by Todd Rausch
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” — Matthew 28:19-20
This book is dedicated to everyone who is seeking to partake of this covenant. I pray that in the following pages you find the answers to your questions and the wisdom and courage to achieve all that God has planned for your life.
Great effort has been made to ensure that this book, its message, and content all support the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Sacred tradition, and the teachings of the Majesterium. If you find anything that does not agree with the teachings of the Catholic Church in this book, please let me know.
Todd
Our God is a Covenant God
Welcome! I hope you are excited to discover this Covenant of Mercy and Blessing and to change your life forever.This book is designed to reveal the Covenant in a real and meaningful manner. I can not take credit for writing everything, although I have written much of it's material, it is a compilation of information that is readily available, but not necessarily well known. This includes the sections written by the Holy Father.
Webster's defines mercy as "a: compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; also : lenient or compassionate treatment
Webster's defines bless as "the use of blood in consecration, to hallow or consecrate by religious rite or word, to hallow with the sign of the cross, to invoke divine care for, to confer prosperity and happiness upon, to protect and preserve".
Webster's also defines covenant as "a formal solemn and binding agreement". To truly understand the purpose of being blessed and why God would want to bless us, we must first understand that God is a covenant making God. It is His desire to bring us into a covenant relationship with Him so that we can be His children and can be partakers of His inheritance with Jesus.
Jesus has given us all things so that we might be partakers of His nature (2 Peter 1:3-4). We accepted these gifts and now live in faithand participate in this covenant. God, through Jesus, has reconciled the world to himself and has redeemed it through the sacrifice Jesus made. To be redeemed means that we are restored to our original position of covenant with God.
To understand all of this we must understand what it is God is trying to accomplish. James 1:5-8 tells us to ask God for wisdom and to ask in faith not wavering. The first step in this understanding is to ask God for wisdom and direction.
"If any lack wisdom, let Him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upraideth not; and it shall be given Him. But let Him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that He shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all His ways." James 1:5-8. We know that without faith it is impossible to please God. Let us ask in faith expecting to receive what we ask. By the end of this book, I hope you will have a good understanding of God, His desires for you and your position with Him in the covenant.
Ephesians 2:12 shows us what happens to people who are strangers to the covenant or, in other words, are without a covenant. "That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." If we do not understand our covenant that we have with God through Christ Jesus, we are without hope and without God! What a terrible place to be! That is why the first step is to know Jesus and to have a covenant relationship with God through Him.
Everything we receive, we receive from God through faith which comes to us through His mercy and grace the unmerited favor of God. Romans 3:21-25 says, "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all of them that believe: for there is no difference.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be the propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God."
Faith itself is a gift and we receive it from God and it will grow into the power of God in our lives. Romans 10:17 states that "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God." The Gospel of John, the first chapter, calls Jesus the Word of God. For our faith to grow and to receive more faith, we look to the Word of God and believe Him and receive Him as true. The Holy Eucharist will be seen as the source of this in a bit.
Why does God work through covenants and what would cause Him to desire to make a covenant with mankind? To understand this question, we need to understand who God really is. 1 John, chapter 4:7-8 says, "Beloved let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is love."
The Greek word for love in this verse is agape which translates as "affection or benevolence". The Hebrew word for this is hesed which is "to have loving kindness and mercy". The whole reason God gave Adam all of His dominion in the first place was because He loved Him. God is love incarnate, His very essence is love. Today, God demonstrates His love toward us through what Jesus has done.
This love of God is really too much for anyone to understand. To reveal it in a way that we could understand it, God has given us the Old Testament stories of covenants He had and other men had with each other so that we might begin to grasp His divine love for us. This mystery of God which is now revealed to us in the person of Jesus was His express desire for mankind from the beginning.
For Jesus to abide in us in fullness, we must be rooted and grounded in this love of God. We must show His love to all men. We must show them what God has done for us. This is done by understanding the covenant and its purpose, and finally by understanding the character of God.
A good picture of this is found in First Samuel 18:1-3 which describes the friendship between King Saul's son, Jonathan, and David, before David became king. Jonathan made a covenant with David so that no matter what would happen in life, they would always be covenant friends. This was a blood covenant and could not be broken. It was to last to Jonathan's children.
Later, Jonathan dies in battle along with his father, King Saul. David becomes king and remembers his covenant with Jonathan and sends out his men to see if any of Jonathan's descendants are alive. In those days, it was customary of new kings to kill all of the descendants of the previous king.
So, Jonathan's servants panicked when they heard David was king. They took Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth, and in their haste to hide him (a young boy), had an accident which crippled the boy's feet. They then hid him from David for several years telling Mephibosheth that David wanted to kill him.
Finally, David's men found Mephibosheth and brought him before the king. Instead of killing Mephibosheth, David gave him all that belonged to his dad and to Saul. David made him part of his own household and treated him as if he were his son. This story, told in Second Samuel 9, is an exact replication of what God wants to do for us.
David did this because of his love for his friend, Jonathan. Had Mephibosheth seen a copy of the covenant between these two men, he would have not hid. Rather he would have gladly stepped forward to receive the inheritance that was his. He had nothing to do with it except to receive what was given to him. David would gladly have given him all that he did at any time had Mephibosheth only come forth. He had been lied to and the Devil has lied to us!
This love is the driving of compassion to give, to enter a covenant of blood forever for someone else's benefit. It is the desire to promise to give until it is to good to be true. Then swear in your own blood in order to prove you are not lying, so that they can believe and receive. It's no good if they cannot receive. The seed of that love is planted in us when we become children of God.
It is seen over 240 times in the Old Covenant as loving kindness, grace, steadfast love, mercy, goodness, faithfulness, devotion, favor and strength. It is the deepest desire to give brought about by mercy. It is to be full of eager yearning, similar to our love for our families, but far deeper. It is giving yourself totally and all you have to someone who has nothing. This is what God does and who He is!
All cultures throughout history have had blood covenants; they can be found on all continents and among all people. Their originator was God, and man continued their practice, even though its original intent was forgotten. Their words and symbols permeate our language and are deeply embedded in our minds.
To see the sources go to http://christianity.about.com/od/weddingceremony/a/weddingtraditions.htm,
http://www.thesacredpage.com/2009/06/last-supper-targums-and-blood-of.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_brother, http://www.titipu.demon.co.uk/samesexunions/ordo.htm
In Abraham's time, clans, families and nations cut covenants based on mutual need. Strengths and weaknesses were assessed, not things that the parties had in common with each other. The covenants between Abraham and God are found in Genesis 15-18. Galatians 3:29 states, "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Thus we have an active covenant with God through Jesus that is eternal.
Due to the fact that a covenant was based upon differences, it had to be negotiated first. It was never entered into lightly. To cut the covenant was to commit yourself and all you had for the duration of the covenant. Our covenant with God is strictly an eternal, forever covenant that we and God are bound to for as long as God is.
After the negotiations, the groups selected their representatives. It was someone who summed up the whole tribe or nation. This individual would represent all of the group that selected him. He would forever bear the scars of the cutting of the covenant on his body. He would be recognized as a covenant man.
Next the ceremonial site was selected. It was generally a place where all parties involved could gather and see the ceremony take place. Often times, it was a sacred or sacrificial place that represented all that was holy to the people involved. After the ceremony, the site was marked in some way so that the generations to follow would know what happened there and remember the covenant to fulfill it during their lifetime.
After the site was chosen, a sacrificial animal or animals were chosen. These had to be the best each group had. They represented the sacrifice each party was willing to make on behalf of their covenant partners. These animals were then lined up head to tail and were cut differently than any other sacrifice. They were parted down the middle so that the two sides fell opposite from each other. This created a walkway or path of blood between the halves.
Now the ceremony was ready to begin. The two representatives gave each other their coats - the symbol of who they were and their authority. This signified that they gave themselves to each other wholly with no reservations. What this tells everyone watching is that the persons making the covenant are now one. What belongs to one now belongs to the other.
They then took each others weapon belt, this showing the giving of each other's strength. "Your enemies are now my enemies and my enemies are now your enemies", each pledged to help the other in time of need. This was the first form of defense pact and it continues to be the strongest form to this day. If someone attacked you, in reality he was attacking you and your covenant partners. This pledge showed that each party was willing to give their life for the other and stand with them no matter what.
Next was the walk of blood. The representatives walked between the halves twice. Meeting together in the middle they faced each other and said, "Even as this animal has died, I will stand with you even in death." Standing in blood, they made promises that they couldn't break. They each said the promises of the covenant (the blessing) while swearing by God to keep their promises. This made God their witness and a party of the covenant.
To seal the covenant, a cut of the body had to be made, either in the wrist, the hand or the thumb. The blood of each group was shed, the promises were made with the hand lifted in the air and blood running down the arm. Each one promised to keep the covenant, "so help me God". The scar was the reminder of the covenant. It was deep enough so that when it healed, it would not go away. It was a sign that the parties were one.
Now came the name change, showing that the parties were one. By taking another person's name in covenant, all that they are, we now become and all that we are, they now become. By now you should be able to see that God has clearly done a great thing for us by what Jesus did. The Bible shows that Jesus took our position and died for us and went to hell for us and was raised for us. So that we might become as He is, a child of the living God! What an awesome thing this truly is. As covenant partners with God, we are partakers of all the blessings that are available to Him and He freely gives them if only we will receive them.
Ephesians 1:3-9 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.
In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in himself."
Real blessing is not just in possessions but in understanding the covenant and being an active participant in it with God. Since the beginning of time, God has been trying to show His love for us and His desire to bless us with abundant life. He had to resort to a covenant of blood so that we would understand how deep His love for us goes and that He is willing to do whatever it takes to save us and make us His children. We love our kids, but our love for them cannot compare to the complete love God has for us.
After the exchange of names, the parties were now friends, covenant friends that were closer than blood relatives. In Proverbs 18:24 we read, "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Covenant friends had a relationship born of love, a bond which could only be broken by death.
For God, this means that He always remembers us. In our covenant with Him, He is saying to us, "I always hold you in remembrance. You are ever before me. I live in constant memory of our blood oath together. I crown you with abundant life and all the blessings in heaven. I give to you my solemn oath to watch over, protect and bless you. Not because of what you have done, but because of my love toward you. Because of what my son Jesus has done for you, therefore as He is, so are you."
He is the great "I am", the all powerful God for whom all things are possible. He is NOW! Not someday way over in gloryland. He is NOW! Seek and you shall find. When? NOW! Knock and it shall be opened to you. When? NOW! All the promises of God in Christ are yes and Amen. When? NOW! He is in covenant with you. When? NOW! Our God is indeed an awesome God!
The final act of the covenant was the covenant meal, the act of celebrating this awesome occasion. They drank a cup of wine saying, "Drink my life's blood as I drink your life's blood." In John 6:53-58, Jesus gives a covenant statement, "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed, He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so He that eateth me, even He shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever."
This was a covenant statement concerning our relationship with Him. After the wine, they fed each other a piece of bread as a final statement, "Take me, all that I am. Eat of me, I am yours." It seems to reflect so much of what we see in a wedding sacrament and the Eucharistic sacrament. These are covenant ceremonies from the beginning of the Christian faith and are as powerful today as they were then. Thank God they have been preserved for us in these sacraments. Later we shall see what this all meant as explained by Pope John Paul II.
So God has performed for us the promises of His covenant with Abraham and His seed (Jesus), therefore let us move on and understand what the terms of this covenant were and how we obtain them. May God give us complete understanding of our position in covenant with Him and of our part in it.
Deuteronomy 28 gives the blessings and curses of the covenant Israel had with God. Galatians 3:6-15 states that, "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. By that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
Therefore, Jesus, the anointed one, has redeemed us from the curse of that covenant and made available to us the promises by faith. Galatians 3:16 says, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Christ is the English term for the Greek Χριστός (Khristós) meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Māšîaḥ), usually transliterated into English as Messiah. We will look more at this later, for now it is sufficient that Jesus was the seed with which the covenant was made and we are partakers of it because of Him.
Galatians 3:22 goes on to say, "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Thus, the only way to receive the blessings of the covenant is to receive them by faith in what Jesus has done and by the faith of who Jesus is.
Galatians 3:26-29 states, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Thus, by faith we become heirs of the promises of the covenant.
Paul confirms this in II Corinthians 1:20-22 when he writes, "For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." All of the promises of the covenant are yes and Amen in Jesus and by Him they are yes for us.
What are the blessings of the covenant and what are the curses we have been redeemed from?
Jesus is the author, mediator and executor of the new and better covenant we have with God. A covenant of sonship, not just friendship. A covenant established by the sacrifice Jesus made. A covenant established by the blood of God!
The author of Hebrews writes in chapter 8:6, "But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises." These promises include the blessings of the old, the redemption from the curses of the old, and new and better promises added to them. These are obtained strictly on faith, taking God at His word and trusting that they are true. This is true good news of peace in Christ Jesus!
To understand these promises, we need to understand that God's plan for us (His children) is for good only and not for evil, if we will be obedient to His Word. We are called to receive the best that God has to offer, so that we might give it to others. I Peter 3:8-9 states, "Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrari-wise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing."
Webster's defines bless as "the use of blood in consecration, to hallow or consecrate by religious rite or word, to hallow with the sign of the cross, to invoke divine care for, to confer prosperity and happiness upon, to protect and preserve". When God promises to bless us, He is promising to make us holy by the blood of Jesus, to call us His own, to care for, prosper, protect, preserve us and give us happiness.
Deuteronomy 28 lists the blessings and curses of the old covenant which, when added to the removal of the curse and the new and better promises, make up the total of our covenant with God through Jesus. Verses 1 - 14 are the blessings:
"And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God, will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth:
And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kind, and the flocks of thy sheep.
Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: They shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and He shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as He hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in His ways.
And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.
And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
The Lord shall open unto thee His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in His season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them."
Read this list over and become familiar with the blessings God desires to give us. He truly is a good God and He is good all the time!
Remember Galatians 3:13 states that Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Next in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 is the list of the curses of the covenant. Let's see what we have been redeemed from.
"We have been redeemed from any curses coming upon us if we stay in Christ.
We have been redeemed from being cursed in the city, from being cursed in the field.
We have been redeemed from being cursed in our basket and our store.
Our children have been redeemed from being cursed, our crops and all of our livestock cannot be cursed.
We are redeemed from being cursed when we go out and when we come in. We have been redeemed from cursing, vexation, rebuke, in all that we set our hand to. We are redeemed from being destroyed, perishing quickly, from pestilence and from being consumed.
We are redeemed from fever, inflammation with extreme burning, from the sword, blasting and mildew. From lack of rain, and dry earth for our planting.
We are redeemed from defeat by our enemies, we are redeemed from fleeing before them, and from being taken captive.
We are redeemed from being smitten with the botch of Egypt (boils), emeroids, and with the scab, and with the itch which cannot be healed.
We are redeemed from madness, blindness, and astonishment of heart. From groping at the noonday, from not prospering in all our ways, from oppression, and being spoiled with no man to save us.
We are redeemed from having our spouse commit adultery, from building a house and having someone else live in it: from planting and not reaping the harvest.
We are redeemed from having someone take our possessions and not getting them back. We are redeemed from having our children taken from us and given to another people, from having no might to stop our enemies. We are redeemed from oppression and being crushed, from being mad at what we see. We are redeemed from sore knees, legs, and head (arthritis).
We are redeemed from being taken captive and forced to serve other gods. From carrying much seed out to the field and gathering little, from the locust consuming our harvest.
From worms eating our vineyards, from our plants casting forth their fruit before harvest.
From having children but not enjoying them, from having them taken captive by other people.
We are redeemed from having the strangers around us getting up above us very high, we are redeemed from being brought very low.
We are redeemed from borrowing (debt is a curse!) from the stranger being the head and from us being the tail.
We are redeemed to serve the Lord with joyfulness and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things which He gives us.
We are redeemed from serving our enemies, from hunger, from thirst, from nakedness, from being in want of all things.
We are redeemed from a yoke of iron being put upon our neck and it destroying us (sin and slavery to it).
From powerful enemies swiftly coming against us; besieging us, and spoiling our possessions. We are redeemed from cannibalism, from being evil toward our brothers, from having nothing.
We are redeemed from hating our families and destroying them. We are redeemed to fear and honor the name of the Lord.
We are redeemed from every plague, and sore sickness; from all the diseases that struck Egypt during the Exodus.
We are redeemed from every sickness and plague which is not written in the book of the law, and from them destroying us.
We are redeemed from being few in number, because the Lord rejoices over us to do us good and to multiply us.
We are redeemed from being scattered from one end of the earth to the other, from a trembling heart, and failing eyes and sorrow of mind:
From our life hanging in doubt, from fear day and night, and from having no assurance of our life:
From hating and dreading every day, from wishing our lives were over and from suicide.
We are redeemed from every evil thing happening to us, if we stay in faith and in covenant with God; keeping it continually in mind."
Psalm 103:1-5 states, "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's...". When we read this list, do we speak those words today or say the exact opposite. I know I fail here and need to change what I say daily.There are literally hundreds of scriptures that are full of the good things God wants to do for us as His children. Looking to the New Testament, we see what great things God has done for us through Jesus, with the new and greater promises.
All of these promises are based upon God's hesed (covenant love) toward us. The blessings are empowerment to live the covenant. The curses were empowerment to fail. By redeeming us from the curse, God has given us power through the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and the new covenant to be successful in all that pertains to life and godliness.
By making covenant, God created the basis for faith to grow, as He gave His word in an oath that He would perform His covenant. Romans 10:17 says, "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God." Thus when God made covenant with Abraham, He gave His word which produced faith in Abraham, even though he was very old and his wife was barren.
The results were that because of God's love, grace, hesed, Abraham became the father of Isaac and the father of Jacob, the nation of Israel became a reality and a witness to the covenant promises of God.
If God is willing to fulfill His word today, which He made to a man 4,000 years ago, He is certainly willing to fulfill that same word to us today. In Acts 10:34-38, we see that God is willing to give to us the same promises in the person of Jesus who is fully God and fully man.
"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respector of person: But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.
The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (He is Lord of all:)
That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him."
Now we know that righteousness comes by faith in the Word because Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Since faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, which is Jesus, we have confidence in God that what applied to Abraham applies to us today. The will of God is that all men participate in the new covenant, not just Israel.
So, then by now we should realize that true wealth is to be found in the covenant with God. It is far beyond material possessions but includes health, security, protection, and freedom. All good things are included in this covenant and the key to receiving it is faith in the promises of God!
God must now act in covenant hesed (love) with all who are His children through Jesus. Jesus has taken our name and took all that was ours: our judgment, punishment, and death. In return, He has given us all that is His: His name, His peace, His faith, His love, His spirit, His word and His kingdom.
God's hesed is forever and never fails. Men's love may fail but God's will never fail. Psalms 136 is filled with references of God's unfailing hesed!
"O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy (hesed) endureth for ever. O give thanks to the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for His mercy endureth for ever. ...give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy endureth for ever."
God's hesed is seen throughout the Old Testament and is culminated in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, His Word. Jesus came to fulfill all of the Word of God and establish His covenant with God and man. As the perfect man He walked the earth without sin and became for us the way to the Father re-establishing the bond between God and mankind. What a great unpayable debt we owe God for what He has done for us!
