own understanding when trusting entirely Him and His Way. It is His Love which becomes our source of strength, solace, and peace living in the Kingdom of God as we share our life with our fellow man.
“For God so loved the world…” Was it THIS world that God SO loved? Is there any scripture indicating that God actually planned to save every human in this world?
This world and all of it are opponents of God. Its ruler and god is Satan (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 2 Cor 4:4). God is taking His people out of and delivering them from this world into their homeland (Gal 1:4; Phil 3:20). God’s people are enslaved in this world to sin and Satan, far away from home. It is like the type, Israel enslaved in Egypt far away from home. But God doesn’t say that He so loved Egypt that he sent Moses to take His people out of there! What world is it then hat God so loved?
Christ said that His kingdom was not of this world. He says that He has chosen His people out of this world and that is why the world hates them (Jn 15:18,19). Christ repeated that His people were “not of this world” just as He was not of this world (Jn 15:19; 17:14-16). Christ is supposedly trying to save every one in the world yet he specifically refuses to pray for this world. Instead He prays for His people, those given to Him of God (Jn 17:9). He therefor has no intention of saving everyone in this world. This is confirmed by the world’s inability to even receive the Holy Spirit, the saving power (Jn 14:16,17). His people, in contrast, are able to receive the Spirit. I don’t think God so loved this world.
“We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”(1 Jn 5:19)
“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us…”(1 Jn 4:4-6)
“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him… The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 Jn 2:15-17)
“You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”(James 4:4).
I see the world that God so loved as the church, the beloved elect of God. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her,… that He might present her to Himself in all her glory… that she would be holy and blameless (Eph 5:25-27)… (Eph 5:2; Rom 8:31-39). Heb 2:5-15 speaks of the seed of Abraham as many sons brought to glory and summed up as the world to come. Abraham and Christ are spoken of as heir or heirs “of a world” (Rom 4:13).
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel”. (Heb 12:22-24).
His name shall be called Jesus for He shall save His people ( His own sheep) from their sins (Matt 1:21). None will be missing (Jer 23:4,5).
HI Kenny. You quote a lot of texts and ultimately end up saying something that sounds like predestination. I am not sure if that was your intention. If we go back to John 3: 16 ...
...I find it difficult to get past the "world" and its inclusiveness and the "whoseoever believeth" sounds like anyone who chooses to believe. Restricting salvation to the religiously inclined is not something that fits the "whosoever" description.
I recognise there are difficulties in understanding how the "whosoever" can include those people who have never heard of Christianity, or who have rejected it on the basis of the hypocrisy of those who call themselves Christian. I take refuge in the notion that it is not my job to judge and that I will probably be surprised when I see who is ultimately saved. I have also seen and interacted with many people who do not profess any Christianity in terms of credal loyalty, but still believe in the great principles of loving one another and being true to the principles of life. I call them anonymous Christians. God knows their hearts, and I am not their judge.
That Greek word “pas” that’s translated “whoever” is almost everywhere else properly translated “all” or “every”. I’m surprised that you are so affected by that word. Predestination! I treated with the significance of the word “world”. There are six or seven different understandings of “world” in Scripture. An example: “the whole world is gone after Him”. The priests and elders said that of Christ after He raised Lazarus from the dead…
“All things are from that God who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ… “ 2 Cor 5:18. How were the apostles to minister this to the people? “That God was in Christ reconciling the WORLD to Himself, not counting to them their offences…” 2 Cor 5:19. Now which world was reconciled to Christ by His death? I like it to be the word of God to anyone that’s why I use texts, the word of God. Sorry to offend.
Never offended Kenny, I was just trying to get my head around what you were saying.
Kenny - I understand your concern regarding the term "world" and how it is understood and interpreted in the context of John 3:16. In the context of God's Love, I see His rescue plan for mankind’s salvation to be evident in that He is still deeply invested in this 'world', needing to save humanity by and through His Spirit.
As I see it - God created physical man to live by His Spirit in order to established themselves and to care for a physical world. Therefore, His first priority in His plan to rescue this 'fallen world' is to again 'align' humanity's spirit with His.
Man lives in this world, but he was not designed to live by the spirit of this world. We know that lucifer disrupted the relationship between man and God by introducing/fostering a different spirit into their hearts and minds for them to live by — the spirit of self-centeredness, self-reliance, and self-reflection.
This spiritually separated humans from their Heavenly Father and caused our downfall. Yet, despite this spiritual separation, God’s Love for His creation/'world' remains unchanged. There is still much of Him within humanity to recognize Him as their Creator. Because of this, spiritual salvation is possible to restore man to its first calling and purpose.
"Whosoever" can still hear Him, will recognize Him and open the door of their heart and mind to follow Him. The new 'world' for mankind to live in will be guided again by His Spirit, and the saints, having their life by His Spirit, will live in the 'New Jerusalem' - God's Habitation - having come down from heaven to be placed on the new earth, but not in the same 'world'.
I don't want into a big debate over what you're saying, but just want to point out one thing. Isaiah 19 concludes by saying that one day Egypt, Israel, and Assyria will worship together. In vs. 25 God says "Blessed be Egypt, my people" (NIV). So yes, God does love Egypt.
Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, as nations are often depicted as enemies of God's people. But we have to remember that the nation is the problem, not the people as such. There is no hope for Babylon as an institution - it's corrupt. But God saved Nebuchadnezzar. So He can certainly save people even in nations that are enemies of God's people.
Think about this one class. If you could put Agape and Phileo in 5 words, what would those 5 words be? I will give a hint the 1st word is relationship.
I had better tell you my words because their maybe two, or three different variations.
Relationship Between God And I.
So do I have a fulfilling, everlasting good relationship with the goodness of God daily? Or do I stand in the way of a loving relationship with a God who desires a relationship with Him that is on a daily basis. I pray for the former, and with the boldness gifted me, I move forward in God's love. 🙏 🙏
Yes, now we have obtained the victorious life. I hold on to it, and do not let go of it. Praise be to God!