Because of His hesed, God has chosen to love us in a way that is impossible for men, without Christ, to know or understand. But, when we become Christians and invite Jesus into our lives, we become children of God and because we are born again, His love (hesed) is shed abroad in our hearts. Romans 5:5 states, "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love (hesed-agape) of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." By this we understand how much God has loved us and gain insight into the character of God.
This love that is shed abroad in our hearts enables us to become covenant partners with God, by becoming a brother with Jesus who is in covenant with God. When Abraham offered Isaac up on the altar in obedience to God, He placed God in obligation to do the same for Abraham. When God did this through Jesus, the covenant became available to all men.
Hesed and agape are the key to the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus. Paul's ministry was a ministry of grace and mercy. This was the translation of agape (hesed). Our ministry of the gospel today is the same, God's grace and mercy to mankind are the power of the gospel for us. The gospel is the covenant. Galatians 3:6-9 states, "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to Him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached the gospel unto Abraham, saying in thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."
Showing love toward others is considered by God as showing love toward Him. This enables others to see His goodness and to rely on the truth of His covenant. Hebrews 6:10 says, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister."
Thus, understanding that the foundation of this great covenant is faith and that faith works by love (Galatians 5:6), let us press on to achieve all that God has planned for us by living a life of love and faith. So that we may receive all the blessings of the covenant and have confidence in the hope we have in Jesus.
Finally, Jesus said in John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." So, living an agape life is not only beneficial to us, but is the command of God.
In the previous chapter, we learned that God is a covenant making God and that throughout history, He has worked to bring to us an abundant life through His covenants. We have seen that His character is love and that the covenants work through faith, which works by love. We can see by studying the promises that God is good all the time, and that the promises of the new covenant are greater than the old.
In this chapter we shall see, that in order to understand the covenant, we must understand who we really are dealing with and why He would give us this power in the first place. Jesus said in Matthew 6:32-34, "(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
Because we are in covenant with God, He is mindful of our needs and is ever working to take care of us. I Peter 5:7 shows us that, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." In covenant thinking what is God's is ours and what is ours is God's. Our cares become His cares and His cares become our cares. He takes control of our cares and meets our needs, then we are able to work on His cares. His cares are getting His message of love and salvation into a dying world and also wanting to save us not destroy us. The message of His covenant love is for everyone. It is our covenant responsibility to share it.
To know God and to seek His righteousness, we must look to Him and see how He reveals himself. We already know that He is love (hesed-agape), but there is so much of God to know beyond this. I believe that He reveals himself in His names and the characteristics of those names. In this chapter, we will cover some of those names and the instances where He uses them to show us each characteristic of himself.
These names are from the original Hebrew and are a manifestation of His love for His covenant people. They include: Elohim, Jehovah, El-Shaddai, Adonai, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Rophe, Jehovah-Nissi, Jehovah-M'Kaddesh, Jehovah-Shalom, Jehovah-Tsidkenu, Jehovah-Rohi and Jehovah-Shammah. These are the covenant names of God and because they are covenant names, they have become our names! Let's find out what these mean and who God really is. http://www.ldolphin.org/Names.html
Elohim
The name Elohim is a plural name which signifies the oneness of the Trinity of God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is the showing of God to mankind of plurality in unity and covenant with each other. The oneness of God is not limited to excluding this plurality.
Thus in the beginning, we see God as Elohim creating all of creation and creating man in His image. In Genesis 1:1 we read, "In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth." Elohim is how God has chosen to reveal himself to us from the beginning that we might know that even though God is one, they are plural.
The Jews of Jesus' time knew this and when Jesus said He was the Son of God they sought to kill Him because by saying this, He made himself equal with God the Father. John 5:18 states "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making himself equal with God."
Elohim makes covenant with Elohim in Psalm 110 where we see the covenant upon which all of our other covenants are based.
"The Lord (Jehovah) said unto my Lord (Adon), Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord (Jehovah) shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
The Lord (Jehovah) hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord (Adonai) at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, He shall fill the places with the dead bodies; He shall wound the head over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore He shall lift up the head."
In this short passage, we see three different words used to describe God: Jehovah, Adon, and Adonai. We also see three sitting at each others right hand: Adon sits at the right hand of Jehovah and Adonai sits at the right hand of Adon. This creates a picture of the Trinity making covenant within the three persons of the Godhead!
In Matthew 22:41-44, Jesus points to this when talking to the Pharisees. "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying what think ye of Christ? Whose son is He? They say unto Him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how is He His son? And no man was able to answer Him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions."
Jesus was revealing himself as a part of the Trinity and by doing so revealed the divine covenant to the Pharisees. Jesus revealed the name of God and himself as part of the Trinity to the apostles. John 17:6 says "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word." Again in John 17:25-26, Jesus says "O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them."
Here Jesus is showing that because of His love for us, God reveals His name to us and because of His deep covenant love for us, we may become partakers of His covenant with Jesus. For those who are not in covenant with God, they can not fathom the significance of His name and His covenant. To know and understand the names of God is to have an understanding of His love for us.
Thus, the first name that God reveals himself to us as, is not only a revelation of His plurality, but also His oneness. Elohim places us in direct knowledge of the very essence of who God is and gives us a glimpse of His covenant mindedness. The root for Elohim is El translated as the word for "Almighty God". Deuteronomy 10:17 is translated "For the Lord (Jehovah) your God (Elohim) is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God (El), a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward."
Elohim occurs over 2500 times in the Old Testament. This itself, teaches and reveals to the people of Israel, the Trinity, long before it became Christian doctrine. Another possible translation comes from Alah which means "to swear or declare" as God swore by himself to Abraham when He made covenant with Him in Genesis 17.
"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto Him, I am the Almighty God (El Shaddai); walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on His face: and God talked with Him saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram (great father) but thy name shall be called Abraham (father of a great multitude); for a father of many nations have I made thee.
And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed (Jesus) after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God (Elohim) unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."
In Elohim, we see our hope and our salvation as God the Father makes covenant with God the Son!
Jehovah
Jehovah occurs over 6800 times in the Old Testament. It is translated "LORD" in the King James Bible. It is the most frequently used name of God in the Bible. It is the name of the great "I Am". It is the name used to define God as the only God. It is a name which shows the one true God to us!
Often combined with Elohim, Jehovah-Elohim shows us God as God of gods and there is no other God beside Him. Issiah 43:10-12 says, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He: before me there was no God (Elohim) formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord (Jehovah); and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange God among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord (Jehovah), that I am God."
Here in Issiah, we can see that God declares himself to be God and saviour. He desires to reveal himself to us so that we may know and believe (have faith) that He is Lord! He has declared and saved us, He has shown us His covenant and made us witnesses to His covenant that He is God. And that His covenant is based on love and is true.
Jehovah has its root in the Hebrew word "for being or to be". He is the source of being, the source of life. There is no other source of life in the universe. He is the ever existing, ever living source of all that we need, want or could ever ask for. He is the eternal source of all life that has been or ever will be. He offers us a choice to join Him in covenant and live eternally with Him as His children. What an awesome and loving God He is!
In Exodus 34:5-7, Jehovah declares himself to Moses in a new way. "And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with Him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord (Jehovah). And the Lord passed before Him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation." Jehovah is merciful, but also the ultimate judge.
Thus in Deuteronomy 30:19, Jehovah says through Moses to Israel, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: That thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."
It is the desire of our God to bless us, to prosper us and to give us health. It has been so from the beginning of creation until now. It is our choice to make this happen. Thank God He loves us enough to give us such a great choice and that He continues to give this choice to everyone in the person of Jesus!
The name of Jesus is the Greek translation of Joshua which is a Hebrew word meaning "Jehovah saves". Even the name of Jesus is a covenant reminder that we are His. Every time He looks at Jesus seated at His right hand, He is reminded that He saves us from the wrath that is due us. His covenant hesed is given life in the person of Jesus!
It is Jehovah God who says in Exodus 23:25, "And you shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee." Jehovah is a God of love and compassion, mercy and grace, health and prosperity. Our covenant with Him clearly shows us these things and He has sworn by himself and by His blood that He shall cause them to pass for us. We in turn must receive these blessings and freely give them to others.
That is why He gives us this covenant of love and enables us to pass that love and grace to others. So then, they can do the same for someone else and so on, for all mankind.
El-Shaddai
El-Shaddai is a Hebrew word meaning "Almighty God". It is first revealed in Genesis 17:1-2, "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto Him, I am the Almighty God (El-Shaddai); walk before me, and be thou perfect (Jesus did this as Abraham's seed). And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly."
El-Shaddai fulfills His promise in the miraculous birth of Isaac, to a man 100 years old and to a woman 90 years old and barren. El-Shaddai cuts covenant with Abram and His seed (Jesus) through which all families of the earth are blessed. El-Shaddai watches over His covenant to fulfill it to a thousand generations. El-Shaddai is the covenant name of God that Abram, Isaac, and Jacob knew. El-Shaddai is a covenant God!
In El-Shaddai, we see the ever faithfulness of God. In the name of El-Shaddai, we see the ever sufficient, the ever mindful, all powerful God of the universe making a way of redemption for a fallen race. As El-Shaddai, the covenant is cut between God and man and God (Abram and Jesus).
El-Shaddai carries with it the implied meaning that the name is for a God of creation. A God who can create heaven and earth, and there is no other like Him. This is a name to be revered and held in awe of. This is the God of covenant and the God above all other gods! He reveals himself by His deeds. He has all power and there is no other like Him. Yet, this all powerful and merciful God chooses to commit himself to the preservation of a sinful and rebellious race being us.
The name Shaddai also means "one who nourished and satisfies", implying that El-Shaddai is more than enough to meet our needs. He sheds abroad His grace and gives us abundantly beyond what we can ask or think. Paul writes in Phillipians chapter 4:19-20, "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be glory forever and ever, Amen." El-Shaddai is fulfilled in Christ Jesus.
Again Paul writes in Ephesians 3:14-21, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church of Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
Paul clearly established that El-Shaddai is fulfilled in the actions of Jesus and what He has done for us. God in the person of Jesus has become for us El-Shaddai! No wonder Abraham believed God's promise even though he was old and not able to father children in the natural sense of things. He saw God as El-Shaddai and had a covenant with the creator of the universe.
Thus in El-Shaddai, God reveals Himself as the all powerful, all sufficient, all loving (hesed) God of covenant who will be all that we ever need. As El-Shaddai He says to Abram in Genesis 15:1, "...Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." For Abraham, El-Shaddai was not only his God, He was his covenant partner and friend. When El-Shaddai asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham believed that God could raise this lad from the dead just as He had brought him from Sarah's dead womb. El-Shaddai reveals Himself as savior and provider on that mountain and reveals Himself to Abraham that day as Jehovah-Jireh (Jehovah provider).
It is as El-Shaddai, Abraham's covenant partner, that God becomes obligated to offer His only son Jesus, in sacrifice for His covenant obligation to Abraham's descendants! Here we see the love of God expressed by His actions, as the great name El-Shaddai implies.
Adonai
This name of God means "owner, master, and Lord". This name is used nearly 300 times in the Old Testament. It is again a covenant name as all of God's names are. The significance of this particular name is easily lost to modern Americans or anyone who lives in a free country. It implies the servanthood of mankind and the sovereignty of God! It implies that we are not our own, but rather belong to someone else and that someone being our covenant partner - Elohim, Jehovah, El-Shaddai!
In Abraham's time, the servant was considered part of the Lord's household and family. Eliezer, Abraham's steward, was his heir until the birth of the promised child, Isaac. (Genesis 15:2) The servant was part of the great household and it was his Lord's responsibility to provide for, protect, and bless him. It was the servants responsibility to ensure that his Lord's dealings were profitable and to take care of his Lord's family and possessions.
For us this means that we are no longer our own, but as Paul writes in I Corinthians 7:20-23, "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men."
Because we are bought (redeemed) by the blood of Jesus, we are made members of God's household. He then has made us His children and friends as partakers of His covenant. He made an emancipation proclamation eighteen hundred and thirty years before Abraham Lincoln. Let us therefore present ourselves as servants to God.
By doing so, we place ourselves in position to receive all of the blessings God desires to give to us. Romans chapter 6 covers this very well and should be studied closely to understand what God is trying to achieve for us. Verses 16-18 state, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, His servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form doctrine which was delivered you. Being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness." Again, verses 22-23 state, "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Jehovah-Jireh
The next eight names God has revealed himself to us with are combinations of Jehovah with a descriptive word to show His divine character and His love toward us. Jehovah being the eternal, self-existent, all powerful, ever revealing God combined His name with these words to reveal the fullness of His holy character to us.
Jehovah-Jireh is probably the most exciting of these names as it can be traced for a period of two thousand years from God making covenant with Abraham to His fulfilling of it in the person of Jesus. Jehovah-Jireh literally means "Jehovah will see to it" or "Jehovah will provide". The significance of this can be seen in the first place it appears in scripture - Genesis 22. Elohim comes to Abraham and says, beginning in verse 2 and continuing through verse 18, "...take now they son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again unto you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide (Jehovah-Jireh) himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou has not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."
Because of the blood covenant Abraham had with El-Shaddai, God had a right to ask for anything from Abraham including His only son. The blessing of this is that because Abraham was obedient, God became obligated to give His only Son later! Thank God for Abraham's faithfulness! This one action in history paved the way for Jesus to come and become the Lamb of God for us. This was a turning point in history for all mankind. God found a covenant partner who had faith that God was able to raise Isaac up from the dead and restore Him back to His father.
What a wonderful story and what a wonderful example that shows us how covenant works with God and how faith produces the provision of God in our lives. Hebrew 11:17-19 states, "By faith Abraham, when He was tried, offered up Isaac: and He that had received the promises offered up His only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise Him up, even from the dead; from whence also He received Him in a figure."
Jehovah-Jireh provided the sacrifice to save Isaac and in the person of Jesus, provides the sacrifice for all of us today. From the time of the resurrection of Jesus until today, we have a right to become children of God through His sacrifice and become children of the new covenant! What a deep and unsearchable thing God has done for us and what a great reward He offers to those who accept His provision of the sacrifice of Jesus. This is the climax of all history, the death and resurrection of Jesus and the restoration of mankind in relationship with God. In Jesus, He shows himself to truly be our Jehovah-Jireh.
Again, as covenant partners with Jesus, we have the right to use His name, just as He took our name in partnership and was crucified, died, was buried, went to hell, and rose from the dead for us. Because Jesus is in covenant partnership with God the Father, all that is God's is Jesus' and all that is Jesus' is God the Father's. Thus all the names of God belong to Jesus and He gives them to us. Also, because we belong to Jesus as we are His body on the earth, we now belong to God. The implications of this are incalculable, but Jehovah-Jireh has joined our names to His in blood covenant that can't be broken. WOW! That is good news of the gospel.
By now you should be able to see the greatness and power of this covenant and why God will go to such great lengths to fulfill it for all who ask to become His partners and children. He will move heaven and earth for us and will gladly give us all He has because it is our inheritance in Jesus. He does this not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus did and because of who we are in Jesus.
Jesus says in Luke 12:22-32, "...Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with thinking through can add to His stature one cubit?
If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye through for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all His glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith?
And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
Read verse 32 again, "...it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." What kingdom is that? His kingdom, the kingdom of God. God takes pleasure in giving good things to His kids, just like we as parents take pleasure in giving good things to our kids. We got that from God the Father. He is the source of all good parenting.
God reveals that pleasure of providing far above what we can ask or think of in His name Jehovah-Jireh! Paul writes in Ephesians 3:14-21, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man: That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
God the Father wants us to know the fullness of His love and know that He is able to do far more than we can ask or think. It is His desire to be our total provision for all things and to be our source for all that we need in life. It is His desire for us to see Him and know Him as Jehovah-Jireh. In Him, we move, breathe and have our being. It is His desire to share all that He has with us so that we may know how deep His love for us truly is!
The final thing I wish to share with you concerning the incident with Abraham at Mount Moriah is that, later Solomon built His temple at the very spot where God revealed himself as Jehovah-Jireh. This very spot became the Temple of Soloman, the center for the daily worship of God in Israel and that is why it is so critical for the nation of Israel today. It was here that the covenant was tested and proven, and it is here that the nation of Israel seeks to re-establish that relationship again.
It was at the temple that the twelve year old Jesus went and amazed the teachers of the law. It was also at the temple that Jesus went to cleanse His father's house. It was at Mount Moriah, in the temple, that Jesus came as the Lamb of God in the last week of His life. In the person of Jesus, God physically came to His covenant people to fulfill the promises He made to them. Again, He comes today to us in the person of Jesus and to all the world to show himself as Jehovah-Jireh.
Jehovah-Rophe
We have seen God as God Almighty, as Lord, as Master, as the Trinity, as our Provider. Now we see God as our healer. Jehovah-Rophe means "Jehovah heals". In Exodus 15, we see that Pharaoh and His army have just been destroyed in the Red Sea and the great celebration of that victory. Three days later, Israel comes to the springs which were at Marah and the following story was revealed starting in verse 22.
"And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And He cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed Him a tree, which when He had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them.
And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee (Jehovah-Rophe)."
From the beginning it was God's desire that we have life and health.It is a Sacrament of the Church. He gave Adam and Eve a world where sickness and disease did not exist. When Adam disobeyed God and gave His authority to Satan, sin, sickness, disease and death entered into the earth. Because of this, mankind has been ravaged by every form of sickness and disease that can be thought of and by some that are as yet unidentified.
Thus, throughout the Bible, we find God expressing His will to heal His people. He reveals himself here in Exodus as the God who heals us and gives us health. He shows us that this comes from listening to Him, being obedient to His voice (His Word). This leads to health.
Psalms 103:1-5 states, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases: Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles." Part of the benefits of God include a health plan that is divine in nature, that works by faith in His word and by the words of our mouth.
When you get sick, do you confess the promises of God believing that they are true and receiving them as your own? Or, do you confess your sickness and give it charge over your life? Proverbs 18-21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Remember Psalms103 and the satisfying of our mouth with good things.
Proverbs 4:20-23 states, "My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life." Exodus 15 says the same thing. What is God trying to tell us about His word?
Remember that Jesus was God incarnate. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus is the Word of God because of the sacrifice He made at the cross and at His whipping He became for us the fulfillment of Jehovah-Rophe. Isaiah 53:4-5 prophesies of Jesus saying, "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem His stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed."
I Peter 2:21-24 says, "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed himself to Him that judgeth righteously: Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." Note that "we were healed by His stripes" is past tense. Our healing was accomplished by Jesus two thousand years ago at the cross! Jehovah-Rophe came in the person of Jesus and in the spirit realm at the cross bore all sickness and disease for all mankind.
This is real for me because by faith in His Word, I was cured of asthma in 1997 and have not used an inhaler since. Galatians 3:13-14 says of Jesus, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Part of the curse of the law was every sickness and disease. Deuteronomy 28:61, in the list of the curses of the law, states, "Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed."
Romans 3:21-22 says, "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference."
Thank God for the medical profession and the commitment to healing and health! I believe the members of the medical community receive the desire to fight sickness and disease from God himself. I also believe that when faith is fully applied in the medical field, we shall see miracles that we have not even dreamed of seeing.
Jehovah-Nissi
In Exodus 17, Israel comes face to face with their first enemy since Pharaoh's army was destroyed in the Red Sea, the Amalekites. They were descendants of Amalek, a grandson of Esau, which were direct descendants of Isaac and cousins to Israel. By custom, Israel would have expected hospitality from this nation. Instead Amalek came out to fight them.
Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 25:17-19 that, "Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from thy enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it."
When Israel arrived at Rephidim, they found no water there. By now they were eating manna and had food, but lacked water. Here Moses struck the rock and water came out of the rock. Paul later tells us that the rock was Christ. It was here also that Israel questioned whether God was with them or not. It was against this thirsty and weary Israel that Amalek came. Exodus 17:8-16 describes the battle that followed, "Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to Him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and His people with the edge of the sword.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah-Nissi: For He said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."
When Moses' hands, holding the rod of God, were raised high, Israel won the victory. But God, in His covenant relationship with Israel, now became the enemy of Amalek. As time passed, He would destroy this nation for what they did to His covenant people. He was the banner of victory and He was the victory of Israel. Today, Jesus is our victory and the source of our covenant partnership with Jehovah-Nissi. Paul writes in Romans chapter 8:37, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us (Jesus)."
Like Amalek, the Devil and His followers try to ambush us and defeat us when we are weary and weak. But, thanks be to God, who delivers us and as our covenant partner, becomes our victory and fights our enemies until they are consumed in the end. He is our deliverer and our victory, and like Abraham, He is our exceeding great reward.
In faith we raise our hands to God and thank Him for being our refuge, our fortress and our God in whom we can trust. It is good to be in covenant with Jehovah-Nissi! And as God works in our lives to win the victory of faith, He expects us to share that with others so that He can become Jehovah-Nissi in their lives.
The victory of God in our lives is that we become His obedient children with the end result being that we become fellow or joint heirs with Jesus having an equal portion in the inheritance of the kingdom. God the Father is a good God and He is good all the time, forever. Our job is to reach out in faith as Moses did and receive the blessings of God and share them with others.
Jehovah-M'Kaddesh
Leviticus 20:7-8 says, "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statues, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you (Jehovah-M'Kaddesh)".
Here God reveals himself to Israel for the first time as the God who sanctifies them. Sanctify means "to set apart, wholly keep clean; to appoint, consecrate, dedicate as holy and pure". Webster's defines sanctification as "...the state of growing in divine grace as a result of Christian commitment after baptism or conversion."
To walk in covenant with Him and to be able to have that special relationship with Him, God shows Israel how to keep His statues of the covenant. They must sanctify themselves and be holy as God is holy. Also, knowing that they cannot on their own do this, He provides a way. The way is through His grace. He is the God who sanctifies them.
In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." In John 17:17-20, Jesus prays to the Father, "Sanctify them through thy truth. As thou has sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word."
Jesus reveals himself as the one who sanctifies His disciples through the truth. He is the truth, the Word of God. As His disciples, we are sanctified by the sacrifice He made for us and our belief in Him. In turn, He sends us as His representatives to the world to declare His truth to the rest of mankind. That truth is that God now has peace with us through His son, Jesus, and that He wants all people in His family.
The key to staying in that relationship with Him is sanctification. To be set apart as holy and belonging to God places us in a position to receive the blessings of the covenant that we read about earlier. This covenant is a covenant of spiritual and physical blessings.
God has already given us these blessings so that we may be able to concentrate on taking His message of deliverance and peace to the rest of the world. Jesus, thus as high priest of our covenant, administers His will and gives us the blessings we need to do His work in the world. Because we are His body, He will clothe us, feed us, give us health, happiness and pleasure and joy.
Thus to receive those blessings, He keeps us clean and set apart as His holy people. We have been given the mission of taking the gospel to everyone and He has already equipped us and made available to us all that we will need to do it.
So how does His truth sanctify us? Since Jesus is the truth and because we are sanctified by truth, we are sanctified by His sacrifice. Paul writes in II Corinthians 5:17-21, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
Romans 12:1-2 says, "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." In other words, let us sanctify ourselves by the renewing of our minds to think like God thinks and be in agreement with Him on all things.
Thus, if God says we have been blessed with all blessings, we should agree with Him and expect those blessings to come into our lives. It gives God pleasure to prosper us so that we may spread the news of His goodness to everyone! Ephesians 1:3-4 states, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love."
God has blessed us with all blessings, chosen us, made us holy and without blame before Him in agape, covenant love. The goodness of our Jehovah-M'Kaddesh is beyond our understanding. I hope that by now you can see the significance of what He has done for us and that the real wealth that is permanent comes from a God who desires a relationship with us. Who gladly because of His love for us will grant us the desires of our hearts if we stay sanctified with Him.
Psalms 37:3-5 shows us this truth. "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass."
Jehovah-Shalom
Shalom means "health, prosperity, peace, favor and wholly well". It is the traditional greeting in Israel, and is God's greeting to us as His children. Shalom is also synonymous with the definition of wealth. It is the force that brings us wealth and is the power of God upon our lives.
In the covenant, it is God's faithfulness to fulfill the promises of blessing, and our rest and assurance that He shall become all of those blessings for us. Therefore, when we sing "He is our Peace", we are singing He is our health (Jehovah-Rophe), our prosperity (Jehovah-Jireh), our peace (Jehovah-Shalom), our favor (Jehovah-Shammah) and the one who keeps us wholly well (Jehovah-M'Kaddesh).
Jehovah-Shalom is the peace of His people and the hope of the fulfilled covenant in Jesus, the anointed one. The name Jehovah-Shalom is first revealed in Judges 6:23-24, "And the Lord said unto him (Gideon), Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah-Shalom: unto this day it is yet in Oprah of the Abiezrites."
Israel was being overrun by the Midianites and God had appeared before Gideon and called him to deliver His people. Gideon's story is a great triumph of faith, and shows the great faithfulness of God to deliver His people and give them peace. The beginning of the gospel story carries with it that same peace.
At the birth of Jesus, Luke records in chapter 2:13-14, "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men." The shalom of God had come to earth in the person of Jesus of Nazareth!
In Jeremiah 29:11-13, God reveals His plans for us. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me, and I will hearken unto you."
Jesus confirms this in Matthew 7:7-12. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask for bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."
Jesus gives us His peace in John 14:26-27, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
That peace keeps us when trouble comes. Psalms 91 reminds us of the results of that peace. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide unto the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day." Shalom!
Finally, Paul reminds us of the result of the peace of Jesus in Philippians 4:4-9, "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received and heard, and seen in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you."
Jehovah-Tsidkenu
God reveals this name to Israel in Jeremiah 23:5-6, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days, Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name wereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Jehovah-Tsidkenu)."
This of course was a prophecy concerning Jesus who has now become Jehovah-Tsidkenu for us. Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:30, "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness (Jehovah-Tsidkenu) and sanctification (Jehovah-M'Kaddesh) and redemption. That, according as it is written, He that glorifieth, let Him glory in the Lord." What a wonderful God we have who has declared us to be righteous by what His son Jesus has done in covenant with us and not by what we have done.
By faith in the Son of God, Jesus, we receive the righteousness of God. Paul shows us this in Romans 10:3-13, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth them shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Therefore, if we have faith in Jesus, the Father accounts that to us as righteousness. This statement is what contains the key to receiving the blessings of the new covenant. We must receive it by faith. This manifests to the rest of the world the righteousness of God showing them His goodness and mercy which allows us to be part of His family and His representatives.
Paul writes in II Corinthians 5:16-21, "Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
So as a believer in Jesus, we are new creatures and children of the living God, heirs of righteousness and His ambassadors to the world of the ministry of reconciliation! To be righteous means to be in right standing with God, to be aligned with Him and not opposed to Him. Righteousness means innocent, holy, just, right justice, and surprisingly, prosperity.
Literally, this means that Jesus, as our covenant partner, took all that was ours - our sin, our judgment, our death, our punishment in hell, our poverty, our sickness and our diseases. All the results of our sin He bore in His suffering on the cross, so that we did not have to. In return, He has made available to us all that He has - His righteousness, His sanctification, His divine health, His prosperity, His abundant life and all that is His is now ours through our blood covenant that He has made with us. This is why we are the manifest righteousness of God in the earth.
Isaiah 53:4-5 and 10-12 clearly shows what Jesus has done for us and how He became our Jehovah-Tsidkenu. "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem His stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed...Yet it pleases the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors."
Isaiah 50:5 through Isaiah 62 is one large prophecy concerning Jesus. It was spoken 900 years before His birth. It confirms the truth; this good news of ours was the plan of God's to redeem us since the beginning. God is truly good and He is good all the time.
Jehovah-Rohi
Jehovah-Rohi is one of my personal favorites. It means the Lord is my shepherd and is found in the 23rd Psalm. As children, we memorize this scripture and learn of the goodness of God as our shepherd. Yet only in recognizing what God has done for us, through the covenant, can we truly understand what this psalm really means.
So let's take a look at what Jesus says about himself as Jehovah-Rohi. John the tenth chapter is filled with references to sheep and shepherds as Jesus shows himself to be the good shepherd. John 10:1-5 says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But He that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To Him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear His voice: and He calleth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from Him: for they know not the voice of strangers." He spoke this parable to some Pharisees that had approached Him.
In verses 7-18, Jesus explains this parable. "Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, He shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.
But He that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because He is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."
Jesus is the good shepherd who will lead us into the blessings of God. He has already laid down His life and taken it up again for us. It is interesting that in all the religions of the world, man must earn His way to heaven. Only in Christ do we find that the way to heaven is paid for and given as a free gift. Jesus, as our good shepherd, has paid the price for us and invites us to follow Him to good pastures. Let's look at the 23rd Psalm in light of what Jesus said in John 10.
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." The word want here may also be translated lack. Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." So Jesus says He is our good shepherd, we shall not lack (anything). He has come to give us abundant life. The word for abundant here is the Greek word perissos which means "superabundant in quantity, superior in quality, excessive, preeminence, exceedingly abundantly above, more abundantly, advantage, exceedingly, very highly and beyond measure".
So Jesus is our good shepherd, we shall not lack. He has come to give us superabundant, superior, excessive, preeminence, exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, life! Praise God! It just keeps getting better and better the more we discover His will for us. He is truly good and He is good to us all the time!
Verse 2 of the 23rd Psalm goes on, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His names sake." Jesus said, " I am the door: by me if any man enter in, He shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." The word pasture here in the Hebrew is na'ah which means "habitation, house, pasture, pleasant place". In Deuteronomy 28, we read that part of the covenant is that we shall be blessed (empowered to prosper, happy, to be envied) coming in and going out.
Again Jesus says, "If you come in through me, you shall be saved, I shall take you to a pleasant place, you shall be blessed coming in and going out and you shall be lead in the paths of righteousness for the sake of Jehovah-Rohi." What a good God we have, we are promised that the best in life is reserved for us through Jesus His Son! This is truly good news!
Verse 4 of the 23rd Psalm states, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anoinest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep ... No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again."
In Jesus, we do not even need to fear death. Indeed, we shall not fear any evil. Jesus always told people in times of distress, "Fear not." Jairus, the ruler of a synagogue, came to get Jesus to heal His daughter. On the way there, someone came and told Jairus that His daughter was dead. Jesus's response was "Fear not, only believe" and He went and raised her from the dead.
The table that the Lord sets before us in the presence of our enemies is the Holy Eucharist the covenant table. Through the Eucharist we partake of the real presence of Christ: the body,blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus. The Holy Father explains this better a little later. At communion, we declare to everyone that we have a blood covenant with God through Jesus and that our enemies are His enemies and His enemies are our enemies. The believer who has the knowledge of that frightens Satan and all of His hosts. We know that greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world. Since we have no enemies in heaven, this applies to this world and our life here. It is a very good thing to be in covenant with God!
The 23rd Psalm finishes, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." Goodness and mercy here are translated from hesed, God's covenant love. Rejoice in that! His covenant love of goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life. Our covenant is an everlasting covenant. God will never forget it or His commitment to us. He loved us so much that He made this covenant for us before the foundation of the earth. It is forever and ever and will always be a part of our lives if we will let it.
Finally, let's close this part with a look at another Psalm in the light of what we have just read. The 37th Psalm verses 3-7,
"Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart (read that again). Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring to pass. And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him ..." Remember, He is Jehovah-Rohi!
Jehovah-Shammah
Jehovah-Shammah means "Jehovah is there". Ezekiel 48:35 says, "...and the name of the city from that day shall be, the Lord is there (Jehovah-Shammah)." Jesus came and lived among us as Emmanuel. Today He comes into our lives and lives and communes with our spirits. Paul, filled with the spirit, confirms this in I Corinthians 3:16, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you."
God's presence came into our lives in the form of the Holy Spirit. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us, to be with us through all of our days and to be our God and Father. He is for us today Jehovah-Shammah.
If this were truly understood, we, as His children, would always be saying, "It doesn't get any better than this!" We would be constantly in His presence now and be filled to overflowing with all of the joy that comes with that experience. David, knowing this, wrote in Psalm 16:5-11, "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot, The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage, I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou shalt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."
Since our covenant was enacted and since we are now partakers and fellow heirs with Jesus in this covenant, we can trust that God will keep His word to us and will take us in this life to the fulfillment of all the covenant promises. If we are willing and obedient, we shall indeed eat of the good of the land. He shall see to it and guide us because He is with us.
Because He is with us and will never leave us or forsake us, we can trust and rely upon His help at all times. Hebrews 13:5-8 declares, "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have (all the blessings of the covenant): for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper (covenant partner), and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever."
We do not have to be jealous of what other people have. Instead, let us be happy knowing that all that we can desire is in our covenant with God. He is our provider. II Peter 1:2-3, "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as His divine power hath given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue."
All things that pertain to life and godliness are righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. All things that are good come from God and all things that are bad come from the devil. Because our Father is a good father we can be assured that when He says He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, He is not talking about just getting by. He is talking about abundant life! Life filled to overflowing so that we can share His abundance with others. All we have to do is be obedient and willing and we shall eat of the good of the land.
In our lives, we have an opportunity to have a deep abiding relationship with the Creator of the universe. Think on that. We can have a blood covenant relationship with someone who cares about our every thought and our every need. He is capable of doing this for everyone. All we have to do is ask and receive for it is His good pleasure to give us His kingdom. He deeply desires above all things to be Jehovah-Shammah in our lives.
In the previous chapters, we have learned about who God is and how He works with us through the blood covenant. We have learned the blessings of the covenant and we have learned the covenant significance of His names. In this chapter, we will learn what it is He has given us.
James 1:2-8 says, "My, brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations: Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting (lacking) nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let Him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given Him.
But let Him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that He shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all His ways."
Why should we ask for wisdom? What is wisdom? How can wisdom benefit us? Before we answer these questions, it should first be noted that we are to ask God and expect Him to give us wisdom in abundance. Not doubting, but rather believing and being single minded.
Proverbs is called the "Book of Wisdom" and it is filled with valuable treasures that pertain to life. Chapter 4:7 states, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding." We get wisdom from God who will gladly give it to us, as it is a blessing of the new covenant.
Proverbs 9:10-11 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased." If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, what is the fear of the Lord? The definition of the fear of the Lord is found in Proverbs 8:13. "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogance and the evil way, and the froward mouth do I hate."
There is nothing that God will tell us to get without making sure that we understand exactly what it is we are to get. So why is wisdom so important and how can it benefit us? In Proverbs 8:17-21, wisdom says, "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honor are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. I lead in the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of judgment, That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures."
What else can we find? God says to His children in Proverbs 2, " My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord giveth wisdom (remember James 1); out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment and preserveth the way of His saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment and equity; yea, every good path.
When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul: Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: to deliver thee ... That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it."
Proverbs 3:13-18 states this of wisdom. "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her; and happy is every one that retaineth her."
The benefits of wisdom are many and God tells us to get wisdom from Him and not let go of it. So for us, what exactly is wisdom and what shall we do to keep it? God is so marvelous, He always brings everything back to Jesus and our covenant with Him. I Corinthians 1:30 says, "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."
Jesus is now wisdom in our lives! When you read the book of Proverbs, substitute Jesus where the words righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and wisdom are mentioned and see what a wonderful savior we have in Him! Nearly everyone has read John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotton Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Therefore, when we look at Jesus and see Him as these, we see the life He is talking about.
By going back to Proverbs, we can see the covenant plan of God in action. Proverbs, chapter one, tells us that when wisdom (Jesus) enters into our hearts, we will be preserved, kept safe, delivered, and will walk in the paths of good men. Proverbs, chapter two, says that the man that finds wisdom (Jesus) finds happiness, length of days, riches and honor which also are with Jesus.
He is a tree of life and in Him we are safe and we shall not stumble. We shall not be afraid of sudden fear or desolation for He is our confidence. The secret of God is with us, and He blesses our house. He gives us grace and makes us fellow heirs of His kingdom with Jesus and we shall not be ashamed.
Chapters three and four tell us that if we exalt wisdom (Jesus), we shall receive promotion and honor. We shall receive a crown of glory and an ornament of grace. Jesus is our life and He leads us in right paths. His words are life to us and health to our flesh! In Him we can keep our heart on God for out of our hearts are the issues of life.
Chapter 8 tells us that all of His words are righteousness and that it is better to receive His instruction than to receive gold. Counsel and strength are His, riches and honor are with Him; durable riches and righteousness. He leads us in the way of righteousness and causes us to inherit substance and will fill our treasures. His delight is with mankind. Whoever finds Jesus finds life and shall obtain favor from God.
Chapter 9 tells us of the covenant meal, where wisdom (Jesus) has built His house, killed the beasts, mingled His wine and furnished His table. He cries in the street inviting people to come and eat of His bread and drink of His wine (communion), the covenant meal. By Jesus our days shall be multiplied and the years of our life shall be increased.
Chapter 10 tells us that Jesus delivers us from death. He will not suffer us to famish and because of Him, blessings are upon our heads. He makes our mouths to be wells of life. His love covers all of our sins, and makes our labor to tend toward life. It also tells us that the blessing of the Lord makes us rich and He adds no sorrow to it.
Chapter 10 also tells us that our desires shall be granted in Him. Our days shall be prolonged and our hope shall be gladness. It also tells us that His way is strength for us and that we shall never be removed. Our lips shall feed many and we will know what is acceptable.
Chapter 11 promises us that Jesus shall deliver us from death, and shall direct our pathways. He shall deliver us and not let our hope perish because He is our hope. By Him we do good to our own soul. If we sow righteousness, we shall have a sure reward. His delight is in us if we are in Him. Our desire shall be only for good also if we are in Him. We shall flourish as a branch and be recompensed in the earth.
Chapter 12 tells us that in Jesus we obtain favor of the Lord. Our root shall not be removed and our thoughts shall be right. Our mouth shall deliver us and we shall be satisfied with bread (the word of God). We shall come out of trouble and be satisfied with good by the fruit of our mouth. Our tongue shall bring health. We shall receive joy and be God's delight. In our way is life and in our pathway there is no death.
Chapter 13 continues - we shall eat good by the fruit of our mouth. Our souls shall be made fat, and our labor shall be for our increase not anothers. Our desire shall come and shall be sweet to our soul. We shall be wise and walk with wise men. We shall be repaid good, and leave an inheritance to our children's children. We shall eat to the satisfying of our souls.
Chapter 14 says that knowledge shall be easy unto us and we have favor. We shall be satisfied by Jesus. We shall fear and depart from evil. We shall be rich, have many friends and have mercy on the poor. This shall make us happy. Mercy and truth are for us! We shall have strong confidence and a place of refuge. The King's favor (Jesus' favor) is toward us.
Going on in chapter 15 proceeds, we shall use knowledge rightly and we shall have much treasure in our house. Our lips shall disperse knowledge and we shall follow after righteousness. We shall have a merry heart and cheerful countenance. Because we shall have a merry heart, we shall have a continual feast (celebration of the covenant). Our way shall be made plain. Our purposes shall be established.
We shall have joy by the answer of our mouths. Our words shall be good. The way of life is above to us, the Lord shall establish our border. Our words shall be pleasant, our hearts shall study to answer and God shall hear our prayers. He shall cause us to live and prosper.
Chapter 16 says that the preparations of our hearts and the answer of our tongue shall be of the Lord. Our ways shall be committed to Him and our thoughts shall be established. Iniquity shall be purged from us by mercy and truth. We shall devise a way, but the Lord shall direct our paths. We shall find good, trust in the Lord and be happy. Our heart shall teach our mouth and add learning to our lips.
Chapter 17 tells us that the Lord shall try our hearts and we shall have part of the inheritance among the brothers. Our merry heart shall do good as medicine for us. We shall spare our words and have an excellent spirit. We shall prosper by the words of our mouth.
Chapter 18 continues on. The name of the Lord (Jesus and His covenant names) is a strong tower for us. We can run into it and be safe. Our spirit will sustain us in infirmity, our heart shall be prudent and get knowledge. Our belly shall be satisfied by the fruit of our mouth (speaking God's words). Death and life are in the power of the tongue. We shall find favor from the Lord and chose words of life and blessing. In Jesus we shall find a friend that shall stick closer than a brother (a covenant friendship).
Chapter 19 tells us that wealth (God's covenant blessing) makes many friends (covenant friends); wealth being the blessing of God. By getting Jesus, we show that we love our own soul and we shall find good. Houses and riches are our inheritance as well as a prudent spouse. What we shall give to the poor, the Lord shall repay us. We shall be wise in our latter end (not senile). We shall abide satisfied and not be visited with evil. Good stuff!
Chapter 20 says that with Jesus in our hearts, we shall cease from strife. We shall be faithful and our children shall be blessed (with all of these blessings). Our every purpose shall be established (by the Lord) and by His counsel shall we make war (against the devil). We shall wait on the Lord and He shall save us; our goings are of the Lord. Our spirit is the candle of the Lord. Mercy and truth shall preserve us all of our days.
Chapter 21 states that our heart is in the hand of the Lord and He guides our ways in His will. Our thoughts tend only to plenty and our work will be right. We consider the house of the wicked and how God overthrows it. The wicked shall be our ransom and we shall hear the cry of the poor and answer it. Treasure to be desired and oil shall be in our dwelling; and we shall find life, righteousness and honor. We shall cast down the confidence of the enemy (the devil), and we shall keep our soul from trouble. We shall give and spare not, our safety is of the Lord.
Chapter 22 says that a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches. Jesus gives us His name in covenant. We shall foresee evil and hide ourselves in the name of Jesus. We shall be far from thorns and snares of evil. We shall train up our children in the way that they should go and they will not depart from it when they are old. We shall have a bountiful eye and give bread to the poor and be blessed.
We shall hear the words of the wise. They shall be pleasant to us and shall be fitted to our lips (come out of our mouths). We shall know the certainty of the words of truth. The Lord shall plead our cause (as our covenant partner). He shall spoil the souls of our enemies. We shall stand before kings and not before mean men.
Chapter 23 tells us that as we think in our heart so are we. Therefore, let us know and understand that God's word is true and all of His promises are "yes" and "amen" to us through Jesus His anointed one and His anointing (the Holy Spirit). Our redeemer is mighty and He shall plead our cause. Our children shall be delivered from hell and our souls shall rejoice. There is an end and our expectation shall not be cut off. We shall have joy over our children.
Chapter 24 goes on - through Jesus our house shall be built and established. Also through Jesus the chambers of our house shall be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. We shall be strong and increase in strength. Through Jesus' counsel we shall wage our war against the devil, and we shall be safe. In the day of adversity, we shall not faint and our strength shall not be small.
We shall deliver those that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain. We shall eat honey for it is good and the honeycomb which is sweet to our taste. We shall find knowledge and wisdom and receive a reward. We shall not have respect of persons in judgment. Poverty and want shall not come near us if we stay with Jesus and study and do His words.
Chapter 25 tells us that it is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but it is our honor to search a matter out. We shall be established in righteousness (Jesus). We shall have an obedient ear and shall receive faithful messengers (with good news). We shall give our enemies food when they are hungry and drink when they are thirsty and the Lord shall reward us. We shall rule our own spirits and be safe from evil.
Chapter 26 says that God is great and that He formed all things including us and all mankind. He is the rewarder of both the wicked and good. When we are in Jesus, He becomes our righteousness. We are given knowledge to avoid strife and liars, to have peace and safety. Our God is an awesome God and there is no other God than Elohim.
Chapter 27 tells us that our hearts shall rejoice in the sweetness of our friend's (Jesus') hearty council. We shall not forsake our friends or our father's (God's) friends. We shall have an answer to those that reproach us. We shall sharpen the countenance of our friends (they shall be blessed). We shall be diligent and know the state of our finances and look well to that which belongs to us, as it also is the Lord's. We shall have plenty for our food and the maintenance of our household. We shall be clothed and not lack what we need.
Chapter 28 says that we shall be as bold lions. By us the state of our nation shall be prolonged. We shall understand all things. Those that increase their substance with unjust gain gather it for us who have pity on the poor. We shall have good things in possession. When we rejoice there is great glory and when we confess and forsake our sins, we shall have mercy.
We shall forebear from sin and be happy and prolong our days by hating covetousness. We shall be saved and have plenty of bread; and shall abound in blessings. Because we put our trust in the Lord, we shall be made fat (not physically, but with good things). We shall have deliverance and shall not lack and we shall increase in all good things.
Chapter 29 states that when we are in authority, the people will rejoice. We shall bring joy to our parents and consider the cause of the poor. We seek the salvation of everyone's soul. God's rod and reproof gives us wisdom. We shall see the fall of the wicked and shall delight in our children. We shall not perish for lack of vision but shall be happy and endure. By being humble in spirit, we shall receive honor. We shall trust in the Lord and be safe. Our judgment shall come from the Lord.
Chapters 30 and 31 go on to say that every word of God is pure. He is our shield. We shall open our mouths and judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy. We shall find virtuous spouses that we can trust and who make us proud. We shall be blessed above all the people of the earth and they shall know who we are because of the anointing of Jesus that is upon us.
This list of blessings is filled with greater promises than the old covenant listed in Deuteronomy 28 and if combined with them, shows us exactly what God has for us through Jesus of Nazareth. How marvelous this all is. It truly is beyond all that we can ask or think. There is no end to the goodness of our God and there is no way that we could ever earn this. It is all His free gift to us through His covenant with Jesus.
By giving us Jesus, God the Father has given us the best that He has. Not only has He given us the best, but we do not have to work to get it. He has given all of these blessings to us freely so that we can share them with others freely. In Genesis 12:2, El-Shaddai says to Abram, "...I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing."
It is the intent of God to make us a blessing so that we may be a blessing to the whole world. His intent has been from the fall of man until now to restore us to the position Adam was in before He sinned. Paul writes of this in Romans 5:15-21, "But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one came from many offenses resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.
For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience many were made righteous.
Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Through Jesus we are given all of these blessings as a free gift so that we may freely give them to others. Jesus says to His disciples in Matthew 10:8, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." Thus, all of the blessings we have received from this covenant, we should study to understand and know. Then we should share that knowledge with others so that they too can freely receive and give the blessings away.
The plan of God for the redemption of mankind and their restoration as His children is big enough for everyone that was ever born or ever shall be. It is our part in His plan to share this with as many people as we possibly can. Paul says in Acts 20:35, "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of our Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'."
What else has God given us (as if this weren't enough)? Matthew 7:7-12 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and He who seeks finds, and to Him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if His son asks for bread, will give Him a stone? Or if He asks for a fish, will He give Him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him. Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
In Luke chapter 11, we read this same statement with a little more added. Verse 13 tells us that, "If you then, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" The gift of the Holy Spirit is a great gift indeed. He is the Spirit of God! The Author of life. So then, the Father has given us His Son and will also freely give us His Spirit. This covenant keeps getting better and better!
Jesus says in John 16:7, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and righteousness, and of judgment of sin, because they do not believe in me; and of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."
The Greek word Christos and the Hebrew word Messiah both mean the same thing - anointed. To be anointed means bless somebody with oil: to rub oil or ointment on a part of somebody's body, usually the head or feet, as part of a religious ceremony, e.g. in a Christian baptism, to ordain somebody: to install somebody officially or ceremonially in a position or office. Jesus was the anointed one of God, the deliverer and savior of His people. What was He anointed with?
Acts 10:38 tells us that "...God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the living God and God the Father put His Spirit upon His son, Jesus without measure. Then Jesus turned around and sent the same anointing that was upon Him to us. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to earth and filled the atmosphere of this planet with His presence. So that all of heaven and earth are filled with the glory of the presence of God.
There is no place where you can go on this planet where you can not, as a child of God, get in touch with the Father. There is no place where His presence is not already there (Jehovah-Shammah). The same anointing that was on Jesus is freely given to us today and made available for us so that we can walk as He walked.
Acts 1:4-8 states, "And being assembled together with them, He (Jesus) commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which' He said, 'you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.' Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?' And He said to them, 'It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth'."
The Father has promised that the same anointing will come on us so that we may have power to be witnesses for Jesus to all the earth.
When we receive the sacrament baptism and the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, we have the third person of the Trinity living on the inside of us. He is always there, in our good moments and our bad moments. That anointing gives to us the same empowerment that Jesus had on this earth.
Jesus says in Luke 4:18-19, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
Remembering the blessings of the covenant and what God has given us, we can see that by walking in faith and understanding of God we do not have to worry about anything. It is not for us to worry, but to cast our cares on Him because He cares for us. Then we are to walk as Jesus walked. We are to preach the good news to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives of Satan and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed (spiritually and physically) and to proclaim this year (now) as the acceptable year of the Lord. Leviticus 25 tells us of the year of Jubilee and that is the acceptable year of the Lord. This is when all things are restored to their original owners, us!
All of this would be impossible to us without the baptism and the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus said in Mark 16:15-18, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel (good news) to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but He who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
This is what Jesus has commanded us to do and because He knows our needs, He has promised to meet them so that we can stay focused on the job at hand. We are His body on the earth. Where we go, we carry the presence of God with us to a dying world. We are His chosen people to take this good news to people who have no idea what our good God has done for us.
Therefore, it is like God the Father saying to each of us individually, "I have called you and created you for a purpose. I have given you everything you will ever need or desire that pertains to life, so that you do not have to chase after these things. My will for you is that you go out into the world and share this with others so that they too can have all that they will ever need or desire and share my good news with others. Then all of mankind can be my children and share in the inheritance prepared for them."
The Holy Spirit is our helper, comforter, counselor, intercessor, advocate, strengthener, and our stand by power. He is our direct source to the creator of the universe and He is here to keep us in the covenant and thus to keep us in the blessings, so that we can be a blessing. Peter discusses this in II Peter 1:1-4, "Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, though the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
The Holy Spirit in our life enables us to be partakers of the divine nature which means as Jesus is, so are we. As He lived by faith, the Holy Spirit enables us to live by faith. As He ministered to others, we too are to minister to others because we now have the same anointing. That anointing bears fruit in our lives which will bless others. Galatians 5:22-23 states, "But the fruit of the Spirit (the evidence of the Spirit) is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."
Obviously, each person on earth desires these things in their lives, along with the material things and the health to enjoy them. These fruits of the Spirit are ready to be seen in us now, if only we will follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. A fruit tree doesn't work to bear fruit, it does it naturally in due season. The same applies to the fruits of the Spirit, we can not by ourselves produce these without the Spirit's help.
We are given the Holy Spirit so that we can do the works that Jesus desires us to do today! Isaiah 10:27 says, "It shall come to pass in that day that His burden (the devil's) will be taken away from your shoulder, and His yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil." I John 3:8 tells us that "...For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." The burden and yoke that were on our shoulders was sin. The result of sin is the curse of the law and death. Because of what Jesus has done for us and by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the yoke and the burden have been destroyed (annihilated)!
The power of the Creator of the universe is with us when we receive the Holy Spirit. The power of the living God becomes available to us so that we can do what Jesus did when He was here. Romans 8:14-17 says, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba (Daddy), Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
Romans 8:26-31 continues, "Likewise the Spirit also helps our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called; these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
God has given us the Holy Spirit to confirm all of His promises to us. He also reminds us that we are in covenant with Him and that He will not, indeed can not, forget us. He has called us, predestined us, justified us, and glorified us just as He promised 4000 years ago to Abraham. He did all of this because of His love for us! How can we neglect such a great salvation and covenant of His love. The goodness of God is indeed beyond our comprehension!
In addition to His Son and the Holy Spirit, God the Father has given us faith. Ephesians 2:4-9 says, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
God the Father has given us the power of faith to believe the promises that He has given us to hope in. So what exactly is faith? Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is the ability to believe in that which can not be seen. In physics it is called the Strong Force or in our life faith is litterally the Power of the Word of God. His Word produces faith and its power in our lives.
Faith is how we obtain a good testimony about the promises of God. Hebrews 11:2 tells us that faith is how the universe was created. "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God." By faith we understand that God created all things in this universe. The word universe itself is literally uni(one) verse (word). The same faith that believes the Father created the universe has been given to us so that we can live as His children here.
So how do we get faith? Romans 10:17 says, "So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The faith we need comes from hearing the Word of God (Jesus). He is the author, perfector, and provider of our faith. It comes when we speak it with our mouths. It comes at our baptism. It comes at confirmation. It comes when we hear it preached. It comes when Jesus is the center of our attention. It is the most powerful force in our lives. It is what releases the power of God into our lives.
Faith is what enables us to be pleasing to God the Father. Hebrews 11:6 states, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Faith is what enables us not only to please God, but also to diligently seek Him and be rewarded by Him.
God the Father certainly desires that we receive all the blessings of the covenant, but can only give them to us when we have faith that He is and that He rewards us for diligently seeking Him.
Faith produces for everyone. Faith on the inside of us produces results that make us like Jesus. This is the intent of the Father that we be conformed into the image of Jesus and become exactly like Him. Faith thus produces in our lives the following:
Remission of sins - "To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name (Jesus), whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." Acts 10:43
Justification - "...and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." Acts 13:39
Freedom from condemnation - "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John 3:18
Salvation - "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." Mark 16:16
Sanctification - "...and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." Acts 15:9
Freedom from spiritual death - "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26
Spiritual light - "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of the light." John 12:36
Spiritual life - "...but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." John 20:31
Eternal life - "...that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:15-16
Adoption - "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." John 1:12
Access to God - "...in whom (Jesus) we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him." Ephesians 3:12
Edification - "...nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith." I Timothy 1:14
Preservation - "But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one." John 10:26-30
Inheritance - "...to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me." Acts 26:18
Peace and rest - "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1
Faith must be given something to work with to become that creative force in our lives. That something is Hope!
Hope is the blueprint for faith. It is the promises of God to us, spoken by us as though they apply directly to each of us collectively and as individuals! When we use the word of God to affect every situation in our lives and combine that word with faith then the physical circumstances must conform to the spiritual reality.
God gives us hope (His promises) to give us a blueprint to use our faith to build our lives shaped to the image He has for us. Hope is not a wish or a whimsical saying. It is an eternal foundation for all of our beliefs.
Strong's Concordance defines hope as "the expectation of future good". Hebrews 6:17-19 states, "Thus God, determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast...".
Romans 15:4 says, "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Titus 1:1-2 confirms the two previous scriptures. "Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accord with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began."
Bible hope is based upon the promises of God and is the anchor of our soul when the physical circumstances of our lives do not seem to be lining up with the promises of God. Again, this hope is contained in the promises of the covenant and is the result of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.
So, we know what faith is, where it comes from and how to receive it. We also know that the blueprint of faith is hope that is based upon the promises of God as written down in the Bible. So, how does faith work and how can we get it to work for us on a consistent basis?
Galatians 5:5-6 says that, "For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love." Once again the Father in His infinite wisdom shows us how the most powerful force in the universe works - by love (agape/hesed)!
I Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us graphically what love is and is not. "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. Love never fails."
If each of us were to examine ourselves to see where we stand in these areas, I am sure we would fail miserably. So, what can we do if faith works by love and love is all these things. What can we do? Love never fails.
Glory to God! He provides a way for us as always to get the love we need to make our faith work. Romans 5:5 says, "Now faith does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given us." Therefore, the infinite love of God has been given to us so that our faith may work and our lives glorify the Father.
This love which has been given to us enables us to forgive others so that we may be forgiven and the Father may spread His grace through us to others. Jesus said in Mark 11:25-26, "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive Him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."
Forgiving others not only blesses them with the grace of God, but enables us to remain forgiven and to stay in the blessings. The Father has worked life so that all things revolve around how we treat others. This enables us to receive from Him and enables Him to work His love through us to others. What an awesome and wonderful God we serve!
I John 4:7-9 reminds us of the will of God. "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, In this the love of God is manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." This love of course is agape, the covenant love of God toward us!
Therefore, we can see that we can not receive from the Father except by faith. It is the gift of God. It comes from hearing the word of God. Faith works by love (agape). That love has been given to us by the Holy Spirit and that love is the will of God toward all mankind.
If you have read this far, you realize that the whole purpose of this book has been to get you into a position to join in the covenant so that you might be blessed and be a blessing to others. It is my intent that everyone who reads this book becomes committed to Jesus, His Catholic Church, and His cause, and not only receive all that they desire from life but also share that with as many others as they possibly can.
This particular chapter may at first seem difficult to understand, but it is how the Father has designed the covenant to work.
Part of our remembering the Lord is with tithes (the first 10% of our increase) and offerings. The first fruits were God's from the beginning. We find the offering of tithes all the way through the Bible, including the New Testament.
Why would God base His covenant upon giving? In the last chapter, we learned that faith works by love and that without faith, it is impossible to please God. We must come to Him believing that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. The bottom line is that giving is in character with God our giving combined with faith is an of obediance. .
Let's take a look at this in depth so that we can understand how this works and what we can expect from God and what He expects from us.
Leviticus 27:30-33 tells us, "And all the tithes of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's. It is holy to the Lord. If a man want at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it. And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatsoever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed."
Before the exodus of Israel, we see that Abraham gave tithes. Genesis 14:18-20 says, "Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High, and he blessed Him (Abraham) and said, 'Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.' And he (Abraham) gave him (Melchizedek) a tithe of all."
The writer of Hebrews explains in chapter 7, verses 1-3, "For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed Him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated "King of Righteousness", and then also king of Salem, meaning "King of Peace", without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of day nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually."
Hebrews 7:8 continues, "Here mortal men receive tithes, but there He receives them, of whom it is witnesses that He lives." Going back to chapter 6:19-20, "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."
Therefore, we see that Jesus is our High Priest now and forever and that He receives tithes from us now!
Malachi 3:8-12 tells us, "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation."
"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this, " says the Lord of Hosts. "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that He will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," says the Lord of Hosts. "And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land," says the Lord of Hosts.
Paul writes in II Corinthians 9:6-8, "But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work." This is a principle which is eternal and can work for anyone!
What does Jesus the Lord of the tithe do with the tithe that we give to Him? He takes it and offers it to the Father for the meeting of the needs His Church and the needs of others. Jesus says in the Gospel of Mark 10:29-30, "So Jesus answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life."
This is demonstrated in the story of the little boy and the feeding of the 5000, a great multitude of people who had followed Jesus to hear His teaching and now were needing fed. John 6:8-14 tells us the rest of the story. "One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?
Then Jesus said, 'Make the people sit down.' Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, 'Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.' Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, 'This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.' "
The primary point I want us to see is that this lad gave to the disciples, who gave to Jesus, who gave thanks and multiplied this small amount so that 5000 men ate until they were full. After that, Jesus instructed the disciples to gather the leftovers so that nothing was lost. He did this because the lad who gave his lunch received the baskets of leftovers.
This illustrates for us today that Jesus takes our tithes before the Father, gives thanks and multiplies them to bless others. Jesus makes this clear in Luke 6:38. "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."
Deuteronomy 26:1-15 shows us how the Father desired to see the tithe handled. "And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to Him, 'I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.'
Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. And you shall answer and say before the Lord your God: 'My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. Then we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, 'a land flowing with milk and honey', and now, behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land which you, O Lord, have given me.'
Then you shall set it before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God. So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.
When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year--the year of tithing--and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that thy may eat within your gates and be filled, then you shall say before the Lord your God: 'I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me. Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which you have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, 'a land flowing with milk and honey'."
There is an exchange of faith that happens when we bring the tithe or an offering in giving to God. We rejoice in the good God has done for us and in the receiving of all of the blessings of the covenant. When we bring our offerings to God and pray over them, Jesus receives them and in turn gives thanks and blesses those gifts. They are multiplied and used to feed thousands of people spiritually and physically.
There are currently over one billion people who are Catholic, two billion people who are Christians. That leaves nearly five billion who have either not heard the gospel or who have rejected it. Either way, I believe that the figure of five billion people suffering without hope are too many for God and is an unacceptable number to Him. Let us join together and bring the Church our offerings and get this Gospel told to the world.
The promises of God are true and they are there for us to receive. All we have to do to receive them is be obedient to what He has told us. 3 John verse 2 states that, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers."
Our soul prospers by partaking of the Holy Eucharist, participating in the Mass, hearing the word of God, especially when we speak the words of God ourselves. I would like us to see that this is not just John talking, but the Holy Spirit through John. It is therefore the desire of God that we prosper and be in health. He shows us how to prosper by giving.
Psalm 37:3-7 says, "Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him..."
Here God says to us that if we will delight ourselves with Him, He shall give us the desires of our hearts. Psalm 112 tells us about the person who delights themselves in the Lord. "Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in His house, and His righteousness endures forever. Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
A good man deals graciously and lends; he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance. He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established; he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies. He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be exalted with honor. The wicked will see it and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked shall perish."
Psalm 115:12-15 states, "The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great. May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth."
The entire Bible is filled with references to God trying to get His blessings to us. Jesus said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to His stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all His glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?
And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.
Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke 12:22-34
It is the Father's good pleasure to give us His kingdom - our inheritance in Christ Jesus! The goodness of God toward us is immeasurable. "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." I Timothy 6:17-19
Let us keep our minds on the kingdom of God and giving to support the spreading of the gospel; and the Father shall give us all things to enjoy! God is a good God!
It is important to note that the Hebrew word for "windows of heaven" used in Malachi is the same one used for the "windows of heaven" in the flood of Noah! God wants to flood the world with His blessings and He wants to do it through us!
Finally, let's look at Philippians concerning giving and receiving. "Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shard with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to you account. Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:15-19
God is clear on how we are to operate to receive all of the good He has planned for us. We are to give. Giving is indeed the ultimate choice that we can make to change the circumstances of our lives.
Proverbs 3:9-10 states that, "Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine." Obviously, the Lord has much to say about this. His will toward us is clear and we simply need to understand where He is leading us and follow Him to all the blessings we could ever imagine!
Now please read what the Holy Father says about the Eucharist our covenant meal.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST:
POST-SYNODAL
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS
OF THE HOLY FATHER
BENEDICT XVI
TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY,
CONSECRATED PERSONS
AND THE LAY FAITHFUL
ON THE EUCHARIST
AS THE SOURCE AND SUMMIT
OF THE CHURCH'S LIFE AND MISSION
http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/realpres/sacramentum_caritatis.htm
The sacrament of charity (1), the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God's infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that "greater" love which led him to "lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). Jesus did indeed love them "to the end" (Jn 13:1). In those words the Evangelist introduces Christ's act of immense humility: before dying for us on the Cross, he tied a towel around himself and washed the feet of his disciples. In the same way, Jesus continues, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, to love us "to the end," even to offering us his body and his blood. What amazement must the Apostles have felt in witnessing what the Lord did and said during that Supper! What wonder must the eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts!
The food of truth
2. In the sacrament of the altar, the Lord meets us, men and women created in God's image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27), and becomes our companion along the way. In this sacrament, the Lord truly becomes food for us, to satisfy our hunger for truth and freedom. Since only the truth can make us free (cf. Jn 8:32), Christ becomes for us the food of truth. With deep human insight, Saint Augustine clearly showed how we are moved spontaneously, and not by constraint, whenever we encounter something attractive and desirable. Asking himself what it is that can move us most deeply, the saintly Bishop went on to say: "What does our soul desire more passionately than truth?" (2) Each of us has an innate and irrepressible desire for ultimate and definitive truth. The Lord Jesus, "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6), speaks to our thirsting, pilgrim hearts, our hearts yearning for the source of life, our hearts longing for truth. Jesus Christ is the Truth in person, drawing the world to himself. "Jesus is the lodestar of human freedom: without him, freedom loses its focus, for without the knowledge of truth, freedom becomes debased, alienated and reduced to empty caprice. With him, freedom finds itself." (3) In the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus shows us in particular the truth about the love which is the very essence of God. It is this evangelical truth which challenges each of us and our whole being. For this reason, the Church, which finds in the Eucharist the very centre of her life, is constantly concerned to proclaim to all, opportune importune (cf. 2 Tim 4:2), that God is love.(4) Precisely because Christ has become for us the food of truth, the Church turns to every man and woman, inviting them freely to accept God's gift.
The Church's eucharistic faith
6. "The mystery of faith!" With these words, spoken immediately after the words of consecration, the priest proclaims the mystery being celebrated and expresses his wonder before the substantial change of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord Jesus, a reality which surpasses all human understanding. The Eucharist is a "mystery of faith" par excellence: "the sum and summary of our faith." (13) The Church's faith is essentially a eucharistic faith, and it is especially nourished at the table of the Eucharist. Faith and the sacraments are two complementary aspects of ecclesial life. Awakened by the preaching of God's word, faith is nourished and grows in the grace-filled encounter with the Risen Lord which takes place in the sacraments: "faith is expressed in the rite, while the rite reinforces and strengthens faith." (14) For this reason, the Sacrament of the Altar is always at the heart of the Church's life: "thanks to the Eucharist, the Church is reborn ever anew!" (15) The more lively the eucharistic faith of the People of God, the deeper is its sharing in ecclesial life in steadfast commitment to the mission entrusted by Christ to his disciples. The Church's very history bears witness to this. Every great reform has in some way been linked to the rediscovery of belief in the Lord's eucharistic presence among his people.
The Blessed Trinity and the Eucharist
The bread come down from heaven
7. The first element of eucharistic faith is the mystery of God himself, trinitarian love. In Jesus' dialogue with Nicodemus, we find an illuminating expression in this regard: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (Jn 3:16-17). These words show the deepest source of God's gift. In the Eucharist Jesus does not give us a "thing," but himself; he offers his own body and pours out his own blood. He thus gives us the totality of his life and reveals the ultimate origin of this love. He is the eternal Son, given to us by the Father. In the Gospel we hear how Jesus, after feeding the crowds by multiplying the loaves and fishes, says to those who had followed him to the synagogue of Capernaum: "My Father gives you the true bread from heaven; for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world" (Jn 6:32-33), and even identifies himself, his own flesh and blood, with that bread: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh" (Jn 6:51). Jesus thus shows that he is the bread of life which the eternal Father gives to mankind.
A free gift of the Blessed Trinity
8. The Eucharist reveals the loving plan that guides all of salvation history (cf. Eph 1:10; 3:8- 11). There the Deus Trinitas, who is essentially love (cf. 1 Jn 4:7-8), becomes fully a part of our human condition. In the bread and wine under whose appearances Christ gives himself to us in the paschal meal (cf. Lk 22:14-20; 1 Cor 11:23-26), God's whole life encounters us and is sacramentally shared with us. God is a perfect communion of love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At creation itself, man was called to have some share in God's breath of life (cf. Gen 2:7). But it is in Christ, dead and risen, and in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, given without measure (cf. Jn 3:34), that we have become sharers of God's inmost life. (16) Jesus Christ, who "through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God" (Heb 9:14), makes us, in the gift of the Eucharist, sharers in God's own life. This is an absolutely free gift, the superabundant fulfilment of God's promises. The Church receives, celebrates and adores this gift in faithful obedience. The "mystery of faith" is thus a mystery of trinitarian love, a mystery in which we are called by grace to participate. We too should therefore exclaim with Saint Augustine: "If you see love, you see the Trinity." (17)
The Eucharist: Jesus the true Sacrificial lamb
The new and eternal covenant in the blood of the Lamb
9. The mission for which Jesus came among us was accomplished in the Paschal Mystery. On the Cross from which he draws all people to himself (cf. Jn 12:32), just before "giving up the Spirit," he utters the words: "it is finished" (Jn 19:30). In the mystery of Christ's obedience unto death, even death on a Cross (cf. Phil 2:8), the new and eternal covenant was brought about. In his crucified flesh, God's freedom and our human freedom met definitively in an inviolable, eternally valid pact. Human sin was also redeemed once for all by God's Son (cf. Heb 7:27; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10). As I have said elsewhere, "Christ's death on the Cross is the culmination of that turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most radical form." (18) In the Paschal Mystery, our deliverance from evil and death has taken place. In instituting the Eucharist, Jesus had spoken of the "new and eternal covenant" in the shedding of his blood (cf. Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20). This, the ultimate purpose of his mission, was clear from the very beginning of his public life. Indeed, when, on the banks of the Jordan, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him, he cried out: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29). It is significant that these same words are repeated at every celebration of Holy Mass, when the priest invites us to approach the altar: "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper." Jesus is the true paschal lamb who freely gave himself in sacrifice for us, and thus brought about the new and eternal covenant. The Eucharist contains this radical newness, which is offered to us again at every celebration. (19)
The institution of the Eucharist
10. This leads us to reflect on the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. It took place within a ritual meal commemorating the foundational event of the people of Israel: their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. This ritual meal, which called for the sacrifice of lambs (cf. Ex 12:1-28, 43-51), was a remembrance of the past, but at the same time a prophetic remembrance, the proclamation of a deliverance yet to come. The people had come to realize that their earlier liberation was not definitive, for their history continued to be marked by slavery and sin. The remembrance of their ancient liberation thus expanded to the invocation and expectation of a yet more profound, radical, universal and definitive salvation. This is the context in which Jesus introduces the newness of his gift. In the prayer of praise, the Berakah, he does not simply thank the Father for the great events of past history, but also for his own "exaltation." In instituting the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus anticipates and makes present the sacrifice of the Cross and the victory of the resurrection. At the same time, he reveals that he himself is the true sacrificial lamb, destined in the Father's plan from the foundation of the world, as we read in The First Letter of Peter (cf. 1:18-20). By placing his gift in this context, Jesus shows the salvific meaning of his death and resurrection, a mystery which renews history and the whole cosmos. The institution of the Eucharist demonstrates how Jesus' death, for all its violence and absurdity, became in him a supreme act of love and mankind's definitive deliverance from evil.
Figura transit in veritatem
11. Jesus thus brings his own radical novum to the ancient Hebrew sacrificial meal. For us Christians, that meal no longer need be repeated. As the Church Fathers rightly say, figura transit in veritatem: the foreshadowing has given way to the truth itself. The ancient rite has been brought to fulfilment and definitively surpassed by the loving gift of the incarnate Son of God. The food of truth, Christ sacrificed for our sake, dat figuris terminum. (20) By his command to "do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:25), he asks us to respond to his gift and to make it sacramentally present. In these words the Lord expresses, as it were, his expectation that the Church, born of his sacrifice, will receive this gift, developing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the liturgical form of the sacrament. The remembrance of his perfect gift consists not in the mere repetition of the Last Supper, but in the Eucharist itself, that is, in the radical newness of Christian worship. In this way, Jesus left us the task of entering into his "hour." "The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-oblation. More than just statically receiving the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving." (21) Jesus "draws us into himself." (22) The substantial conversion of bread and wine into his body and blood introduces within creation the principle of a radical change, a sort of "nuclear fission," to use an image familiar to us today, which penetrates to the heart of all being, a change meant to set off a process which transforms reality, a process leading ultimately to the transfiguration of the entire world, to the point where God will be all in all (cf. 1 Cor 15:28).
http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/realpres/sacramentum_caritatis.htm
Why Is The Virgin Mary Considered So Important? http://www.mgrfoundation.org/ImportanceOfMary.html
Mary knew more about Jesus than anyone. He honors her as His mother and so should we. There is indeed something special about Mary:
Should She Be Considered co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix Of All Graces?
Indeed She Can and Should, Because She Is!
In Summary
Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, thus, the Mother of God.
This is clearly stated in several places in the Holy Scriptures as well as in the Holy Qur'an. By way of example, in the Gospel of St. Luke (1:32) we hear Gabriel the Archangel telling Mary about the son that She is about to conceive through the action of the Holy Ghost: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High...".
As the Secret Concept of the Holy Trinity (1) is understood, the reality of Her Divine Motherhood (2) can almost be expressed mathematically. It is no longer an ethereal and elusive manifestation of piety;
Recognition of the importance of Mary may also be traced to the earliest days of Christianity - even before the Patriarchate of Rome unilaterally claimed absolute supremacy over the other Catholic Patriarchates. The Holy Orthodox Catholic Church (Church of the East) has addressed Her as "Theotokos" [Mother of God] since the early days of Christianity and gives Her a preeminent role in the Divine Liturgy.
About Her Immaculate Conception, thus, Her Immaculate Heart
The Roman Catholic Church, through Pope Alexander VII (1661), teaches that:
Concerning that Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, ancient indeed is that devotion of the faithful based on the belief that her soul, in the first instant of its creation.... was, by a special grace and privilege of God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ her Son and Redeemer of the human race, preserved free from all stain of original sin.
This was underscored by the Apostolic Letter, issued by Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854, to wit:
And hence the very words with which the Sacred Scriptures speak of Uncreated Wisdom and set forth His eternal origin, the Church, both in its ecclesiastical offices and in its liturgy, has been wont to apply likewise to the origin of the Blessed Virgin, inasmuch as God, by one and the same decree, had established the origin of Mary and the Incarnation of Divine Wisdom.
These pronouncements by Popes Alexander VII and Pius IX was confirmed by Heaven when the Blessed Virgin appeared to Bernardette in Lourdes, France, on March 25, 1858, identifying Herself as "The Immaculate Conception".
With this, Heaven had confirmed the way of secure refuge for the times that were to come (4): Her Immaculate Heart. This was thereafter confirmed in a number of Apparitions of Our Lady and of Our Lord, to the point where Her Immaculate Heart has been referred to as the Noah's Ark of these times (5).
Mary and The Gospel
Until the time that Jesus started His public Ministry, He lived a life hidden from the world. Therefore, essentially all that appears in the New Testament pertaining the pre-public life of Jesus had to come, by necessity, through Mary. She was the only one that could have provided such intimate information to the Evangelists.
Mary's importance cannot be dismissed without dismissing the validity of a significant portion of the New Testament.
On The Infinite Intercessory Power of Mary
"Power" really means ability to "get things done"; it does not require that one "owns" the power. It means the ability to engage the power needed at a particular time.
Monotheistic religions agree that man was created in the Image of God. Thus, if we take the virtues that man exhibits and take them to perfection, we will then see and begin to understand the real attributes of God. It then follows that the power at Mary's command is essentially limited by the power of The Most Holy Trinity, which is Infinite. How is this possible? Allow this writer to walk you to that Truth.
What human father, as imperfect as they are, would deny anything to a good and devoted daughter? None! What human son, as imperfect as they are, would deny anything to a loving, devoted and self sacrificing mother? None! What human spouse, as imperfect as they are, would deny anything to his obedient, loving and devoted spouse? None!
If we then realize that Mary's father is God the Father; her son, is God the Son; and her spouse is God the Holy Spirit, what would the Most Holy Trinity deny Mary? Absolutely nothing! Whatever She will ask of that uncreated and Awesome Creator, She will obtain. Even when God may not be inclined to do so, He Will do it - just for Her.
Our Lord left us with such a concrete example - the Wedding Feast at Cana [John 2:1-10]. Jesus showed no intention of remedying the situation when the wine ran out. Mary thought otherwise and This was the first of Jesus' signs: it was at Cana in Galilee [John 2:11] A sign worked at Her request.
The Importance of a Woman in Redemption
We should acknowledge the very special and primordial role that the female of the human species, the Woman, plays in the ongoing history of humanity, with Mary being the foremost example.
This writer, without regretting his manhood, must acknowledge that God has shown favor toward the female member of the species. After all, the greatest human that has ever lived was a woman: Mary. Jesus Christ is God-man. He cannot be grouped into the category of "rank-and-file" human. However, although Mary was conceived without the stain of the original sin upon Her soul, She was all human - body and soul. Thus, regardless of how our feelings may have been conditioned about Mary, Her role was and is essential to the redemption of humanity.
How could it then be wrong to show respect for the Mother of God? We are taught to walk in the imitation of Christ. That works fine for men, because He is a man. Is it then wrong for any Christian woman to try to walk in imitation of Mary?
We cannot expect to reach the height of perfection of Jesus and Mary, but instead of becoming discouraged by it, we should look to the holy men and women of history as a reminder of the level of holiness that may be attained by striving to imitate Jesus and Mary. Jesus and Mary are Whom we should strive to imitate - the role models, so to speak, of humans - and not the holy men and women of history.
In Conclusion
Summarizing and concluding
Mankind fell through disobedience to God.
Only God-made-man could pay the price of the redemption of humanity.
Only a woman, by Divine Decree in accordance to the Universal Laws of Nature, could generate God-made-man. A man could not.
The woman had to give her consent ["Be it done to me according to thy word."] as an act of her free will.
Thus, without a female of the human species willful assent to mother the Incarnate Word of God, there would not have been Redemption of mankind nor the outpouring of Graces at the time of Pentecost.
Her active Collaboration in our Redemption and unlimited Mediating power before the Throne of God is a reality and not an exercise in piety.
By the Will of God, She was invited to be His Own Mother thus Her role as CoRedemptrix and Mediatrix was ordained from all eternity.
Exercising Her freedom of choice we have Her willful acceptance to cooperate in the Divine Plan of Redemption.
At the instant of Hypostatic Union, Mary became the Mother of God-made-man, Jesus Christ, thus, CoRedemptrix.
On the cross, Jesus Christ, in His last instruction before His death, gave Mary to us as our own Mother through John the Evangelist. Thus Her role as Mediatrix, at that instant, became manifest through its confirmation by God Himself.
We must then acknowledge that Mary is indeed the co-Redemptrix of mankind and the Mediatrix of all Graces.
Her role has been beautifully and truthfully summed up thus: Who is the Gate (of Heaven) if not Mary? Mary is the Gate through which Christ entered the world! http://www.mgrfoundation.org/ImportanceOfMary.html
The importance of praying the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Our Lady revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche additional benefits for those who devoutly pray the Rosary.. Note that the Rosary is the prayer (non-Liturgical) with the most published Magisterial / Papal documents expounding on its excellence. Vatican II's summary on Our Lady is contained in Lumen Gentium chapter VIII.
1. Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.
Signal Graces are those special and unique Graces to help sanctify us in our state in life. See the remaining promises for an explanation for which these will consist. St. Louis de Montfort states emphatically that the best and fastest way to union with Our Lord is via Our Lady [True Devotion to Mary, chapter four].
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
Our Lady is our Advocate and the channel of all God's Grace to us. Our Lady is simply highlighting that She will watch especially over us who pray the Rosary. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62) [a great more detail is available on this topic in True Devotion to Mary, chapter four, by St. Louis de Montfort]
3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies.
This promise, along with the next, is simply the reminder on how fervent prayer will help us all grow in holiness by avoiding sin, especially a prayer with the excellence of the Rosary. An increase in holiness necessarily requires a reduction in sin, vice, and doctrinal errors (heresies). If only the Modernists could be convinced to pray the Rosary! (see Lumen Gentium chapter V - The Call to Holiness #42) St. Louis de Montfort states "Since Mary alone crushed all heresies, as we are told by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary)..." [True Devotion to Mary #167]
4. It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for Eternal Things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
This promise, along with the previous, is the positive part, that being to live in virtue. Becoming holy is not only avoiding sin, but also growing in virtue. (see Lumen Gentium chapter V - The Call to Holiness #42)
5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.
Since Our Lady is our Mother and Advocate, She always assists those who call on Her implicitly by praying the Rosary. The Church reminds us of this in the Memorare prayer, "... never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided ..."
6. Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of Eternal Life.
This promise highlights the magnitude of Graces that the Rosary brings to whomever prays it. One will draw down God's Mercy rather than His Justice and will have a final chance to repent (see promise #7). One will not be conquered by misfortune means that Our Lady will obtain for the person sufficient Graces to handle said misfortune (i.e. carry the Crosses allowed by God) without falling into despair. As Sacred Scripture tells us, "For my yoke is sweet and my burden light." (Matthew 11:30)
7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
This promise highlights the benefits of obtaining the most possible Graces at the hour of death via the Sacraments of Confession, Eucharist, and Extreme Unction (Anointing of the Sick). Being properly disposed while receiving these Sacraments near death ensures one's salvation (although perhaps with a detour through Purgatory) since a final repentance is possible.
8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plenitude of His Graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise.
Our Lady highlights the great quantity of Graces obtain through praying the Rosary, which assist us during life and at the moment of death. The merits of the Saints are the gift of God's rewards to those persons who responded to His Grace that they obtained during life, and so Our Lady indicates that She will provide a share of that to us at death. With this promise and #7 above, Our Lady is providing the means for the person to have a very holy death.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
Should one require Purgatorial cleansing after death, Our Lady will make a special effort to obtain our release from Purgatory through Her intercession as Advocate.
10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of Glory in Heaven.
This promise is a logical consequence of promises #3 and #4 since anyone who truly lives a holier life on earth will obtain a higher place in Heaven. The closer one is to God while living on earth, the close that person is to Him also in Heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states "Spiritual progress tends toward ever more union with Christ." (Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2014)
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.
This promise emphasizes Our Lady's role as our Advocate and Mediatrix of all Graces. Of course, all requests are subject to God's Most Perfect Will. God will always grant our request if it is beneficial for our soul, and Our Lady will only intercede for us when our request is good for our salvation. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62)
12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
If one promotes the praying of the Rosary, Our Lady emphasizes Her Maternal care for us by obtaining many Graces (i.e. spiritual necessities) and also material necessities (neither excess nor luxury), all subject to the Will of God of course.
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death.
Since Our Lady is our Advocate, She brings us additional assistance during our life and at our death from all the saints in Heaven (the Communion of Saints). See paragraphs 954 through 959 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
14. All who recite the Rosary are my Sons, and brothers of my Only Son Jesus Christ.
Since the Rosary is a most excellent prayer focused on Jesus and His Life and activities in salvation history, it brings us closer to Our Lord and Our Lady. Doctrinally, Our Lady is our Mother and Jesus is our Eldest Brother, besides being our God. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62)
15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
Predestination in this context means that, by the sign which is present to a person from the action of devoutly praying the Rosary, God has pre-ordained your salvation. Absolute certainty of salvation can only be truly known if God reveals it to a person because, although we are given sufficient Grace during life, our salvation depends upon our response to said Grace. (See Summa Theologica, Question 23 for a detailed theological explanation). Said another way, if God has guaranteed a person's salvation but has not revealed it to Him, God would want that person to pray the Rosary because of all the benefits and Graces obtained. Therefore the person gets a hint by devotion to the Rosary. This is not to say that praying the Rosary guarantees salvation - by no means. In looking at promises #3 and #4 above, praying the Rosary helps one to live a holy life, which is itself a great sign that a soul is on the road to salvation. (See also paragraphs 381, 488, 600, 2782 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.) In fact, St. Louis de Montfort says even more strongly that "an infallible and unmistakable sign by which we can distinguish a heretic, a man of false doctrine, an enemy of God, from one of God's true friends is that the hardened sinner and heretic show nothing but contempt and indifference to Our Lady..." [True Devotion to Mary, #30]
Reminder: these promises mean that, by faithfully and devoutly praying the Rosary, Our Lady will obtain for us the necessary Graces to obtain said promises. It is still up to each individual soul to respond to those Graces in order to obtain salvation.
The importance of the Divine Mercy Chaplet:
Works of Mercy
Be Merciful as Your Father is Merciful
We are not only to receive the mercy of God, but to use it by being merciful to others through our actions, our words, and our prayers; in other words, we are to practice the Corporal and Spiritual Works (Acts) of Mercy.
The Lord wants us to do these works of mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no use without works.
What are the Works of Mercy?
Corporal Works
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the homeless
Comfort the prisoners
Visit the sick
Bury the dead
Spiritual Works
Teach the ignorant
Pray for the living & dead
Correct sinners
Counsel those in doubt
Console the sorrowful
Bear wrongs patiently
Forgive wrongs willingly
Jesus' Call to Mercy
"I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.
I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor:
the first — by deed, the second — by word, the third — by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy.
Many souls ... are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.
If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy" (1317). http://thedivinemercy.org/message/scripture/
Divine Mercy in Scripture
Based on Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical Rich in Mercy (Dives in Misericordia)—Footnotes #52, 60, 61
"... It showed itself as what it was at the beginning, that is, as love that gives, love more powerful than betrayal, grace stronger than sin."
In describing mercy, the books of the Old Testament use two expressions in particular, each having a different semantic nuance.
First there is the term "hesed," which indicates a profound attitude of "goodness." When this is established between two individuals, they do not just wish each other well; they are also faithful to each other by virtue of an interior commitment, and therefore also by virtue of a faithfulness to themselves.
Since "hesed" also means grace or love, this occurs precisely on the basis of this fidelity. The fact that the commitment in question has not only a moral character but almost a juridical one makes no difference.
When in the Old Testament the word "hesed" is used of the Lord, this always occurs in connection with the covenant that God established with Israel. This covenant was, on God's part, a gift and a grace for Israel. Nevertheless, since, in harmony with the covenant entered into, God had made a commitment to respect it, "hesed" also acquired in a certain sense a legal content.
The juridical commitment on God's part ceased to oblige whenever Israel broke the covenant and did not respect its conditions. But precisely at this point, "hesed," in ceasing to be a juridical obligation, revealed its deeper aspect: it showed itself as what it was at the beginning, that is, as love that gives, love more powerful than betrayal, grace stronger than sin.
This fidelity vis-à-vis the unfaithful "daughter of my people"(Lam. 4:3, 6) is, in brief, on God's part, fidelity to Himself. This becomes obvious in the frequent recurrence together of the two terms "hesed" we've met (= grace and fidelity), which could be considered a case of hendiadys (e.g. Ex. 34:6; 2 Sm. 2:6; 15:20; Ps. 25[24]:10; 40[39]:11-12; 85[84]:11; 138[137]:2; Mi. 7:20).
"It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name" (Ez. 36:22). Therefore Israel, although burdened with guilt for having broken the covenant, cannot lay claim to God's "hesed" on the basis of (legal) justice; yet it can and must go on hoping and trusting to obtain it, since the God of the covenant is really "responsible for his love."
The fruits of this love are forgiveness and restoration to grace, the reestablishment of the interior covenant. The second word which in the terminology of the Old Testament serves to define mercy is "rahamim."
While "hesed" highlights the marks of fidelity to self and of "responsibility for one's own love," "rahamim," in its very root, denotes the love of a mother.
This has a different nuance from that of "hesed." While "hesed" highlights the marks of fidelity to self and of "responsibility for one's own love" (which are in a certain sense masculine characteristics), "rahamim," in its very root, denotes the love of a mother (rehem = mother's womb).
From the deep and original bond — indeed the unity — that links a mother to her child there springs a particular relationship to the child, a particular love. Of this love one can say that it is completely gratuitous, not merited, and that in this aspect it constitutes an interior necessity: an exigency of the heart.
It is, as it were, a "feminine" variation of the masculine fidelity to self expressed by "hesed." Against this psychological background, "rahamim" generates a whole range of feelings, including goodness and tenderness, patience and understanding; that is, readiness to forgive.
The Old Testament attributes to the Lord precisely these characteristics when it uses the term "rahamim" in speaking of Him. We read in Isaiah: "Can a woman forget her suckling child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even those may forget, yet I will not forget you" (Is. 49:15).
This love, faithful and invincible thanks to the mysterious power of motherhood, is expressed in the Old Testament texts in various ways: as salvation from dangers, especially from enemies; also as forgiveness of sins — of individuals and also of the whole of Israel — and finally in readiness to fulfill the promise and hope, in spite of human infidelity, as we read in Hosea: "I will heal their faithlessness, I will love them freely" (Hos. 14:5).
In the terminology of the Old Testament we also find other expressions, referring in different ways to the same basic content. But the two terms mentioned above deserve special attention. They clearly show their original anthropomorphic aspect: in describing God's mercy, the biblical authors use terms that correspond to the consciousness and experience of their contemporaries.
The Greek terminology in the Septuagint translation does not show as great a wealth as the Hebrew: therefore it does not offer all the semantic nuances proper to the original text. At any rate, the New Testament builds upon the wealth and depth that already marked the Old.
In this way, we have inherited from the Old Testament — as it were in a special synthesis — not only the wealth of expressions used by those books in order to define God's mercy, but also a specific and obviously anthropomorphic "psychology" of God: the image of His anxious love, which in contact with evil, and in particular with the sin of the individual and of the people, is manifested as mercy.
The term "hanan" expresses a wider concept: it means in fact the manifestation of grace ... a constant predisposition to be generous, benevolent and merciful.
This image is made up not only of the rather general content of the verb hanan but also of the content of hesed and rahamim. The term "hanan" expresses a wider concept: it means in fact the manifestation of grace, which involves, so to speak, a constant predisposition to be generous, benevolent and merciful.
In addition to these basic semantic elements, the Old Testament concept of mercy is also made up of what is included in the verb "hamal," which literally means "to spare" (a defeated enemy) but also "to show mercy and compassion," and in consequence forgiveness and remission of guilt.
There is also the term "hus," which expresses pity and compassion, but especially in the affective sense. These terms appear more rarely in the biblical texts to denote mercy.
In addition, one must note the word "emet" already mentioned: it means primarily "solidity, security" (in the Greek of the Septuagint: "truth") and then "fidelity." In this way it seems to link up with the semantic content proper to the term "hesed." 60. In both places it is a case of "hesed," i.e., the fidelity that God manifests to His own love for the people, fidelity to he promises that will find their definitive fulfillment precisely in the motherhood of the Mother of God (Lk. 1:49-54). 61. (Lk. 1:72). Here too it is a case of mercy in the meaning of "hesed," insofar as in the following sentences, in which Zechariah speaks of the "tender mercy of our God," there is clearly expressed the second meaning, namely, "rahamim" (Latin translation: "viscera misericordiae"), which rather identifies God's mercy with a mother's love. http://thedivinemercy.org/message/scripture/
Divine Mercy in Scripture
New Testament
Based on Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical Rich in Mercy (Dives in Misericordia)
At the very beginning of the New Testament, two voices resound in St. Luke's gospel in unique harmony concerning the mercy of God — a harmony which forcefully echoes the whole Old Testament tradition. Mary, entering the house of Zechariah, magnifies the Lord with all her soul for "His mercy," which "from generation to generation" is bestowed on those who fear Him.
A little later, as she recalls the election of Israel, she proclaims the mercy which He who has chosen her holds "in remembrance" from all time (60). Afterwards, in the same house, when John the Baptist is born, his father Zechariah blesses the God of Israel and glorifies Him for performing the mercy promised to our fathers and for remembering His holy covenant (61).
In the teaching of Christ Himself, this image inherited from the Old Testament becomes at the same time simpler and more profound. This is perhaps most evident in the parable of the prodigal son (62). Although the word "mercy" does not appear, it nevertheless expresses the essence of the divine mercy in a particularly clear way.
This is due not so much to the terminology, as in the Old Testament books, as to the analogy that enables us to understand more fully the very mystery of mercy, as a profound drama played out between the father's love and the prodigality and sin of the son. That son, who receives from the father the portion of the inheritance that is due to him and leaves home to squander it in a far country "in loose living," in a certain sense is the man of every period, beginning with the one who was the first to lose the inheritance of grace and original justice.
The parable indirectly touches upon every breach of the covenant of love, every loss of grace, every sin.
The analogy at this point is very wide-ranging. The parable indirectly touches upon every breach of the covenant of love, every loss of grace, every sin. In this analogy there is less emphasis than in the prophetic tradition on the unfaithfulness of the whole people of Israel, although the analogy of the prodigal son may extend to this also.
"When he had spent everything," the son "began to be in need," especially as "a great famine arose in that country" to which he had gone after leaving his father's house. And in this situation "he would gladly have fed on" anything, even "the pods that the swine ate," the swine that he herded for "one of the citizens of that country." But even this was refused him.
The analogy turns clearly towards man's interior. The inheritance that the son had received from his father was a quantity of material goods, but more important than these goods was his dignity as a son in his father's house.
The situation in which he found himself when he lost the material goods should have made him aware of the loss of that dignity. He had not thought about it previously, when he had asked his father to give him the part of the inheritance that was due to him, in order to go away.
He seems not to be conscious of it even now, when he says to himself: "How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger." He measures himself by the standard of the goods that he has lost, that he no longer "possesses," while the hired servants of his father's house "possess" them.
These words express above all his attitude to material goods; nevertheless under their surface is concealed the tragedy of lost dignity, the awareness of squandered sonship. It is at this point that he makes the decision: "I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.'"(63)
These are words that reveal more deeply the essential problem. Through the complex material situation in which the prodigal son found himself because of his folly, because of sin, the sense of lost dignity had matured.
When he decides to return to his father's house, to ask his father to be received — no longer by virtue of his right as a son, but as an employee — at first sight he seems to be acting by reason of the hunger and poverty that he had fallen into; this motive, however, is permeated by an awareness of a deeper loss: to be a hired servant in his own father's house is certainly a great humiliation and source of shame.
Nevertheless, the prodigal son is ready to undergo that humiliation and shame. He realizes that he no longer has any right except to be an employee in his father's house. His decision is taken in full consciousness of what he has deserved and of what he can still have a right to in accordance with the norms of justice.
Precisely this reasoning demonstrates that, at the center of the prodigal son's consciousness, the sense of lost dignity is emerging, the sense of that dignity that springs from the relationship of the son with the father. And it is with this decision that he sets out.
In the parable of the prodigal son, the term "justice" is not used even once; just as in the original text the term "mercy" is not used either. Nevertheless, the relationship between justice and love, that is manifested as mercy, is inscribed with great exactness in the content of the Gospel parable.
It becomes more evident that love is transformed into mercy when it is necessary to go beyond the precise norm of justice — precise and often too narrow. The prodigal son, having wasted the property he received from his father, deserves — after his return — to earn his living by working in his father's house as a hired servant and possibly, little by little, to build up a certain provision of material goods, though perhaps never as much as the amount he had squandered.
This would be demanded by the order of justice, especially as the son had not only squandered the part of the inheritance belonging to him but had also hurt and offended his father by his whole conduct. Since this conduct had in his own eyes deprived him of his dignity as a son, it could not be a matter of indifference to his father. It was bound to make him suffer. It was also bound to implicate him in some way.
And yet, after all, it was his own son who was involved, and such a relationship could never be altered or destroyed by any sort of behavior. The prodigal son is aware of this and it is precisely this awareness that shows him clearly the dignity which he has lost and which makes him honestly evaluate the position that he could still expect in his father's house.
This exact picture of the prodigal son's state of mind enables us to understand exactly what the mercy of God consists in. There is no doubt that in this simple but penetrating analogy the figure of the father reveals to us God as Father. The conduct of the father in the parable and his whole behavior, which manifests his internal attitude, enables us to rediscover the individual threads of the Old Testament vision of mercy in a synthesis which is totally new, full of simplicity and depth.
The father of the prodigal son is faithful to his fatherhood, faithful to the love that he had always lavished on his son. This fidelity is expressed in the parable not only by his immediate readiness to welcome him home when he returns after having squandered his inheritance; it is expressed even more fully by that joy, that merrymaking for the squanderer after his return, merrymaking which is so generous that it provokes the opposition and hatred of the elder brother, who had never gone far away from his father and had never abandoned the home.
The father's fidelity to himself — a trait already known by the Old Testament term hesed — is at the same time expressed in a manner particularly charged with affection. We read, in fact, that when the father saw the prodigal son returning home "he had compassion, ran to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him."(64) He certainly does this under the influence of a deep affection, and this also explains his generosity towards his son, that generosity which so angers the elder son.
Nevertheless, the causes of this emotion are to be sought at a deeper level. Notice, the father is aware that a fundamental good has been saved: the good of his son's humanity. Although the son has squandered the inheritance, nevertheless his humanity is saved.
"It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found."
Indeed, it has been, in a way, found again. The father's words to the elder son reveal this: "It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found."(65)
In the same chapter fifteen of Luke's gospel, we read the parable of the sheep that was found (66) and then the parable of the coin that was found. (67) Each time there is an emphasis on the same joy that is present in the case of the prodigal son. The father's fidelity to himself is totally concentrated upon the humanity of the lost son, upon his dignity.
This explains above all his joyous emotion at the moment of the son's return home. Going on, one can therefore say that the love for the son, the love that springs from the very essence of fatherhood, in a way obliges the father to be concerned about his son's dignity. This concern is the measure of his love, the love of which Saint Paul was to write: "Love is patient and kind... love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful...but rejoices in the right...hopes all things, endures all things" and "love never ends."(68)
This love is able to reach down to every prodigal son, to every human misery, and above all to every form of moral misery, to sin.
Mercy — as Christ has presented it in the parable of the prodigal son — has the interior form of the love that in the New Testament is called "agape". This love is able to reach down to every prodigal son, to every human misery, and above all to every form of moral misery, to sin.
When this happens, the person who is the object of mercy does not feel humiliated, but rather found again and "restored to value." The father first and foremost expresses to him his joy that he has been "found again" and that he has "returned to life.
This joy indicates a good that has remained intact: even if he is a prodigal, a son does not cease to be truly his father's son; it also indicates a good that has been found again, which in the case of the prodigal son was his return to the truth about himself. What took place in the relationship between the father and the son in Christ's parable is not to be evaluated "from the outside." Our prejudices about mercy are mostly the result of appraising them only from the outside.
At times it happens that by following this method of evaluation we see in mercy above all a relationship of inequality between the one offering it and the one receiving it. And, in consequence, we are quick to deduce that mercy belittles the receiver, that it offends the dignity of man.
The parable of the prodigal son shows that the reality is different: the relationship of mercy is based on the common experience of that good which is man, on the common experience of the dignity that is proper to him. This common experience makes the prodigal son begin to see himself and his actions in their full truth (this vision in truth is a genuine form of humility); on the other hand, for this very reason he becomes a particular good for his father: the father sees so clearly the good which has been achieved thanks to a mysterious radiation of truth and love, that he seems to forget all the evil which the son had committed.
Conversion is the most concrete expression of the working of love and of the presence of mercy in the human world.
The parable of the prodigal son expresses in a simple but profound way the reality of conversion. Conversion is the most concrete expression of the
working of love and of the presence of mercy in the human world.
The true and proper meaning of mercy does not consist only in looking, however penetratingly and compassionately, at moral, physical or material evil: mercy is manifested in its true and proper aspect when it restores to value, promotes and draws good from all the forms of evil existing in the world and in man. Understood in this way, mercy constitutes the fundamental content of the messianic message of Christ and the constitutive power of His mission.
His disciples and followers understood and practiced mercy in the same way. Mercy never ceased to reveal itself, in their hearts and in their actions, as an especially creative proof of the love which does not allow itself to be "conquered by evil," but overcomes "evil with good."(69) The genuine face of mercy has to be ever revealed anew. In spite of many prejudices, mercy seems particularly necessary for our times.
Mercy Revealed in the Cross and Resurrection
The messianic message of Christ and His activity among people end with the cross and resurrection. We have to penetrate deeply into this final event-which especially in the language of the Council is defined as the Mysterium Paschale — if we wish to express in depth the truth about mercy, as it has been revealed in depth in the history of our salvation.
At this point of our considerations, we shall have to draw closer still to the content of the encyclical Redemptor hominis. If, in fact, the reality of the Redemption, in its human dimension, reveals the unheard — of greatness of man, qui talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptorem, (70) at the same time the divine dimension of the redemption enables us, I would say, in the most empirical and "historical" way, to uncover the depth of that love which does not recoil before the extraordinary sacrifice of the Son, in order to satisfy the fidelity of the Creator and Father towards human beings, created in His image and chosen from "the beginning," in this Son, for grace and glory.
The events of Good Friday and, even before that, in prayer in Gethsemane, introduce a fundamental change into the whole course of the revelation of love and mercy in the messianic mission of Christ. The one who "went about doing good and healing"(71) and "curing every sickness and disease"(72) now Himself seems to merit the greatest mercy and to appeal for mercy, when He is arrested, abused, condemned, scourged, crowned with thorns, when He is nailed to the cross and dies amidst agonizing torments.(73)
It is then that He particularly deserves mercy from the people to whom He has done good, and He does not receive it. Even those who are closest to Him cannot protect Him and snatch Him from the hands of His oppressors. At this final stage of His messianic activity the words which the prophets, especially Isaiah, uttered concerning the Servant of Yahweh are fulfilled in Christ: "Through his stripes we are healed."(74)
Christ, as the man who suffers really and in a terrible way in the Garden of Olives and on Calvary, addresses Himself to the Father — that Father whose love He has preached to people, to whose mercy He has borne witness through all of His activity. But He is not spared — not even He — the terrible suffering of death on the cross: For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin,"(75)
St. Paul will write, summing up in a few words the whole depth of the cross and at the same time the divine dimension of the reality of the Redemption. Indeed this Redemption is the ultimate and definitive revelation of the holiness of God, who is the absolute fullness of perfection: fullness of justice and of love, since justice is based on love, flows from it and tends towards it.
In the passion and death of Christ-in the fact that the Father did not spare His own Son, but "for our sake made him sin"(76) — absolute justice is expressed, for Christ undergoes the passion and cross because of the sins of humanity. This constitutes even a "superabundance" of justice, for the sins of man are "compensated for" by the sacrifice of the Man-God.
Nevertheless, this justice, which is properly justice "to God's measure," springs completely from love: from the love of the Father and of the Son, and completely bears fruit in love. Precisely for this reason the divine justice revealed in the cross of Christ is "to God's measure," because it springs from love and is accomplished in love, producing fruits of salvation.
Redemption involves the revelation of mercy in its fullness.
The divine dimension of redemption is put into effect not only by bringing justice to bear upon sin, but also by restoring to love that creative power in man thanks also which he once more has access to the fullness of life and holiness that come from God. In this way, redemption involves the revelation of mercy in its fullness.
The Paschal Mystery is the culmination of this revealing and effecting of mercy, which is able to justify man, to restore justice in the sense of that salvific order which God willed from the beginning in man and, through man, in the world. The suffering Christ speaks in a special way to man, and not only to the believer.
The non-believer also will be able to discover in Him the eloquence of solidarity with the human lot, as also the harmonious fullness of a disinterested dedication to the cause of man, to truth and to love. And yet the divine dimension of the Paschal Mystery goes still deeper. The cross on Calvary, the cross upon which Christ conducts His final dialogue with the Father, emerges from the very heart of the love that man, created in the image and likeness of God, has been given as a gift, according to God's eternal plan.
God, as Christ has revealed Him, does not merely remain closely linked with the world as the Creator and the ultimate source of existence. He is also Father: He is linked to man, whom He called to existence in the visible world, by a bond still more intimate than that of creation. It is love which not only creates the good but also grants participation in the very life of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For he who loves desires to give himself.
The cross of Christ on Calvary stands beside the path of that admirable commercium, of that wonderful self-communication of God to man, which also includes the call to man to share in the divine life by giving himself, and with himself the whole visible world, to God, and like an adopted son to become a sharer in the truth and love which is in God and proceeds from God.
It is precisely beside the path of man's eternal election to the dignity of being an adopted child of God that there stands in history the cross of Christ, the only - begotten Son, who, as "light from light, true God from true God,"(77) came to give the final witness to the wonderful covenant of God with humanity, of God with man - every human being This covenant, as old as man — it goes back to the very mystery of creation — and afterwards many times renewed with one single chosen people, is equally the new and definitive covenant, which was established there on Calvary, and is not limited to a single people, to Israel, but is open to each and every individual.
What else, then, does the cross of Christ say to us, the cross that in a sense is the final word of His messianic message and mission? And yet this is not yet the word of the God of the covenant: that will be pronounced at the dawn when first the women and then the Apostles come to the tomb of the crucified Christ, see the tomb empty and for the first time hear the message: "He is risen."
They will repeat this message to the others and will be witnesses to the risen Christ. Yet, even in this glorification of the Son of God, the cross remains, that cross which — through all the messianic testimony of the Man the Son, who suffered death upon it — speaks and never ceases to speak of God the Father, who is absolutely faithful to His eternal love for man, since He "so loved the world" — therefore man in the world-that "he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."(78)
For mercy is an indispensable dimension of love... Believing in this love means believing in mercy.
Believing in the crucified Son means "seeing the Father,"(79) means believing that love is present in the world and that this love is more powerful than any kind of evil in which individuals, humanity, or the world are involved. Believing in this love means believing in mercy.
For mercy is an indispensable dimension of love; it is as it were love's second name and, at the same time, the specific manner in which love is revealed and effected vis-a-vis the reality of the evil that is in the world, affecting and besieging man, insinuating itself even into his heart and capable of causing him to "perish in Gehenna."(80)
Love More Powerful Than Death, More Powerful Than Sin
The cross of Christ on Calvary is also a witness to the strength of evil against the very Son of God, against the one who, alone among all the sons of men, was by His nature absolutely innocent and free from sin, and whose coming into the world was untainted by the disobedience of Adam and the inheritance of original sin. And here, precisely in Him, in Christ, justice is done to sin at the price of His sacrifice, of His obedience "even to death."(81)
He who was without sin, "God made him sin for our sake."(82) Justice is also brought to bear upon death, which from the beginning of man's history had been allied to sin. Death has justice done to it at the price of the death of the one who was without sin and who alone was able-by means of his own death-to inflict death upon death.(83)
In this way the cross of Christ, on which the Son, consubstantial with the Father, renders full justice to God, is also a radical revelation of mercy, or rather of the love that goes against what constitutes the very root of evil in the history of man: against sin and death.
The cross is the most profound condescension of God to man and to what man — especially in difficult and painful moments — looks on as his unhappy destiny. The cross is like a touch of eternal love upon the most painful wounds of man's earthly existence; it is the total fulfillment of the messianic program that Christ once formulated in the synagogue at Nazareth (84) and then repeated to the messengers sent by John the Baptist.(85)
According to the words once written in the prophecy of Isaiah,(86) this program consisted in the revelation of merciful love for the poor, the suffering and prisoners, for the blind, the oppressed and sinners. In the paschal mystery the limits of the many sided evil in which man becomes a sharer during his earthly existence are surpassed: the cross of Christ, in fact, makes us understand the deepest roots of evil, which are fixed in sin and death; thus the cross becomes an eschatological sign.
Only in the eschatological fulfillment and definitive renewal of the world will love conquer, in all the elect, the deepest sources of evil, bringing as its fully mature fruit the kingdom of life and holiness and glorious immortality. The foundation of this eschatological fulfillment is already contained in the cross of Christ and in His death.
The fact that Christ "was raised the third day"(87) constitutes the final sign of the messianic mission, a sign that perfects the entire revelation of merciful love in a world that is subject to evil. At the same time it constitutes the sign that foretells "a new heaven and a new earth,"(88) when God "will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there will be no more death, or mourning no crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away."(89)
In the eschatological fulfillment mercy will be revealed as love, while in the temporal phase, in human history, which is at the same time the history of sin and death, love must be revealed above all as mercy and must also be actualized as mercy. Christ's messianic program, the program of mercy, becomes the program of His people, the program of the Church.
At its very center there is always the cross, for it is in the cross that the revelation of merciful love attains its culmination. Until "the former things pass away,"(90) the cross will remain the point of reference for other words too of the Revelation of John: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me."(91)
In a special way, God also reveals His mercy when He invites man to have "mercy" on His only Son, the crucified one. Christ, precisely as the crucified one, is the Word that does not pass away,(92) and He is the one who stands at the door and knocks at the heart of every man,(93) without restricting his freedom, but instead seeking to draw from this very freedom love, which is not only an act of solidarity with the suffering Son of man, but also a kind of "mercy" shown by each one of us to the Son of the eternal Father.
In the whole of this messianic program of Christ, in the whole revelation of mercy through the cross, could man's dignity be more highly respected and ennobled, for, in obtaining mercy, He is in a sense the one who at the same time "shows mercy"? In a word, is not this the position of Christ with regard to man when He says: "As you did it to one of the least of these...you did it to me"?(94)
Do not the words of the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy,"(95) constitute, in a certain sense, a synthesis of the whole of the Good News, of the whole of the "wonderful exchange" (admirable commercium) contained therein? This exchange is a law of the very plan of salvation, a law which is simple, strong and at the same time "easy."
Demonstrating from the very start what the "human heart" is capable of ("to be merciful"), do not these words from the Sermon on the Mount reveal in the same perspective the deep mystery of God: that inscrutable unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in which love, containing justice, sets in motion mercy, which in its turn reveals the perfection of justice?
The Paschal Mystery is Christ at the summit of the revelation of the inscrutable mystery of God. It is precisely then that the words pronounced in the Upper Room are completely fulfilled: "He who has seen me has seen the Father."(96) In fact, Christ, whom the Father "did not spare"(97) for the sake of man and who in His passion and in the torment of the cross did not obtain human mercy, has revealed in His resurrection the fullness of the love that the Father has for Him and, in Him, for all people. "He is not God of the dead, but of the living."(98)
In His resurrection Christ has revealed the God of merciful love, precisely because He accepted the cross as the way to the resurrection. And it is for this reason that — when we recall the cross of Christ, His passion and death — our faith and hope are centered on the Risen One: on that Christ who "on the evening of that day, the first day of the week, . . .stood among them" in the upper Room, "where the disciples were, ...breathed on them, and said to them: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'"(99)
Here is the Son of God, who in His resurrection experienced in a radical way mercy shown to Himself, that is to say the love of the Father which is more powerful than death. And it is also the same Christ, the Son of God, who at the end of His messianic mission — and, in a certain sense, even beyond the end — reveals Himself as the inexhaustible source of mercy, of the same love that, in a subsequent perspective of the history of salvation in the Church, is to be everlastingly confirmed as more powerful than sin.
The paschal Christ is the definitive incarnation of mercy, its living sign in salvation history and in eschatology. In the same spirit, the liturgy of Eastertide places on our lips the words of the Psalm: Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo.
http://thedivinemercy.org/message/scripture/newtest.php
Prayer
Asking for His Mercy
Through the passion and death of Jesus, an infinite ocean of mercy was made available for all of us. But God, who created us free, will not force anything on us, not even His mercy. He must wait for us to turn from our sinfulness and ask: "Ask and it will be given to you … for everyone who asks receives" (Mt 7:7, 8).
The Scriptures are filled with examples of how to trust in God and ask for His mercy: the psalms; the faith of Abraham and Moses who pleaded and "bargained" with God; the man who persuaded his friend to get up in the middle of the night to lend him some bread; the persistent widow who secured justice from the unjust judge; the Canaanite woman who "argued" with Jesus about her right to His mercy; and the witness of Mary, whose appeal for mercy at Cana led Jesus to perform His first public miracle, thus acknowledging that His time had indeed come.
Pope John Paul II echoes this scriptural message with a new urgency for our own times: "At no time… especially at a moment as critical as our own — can the Church forget the prayer that is a cry for the mercy of God… The Church has the right and the duty to appeal to the God of mercy 'with loud cries' " (Rich in Mercy, 15).
To St. Faustina, Jesus revealed this same message once again. He gave her three new ways to ask for mercy on the strength of His passion: the Chaplet, the Novena, and prayer at three o'clock; and He taught her to transform her daily life into a continuous prayer for mercy. Through her, He calls us all to ask for His mercy:
Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion (Diary, 1146). Beg for mercy for the whole world (570). No soul that has called upon My mercy has ever been disappointed (1541).
Prayer to be Merciful to Others
This prayer gives us a true measure of our mercy, a mirror in which we observe ourselves as merciful Christs. We can make it our morning invocation and our evening examination of conscience.
O Most Holy Trinity! As many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify Your mercy.
I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor.
Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors’ souls and come to their rescue.
Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings.
Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.
Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.
Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbor.
Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.
You Yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy — if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third: prayer — if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically.
O my Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for You can do all things (163). http://thedivinemercy.org/message/spirituality/prayer.php
That He May Establish His Covenant
We have come full circle. We have learned that our God is a covenant God. He reveals His covenant nature in His names. That the purpose of His covenant is to restore mankind to their rightful place as His children and joint heirs with Jesus.
God's whole purpose is to establish His covenant that He swore to Abraham and his seed Jesus. To give to us all the blessings He promised over four thousand years ago. To establish His children as the preeminent people on the face of the earth. The good news is that all of mankind can be His children if they accept and believe in Jesus as the anointed one of God, the mediator of the new covenant.
Throughout this book, I have made the point to show the goodness of God. When you received this book, you may have been looking for something completely different. It is no mistake or coincidence that this book is in your hands. God got it to you for one purpose - so that you could come to an understanding of Him and His will for you. So now the question is, what will you do about it? Will you turn away from the answer to your hopes and dreams? Will you embrace Him and seek to do His will in your life?
Only you know the answer to this. I hope you realize that your answer not only affects you but could conceivably affect thousands of people whom you have not met. The world is starving for the information you have gained. Only the Father knows what you could do to change this world for the better.
I want to spend the rest of this last chapter on focusing on prayer and how Jesus taught us to pray. Remember that God is looking to bless us in all things and it is His desire to give us the very best life has to offer!
Paul writes in Philippians 4:4-7, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Jesus has much to say about prayer. It is an important part of His life and an important part of His ministry. The first place we see Jesus teach on prayer is in Matthew 6:5-15. "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, that they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
This prayer known as the Lord's Prayer lays the foundation for all of our prayers toward the Father. It acknowledges who He is and who we are. It requests the coming of His kingdom and will and His provision here on earth as it is in heaven. We have spent much time discussing the will of God and thus readily agree with His will being done. He will give us our daily necessities and forgiveness as well as deliverance. It ends with again recognizing the Father for who He is.
It is vital to realize that our receiving from the Father is dependent upon forgiveness - our forgiving others and the Father forgiving us. The absolute primary source for unanswered prayers is unforgiveness. It leads to all manner of evil, including sickness and disease, poverty, strife and separation. It will defeat us faster than anything else. It is absolutely evil!
In Mark 11, we see the story of Jesus going to a fig tree and seeing that it was showing the signs of bearing fruit. He went to it expecting to get some figs. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves. In response, Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." His disciples heard this.
The next day they saw the fig tree dried up from its roots. Peter seeing it told Jesus, "Look the fig tree which You cursed has withered away."
Mark 11:22-26 tells what Jesus' response was. "So Jesus answered and said to them, 'Have faith in God, For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in His heart, but believes that those things He says will be done, He will have whatever He says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive Him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."
What a true and awesome statement! When we pray we must apply faith with our prayers. When we ask God for anything, we must believe that we will receive them. Our words are a very powerful force in our lives. The Bible has much to say about what words we choose.
In John, chapters13 through 17, it tells us what happened at the last supper and the conversation Jesus had with the disciples as well as His prayer for them. In this discourse, Jesus mentioned praying three times. John 14:12-14 states, "Most assuredly, I (Jesus) say to you, He who believes in Me, the works that I do He will do also; and greater works than these He will do, because I go to my Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."
Wow! Read that through several times and let it sink in as to how powerful praying in the name of Jesus is and what it is that He is trying to get across to His disciples. Why would Jesus say such a thing? Did He really mean it?
He again says in John 15:16-17, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another."
If He didn't mean it the first two times, He wouldn't have said it the third time. Faith works by love and if we ask anything of the Father in the name of Jesus by faith in love having forgiven anyone we had something against, we shall have what we ask.
If there were any doubts about this, Jesus says again in John 16:25-27, "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again I leave the world and go to the Father."
So then, three separate times Jesus brings this up at the Last Supper. Why? We need only to look at what happened at the last supper to gain insight into this. Luke 22:14-20 tells us the story. "When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, 'With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.' Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, 'Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.'
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and said, 'This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.' "
At the Last Supper, Jesus initiated the new covenant and became the sacrifice of the covenant at the cross. Therefore, He is saying that because we are in covenant with Him and He with the Father, we can ask in His name just as if it were Him asking the Father! Please take some time right now to think that over and let it sink in. Because of our covenant relationship with Jesus, the Father responds to our prayers asked in the name of Jesus as if it were Jesus doing the asking.
This may sound presumptuous, but it is the will and desire of the father that this is how things should be. It is clear in the text and should not be thought to be any different. Later, James and John clarify this in their letters. The bottom line being that this is a blood covenant relationship we are in, the most powerful relationship in the universe.
I John 3:21-24 states, "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now He who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in Him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us."
We can have confidence that our prayers will be answered. We know that by keeping His commandments of believing on the name of Jesus and loving each other, we receive whatever we ask from Him! God is truly a good, awesome and loving Father. I Corinthians 1:20-22 says, "For all the promises of God in Him (Jesus) are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." It glorifies the Father to fulfill His promises to us, including the promise of answered prayer.
So what about unanswered prayers? James 4:2-3 clarifies that. "You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." Many people have asked the Father for special graces with the intent on being selfish. God wants us to have grace so that He can bless us and bless the world through us. Not so we can spend His blessings foolishly on our personal lusts. He wants to bless us with our desires, but not to encourage covetousness and lust in us.
God continues to be the same as He was when He dealt with Abraham. He desires to be El-Shaddai for us and His desire for us is that we let others know Him as El-Shaddai. The plan and purpose of prayer is to get us into agreement with God on what He has promised us, so that He can bring it to pass on the earth. Matthew 18:18-20 says, "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
I John 5:14-15 confirms these previous chapters. "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."
So then, whatever we ask of God in the name of Jesus that is according to His will, we will receive whatever we ask. Think of the goodness of God concerning this. How do we know what the will of God is? By reading and understanding our covenant with Him.
Paul writes in I Corinthians 2:9-12, "But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard , nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in Him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God."
Again, the Father makes it abundantly clear that it is His will to bless us and to reveal to us those things that are already freely given to us by Him! The whole Bible can be seen as God trying to bless mankind and mankind doing its best to foul it up and make it hard for God to give us His blessings.
What a strange thing indeed! On one hand, we have God trying to bless us and on the other, we have mankind desiring the blessing but not receiving it. Thanks be to God who sent Jesus to enact the covenant and restore things to their rightful place through the sacrifice He made on the cross!
We know we don't deserve the goodness of God because of what we have done. Indeed we deserve the judgment Christ bore for us. But, God in His mercy, has made us His children and wants us to show His goodness to the rest of the world. The Lord reminds us in Deuteronomy 8:6-18, "Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; and land of wheat and barley, or vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.
Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today. Lest - when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them: and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage: who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water: who brought water for you out of the flinty rock: who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end - then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."
When you start to receive the blessings of the covenant, do not forget who it was who gave you those blessings and why they were given to you. It is a good thing to be in covenant with the living God. It is even a better thing to share that knowledge with someone else!
Deuteronomy 11:18-27 states, "Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them like the days of heaven above the earth. For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do - to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to hold fast to Him - then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.
Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand against you: the Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.
Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today."
So, let us study and remember our covenant. Let us share it with as many people as possible. Let us bring our desires before the Lord and thank Him for the things He has done for us. Let us have this confidence that all the things God has promised are true and they are for anyone who will come to Him and seek to follow His ways. His love for us is immeasurable and can not be put into words yet it is there and it is there for each one of us.
It is my hope that after reading this, you understand the goodness of God. I also hope that you can see the need to share this message with as many people as possible so that they too can see the goodness of God and His Son, Jesus.
Isaiah 55:6-12 says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man His thoughts; let Him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on Him; and to our God for He will abundantly pardon. 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, ' says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees shall clap their hands."
God's word will always accomplish its task and that is true for every word that He has spoken. Praise the Lord! Thank God that He gave us this word!
Every promise that God made, we can count to be true for everyone that seeks a right relationship with the Father. This includes partaking in His covenant. There is very little that I can add to what has already been written. I hope that this book encourages, enlightens, and empowers you.
My final prayer for you is what Paul prayed for the Ephesians. "Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come."
May you become a partaker of the Covenant and all of the blessings of our covenant with the Father. May you see the goodness of God in your life every day and may everyone around you see it in your life. I pray in the name of Jesus that this book has blessed you and that from this day forward your life will forever be changed for the good and that you shall pass your blessings on to your children and their children and to everyone you come in contact with.
"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26
The following outline should hopefully remind you in the future the steps you can take to participate in our coveneant of blessing.
1. Go to mass as often as possible and partake of the Holy Eucharist (our daily bread).
2. Pray at least 5 decades of the Holy Rosary daily.
3. Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet daily.
4.Pray the Stations of the Cross daily.
5. Pray for and intercede for the needs of others daily.
5. Perform deeds of mercy daily and weekly. This includes tithing.
6. Read the daily mass readings.
Grace and peace to you! Todd Rausch
How To Pray The Rosary
How to Pray the Rosary Diagram
Apostolic Letter on New Luminous Mysteries
Introduction
Joyful Mysteries
Luminous Mysteries
Sorrowful Mysteries
Glorious Mysteries
Prayers of the Rosary
Rosary Novenas
The Family Rosary
The First Five Saturdays
Introduction
The Rosary is divided into five decades. Each decade represents a mystery or event in the life of Jesus. There are four sets of "Mysteries of the Rosary" (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious). These four "Mysteries of the Rosary" therefore contain, a total of twenty mysteries. The Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries are then said on specific days of the week (see each set of mysteries below). During private recitation of the Rosary, each decade requires devout meditation on a specific mystery. Public recitation of the Rosary (two or more people), requires a leader to announce each of the mysteries before the decade, and start each prayer (see "The Family Rosary" below).
The Apostle's Creed is said on the Crucifix; the Our Father is said on each of the Large Beads; the Hail Mary is said on each of the Small Beads; the Glory Be after the three Hail Mary's at the beginning of the Rosary, and after each decade of Small Beads. In June 13, 1917, Our Lady asked that an additional prayer be added after each decade of the Rosary (see prayers at the end of this document). It is a prayer of forgiveness to Jesus and is said following the Glory Be after each decade only.
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The Joyful Mysteries
(Said on Mondays, Saturdays, Sundays of Advent, and Sundays from Epiphany until Lent)
First Joyful Mystery - The Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary
I Desire the Love Of Humility
Think of...
The humility of the Blessed Virgin when the Angel Gabriel greeted her with these words: "Hail full of grace".
Luke 1:26
Second Joyful Mystery - The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
I Desire Charity Toward My Neighbor
Think of...
Mary's charity in visiting her cousin Elizabeth and remaining with her for three months before the birth of John the Baptist.
Luke 1:39
Third Joyful Mystery - The Birth of Jesus
I Desire the Love of God
Think of...
The poverty, so lovingly accepted by Mary when she placed the Infant Jesus, our God and Redeemer, in a manger in the stable of Bethlehem.
Luke 2:1
Fourth Joyful Mystery - The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
I Desire a Spirit of Sacrifice
Think of...
Mary's obedience to the law of God in presenting the Child Jesus in the Temple.
Luke 2:22
Fifth Joyful Mystery - Finding Jesus in the Temple
I desire Zeal For The Glory Of God
Think of...
The deep sorrow with which Mary sought the Child Jesus for three days, and the joy with which she found Him in the midst of the Teachers of the Temple.
Luke 2:41
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The Sorrowful Mysteries
(Said on Tuesdays, Fridays, and daily from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday)
First Sorrowful Mystery - Agony of Jesus in the Garden
I Desire True Repentance for My Sins
Think of...
Our Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemani, suffering a bitter agony for our sins.
Matthew 26:36
Second Sorrowful Mystery - Jesus is Scourged at the Pillar
I Desire a Spirit of Mortification
Think of...
The cruel scourging at the pillar that our Lord suffered; the heavy blows that tore His flesh.
Matthew 27:26
Third Sorrowful Mystery - Jesus is Crowned With Thorns
I Desire Moral Courage.
Think of...
The crown of sharp thorns that was forced upon our Lord's Head and the patience with which He endured the pain for our sins.
Matthew 27:27
Fourth Sorrowful Mystery - Jesus Carries His Cross
I Desire the Virtue of Patience
Think of...
The heavy Cross, so willingly carried by our Lord, and ask Him to help you to carry your crosses without complaint.
Matthew 27:32
Fifth Sorrowful Mystery - The Crucifixion of Jesus
I Desire the Grace of Final Perseverance
Think of...
The love which filled Christ's Sacred Heart during His three hours' agony on the Cross, and ask Him to be with you at the hour of death.
Matthew 27:33
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The Glorious Mysteries
(Said on Wednesdays, and Sundays throughout the year)
First Glorious Mystery - The Resurrection of Jesus
I Desire a Strong Faith
Think of...
Christ's glorious triumph when, on the third day after His death, He arose from the tomb and for forty days appeared to His Blessed Mother and to His disciples.
John 20:1
Second Glorious Mystery - The Ascension of Jesus
I Desire the Virtue of Hope
Think of...
The Ascension of Jesus Christ, forty days after His glorious Resurrection, in the presence of Mary and His disciples.
Luke 24:36
Third Glorious Mystery - The Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
I Desire Zeal for the Glory of God
Think of...
The descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the Apostles, under the form of tongues of fire, in fulfillment of Christ's promise.
Acts 2:1
Fourth Glorious Mystery - The Assumption of Mary into Heaven
I Desire the Grace of a Holy Death
Think of...
The glorious Assumption of Mary into Heaven, when she was united with her Divine Son.
Fifth Glorious Mystery - The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth
I Desire a Greater Love for the Blessed Virgin Mary
Think of...
The glorious crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven by her Divine Son, to the great joy of all the Saints.
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The Luminous Mysteries
(Said on Thursdays throughout the year)
First Luminous Mystery - The Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan
And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Matthew 3:17
The Second Luminous Mystery - The Wedding at Cana, Christ Manifested
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.
John 2:11
The Third Luminous Mystery - the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
Mark 1:15
The Fourth Luminous Mystery - The Transfiguration of Jesus
And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.
Matthew 17:2
The Fifth Luminous Mystery - The Last Supper, the Holy Eucharist
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:26
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Prayers of the Rosary
Prayer Before The Rosary
Queen of the Holy Rosary, you have designed to come to Fatima and Medjugorje, to reveal to the three shepherd children and six visionaries, the treasures of grace hidden in the Rosary. Inspire my heart with a sincere love of this devotion, in order that by meditating on the Mysteries of our Redemption which are recalled in it, I may obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners, and the favor which I ask of you in this Rosary (Mention your request). I ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, especially for my own. Amen.
The Our Father:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
The Hail Mary:
Hail Mary, full of grace! the Lord is with thee; blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Prayer to Jesus Requested By Our Lady
O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, take all souls to Heaven, and help especially those most in need of Your mercy.
The Apostles' Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only Son, Our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Hail Holy Queen:
Hail! Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, O most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy towards us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus. O clement! O loving! O sweet Virgin Mary!
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Prayer After The Rosary
O God, whose only-begotten Son, by His life, death and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life; grant, we beseech Thee, that, meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Rosary Novenas
Religious devotion, public or private, for the duration of nine days to gain special graces, is called a Novena. Those who perform it with a lively hope of having their request granted, and with perfect faith and resignation if it be refused, may be assured that Christ will grant some grace or blessing. This requires an understanding that in His infinite wisdom and mercy, He may refuse the particular favor which is requested.
Novenas originated in imitation of the Apostles who were gathered together in prayer for nine days from the time of Our Lord's Ascension (to Heaven) until Pentecost Sunday (the descent of the Holy Spirit).
This practice of saying the Rosary nine times in the form of the Rosary Novena in petition or thanksgiving, is another way of heeding Our Lady's request to Pray the Rosary.
The 54 Day Novena Devotion which originated in 1884 at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompei, consists of the daily recitation of five decades of the Rosary (one complete Mystery: Joyful, Sorrowful, or Glorious) for twenty-seven days in petition and five decades for twenty-seven additional days in thanksgiving. You will actually be making three Novenas in petition for a particular favor and three Novenas in thanksgiving for a particular favor.
1st day say the 5 Joyful Mysteries
2nd day say the 5 Luminous Mysteries
3rd day say the 5 Sorrowful Mysteries
4th day say the 5 Glorious Mysteries
5th day begin again the 5 Joyful Mysteries, etc.
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The Family Rosary
The Family That Prays Together... Stays Together.
The family Rosary is the Rosary recited aloud together, by as many of the family and their friends as can be present. Any family (two or more people) may say the Family Rosary in any suitable place and at any time.
A leader says aloud the first part of each prayer; a second person or group of persons answers aloud the second part of the prayer.
To begin the Family Rosary, all hold the Crucifix of their Rosary in the right hand and make the Sign of the Cross.
The leader begins the Apostles' Creed and proceeds through the rest of the Rosary as shown on Page 2. The leader announces the Mystery before each decade. Five decades (one complete Mystery: Joyful, Sorrowful, or Glorious) should be recited each day.
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The Five First Saturdays
Mary's Great Promise at Fatima -
The Five First Saturdays are intended to honor and to make reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for all the blasphemes and ingratitude of men.
This devotion and the wonderful promises connected with it were revealed by the Blessed Virgin at Fatima, a small village in Portugal. Our lady appeared to three children there in 1917, and one of the little girls, Lucy, tells us that Our Lady said:
I promise to help at the hour of death, with the graces needed for salvation, whoever on the First Saturday of five consecutive months shall:
1. Confess and Receive Communion.
2. Recite five decades of the Rosary (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, or Glorious Mysteries)
3. Keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.
http://www.rosary-center.org/howto.htm
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FIFTEEN PROMISES OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
TO CHRISTIANS WHO FAITHFULLY PRAY THE ROSARY
1. To all those who shall pray my Rosary devoutly, I promise my special protection and great graces.
2. Those who shall persevere in the recitation of my Rosary will receive some special grace.
3. The Rosary will be a very powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, deliver from sin and dispel heresy.
4. The rosary will make virtue and good works flourish, and will obtain for souls the most abundant divine mercies. It will draw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. Those who trust themselves to me through the Rosary will not perish.
6. Whoever recites my Rosary devoutly reflecting on the mysteries, shall never be overwhelmed by misfortune. He will not experience the anger of God nor will he perish by an unprovided death. The sinner will be converted; the just will persevere in grace and merit eternal life.
7. Those truly devoted to my Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite my Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces and will share in the merits of the blessed.
9. I will deliver promptly from purgatory souls devoted to my Rosary.
10. True children of my Rosary will enjoy great glory in heaven.
11. What you shall ask through my Rosary you shall obtain.
12. To those who propagate my Rosary I promise aid in all their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Rosary Confraternity shall have as their intercessors, in life and in death, the entire celestial court.
14. Those who recite my Rosary faithfully are my beloved children, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion to my Rosary is a special sign of predestination.
http://www.rosary-center.org/howto.htm
How to Recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
The Chaplet of Mercy is recited using ordinary rosary beads of five decades. The Chaplet is preceded by two opening prayers from the Diary of Saint Faustina and followed by a closing prayer.
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1. Make the Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. Optional Opening Prayers
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!
3. Our Father
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen.
4. Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.
5. The Apostle's Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
6. The Eternal Father
Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
7. On the Ten Small Beads of Each Decade
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
8. Repeat for the remaining decades
Saying the "Eternal Father" (6) on the "Our Father" bead and then 10 "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion" (7) on the following "Hail Mary" beads.
9. Conclude with Holy God (Repeat three times)
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
10. Optional Closing Prayer
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy
The Lord said to Blessed Faustina:
"You will recite this chaplet on the beads of the Rosary in the following manner:"
First of all, you will say one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and the I Believe In God.
Then: On the Our Father Beads you will say the following words:
Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
On the Hail Mary Beads you will say the following words:
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
In conclusion ThreeTimes you will recite these words:
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. (Diary, 476)
Our Lord said to Blessed Faustine:
Unceasingly recite this chaplet that I have taught you. Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death ... Priest will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even the most hardened sinner, if he recites this chaplet even once, will receive grace from My infinite mercy (687) ... Oh, what great graces I will grant to souls who will recite this chaplet (848) ... Through the chaplet you will obtain anything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will (1731) ... I want the whole world to know My infinite mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in My mercy (687).
Speak, Lord . . . Your Servant Listens +++
Prayer is, in the strictest sense, a humble religious petition of man to God to seek divine benevolence and benefits he needs for life, both temporal and eternal. It is a conversation with God, either by accepted prayer forms, or from the heart. Here, then, in conversational verse, is a hypothetical talk the Lord might have with us, His children..........
It is not necessary my child, to know much in order to please me much; it is enough that you love me fervently. Speak here to me then, as you would speak to your most intimate friend, to your mother, to your brother.
So, you want to ask me to do something for someone? Tell me his name. Is it your parents, your brothers, your friends? Tell me what you want me to do for them now. Ask much, very much: do not hesitate to ask. I love generous hearts who somehow can come to forget themselves to look after the needs of others. Speak sincerely to me then, of the poor you would console, of the sick you see suffering, of the strayed you yearn to see return to the right path, of those absent friends you want at your side again. Say at least one word for each, the ardent word of a friend. Remind me that I have promised to listen to every petition that arises from the heart, and is not a prayer for those whom your heart especially loves such a pray?
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy as a Novena
The Chaplet can be said anytime, but the Lord specifically asked that it be recited as a novena. He promised, "By this Novena (of Chaplets), I will grant every possible grace to souls."
For each of the nine days, our Lord gave Saint Faustina a different intention: all mankind, especially sinners; the souls of priests and religious; all devout and faithful souls; those who do not believe in God and those who do not yet know Jesus; the souls who have separated themselves from the Church; the meek and humble souls and the souls of little children; the souls who especially venerate and glorify His mercy; the souls detained in purgatory; and souls who have become lukewarm.
"I desire that during these nine days you bring souls to the fountain of My mercy, that they may draw therefrom strength and refreshment and whatever grace they have need of in the hardships of life, and especially at the hour of death."
We, too, can make a novena of prayer for these intentions and others, especially by praying the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy.
Intentions for Each Day of the Novena
First Day
Today bring to Me ALL MANKIND, ESPECIALLY ALL SINNERS
Most Merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart, and never let us escape from it. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy, that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy for ever and ever. Amen.
Second Day
Today bring to Me THE SOULS OF PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS
Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service, that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard–upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.
Third Day
Today bring to Me ALL DEVOUT AND FAITHFUL SOULS
Most Merciful Jesus, from the treasury of Your mercy You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and all. Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from it. We beg this of You by that most wondrous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon faithful souls, as upon the inheritance of Your Son. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection. Thus may they never fail in love or lose the treasure of the holy faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify your boundless mercy for endless ages. Amen.
Fourth Day
Today bring to Me THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN GOD AND THOSE WHO DO NOT YET KNOW ME
Most compassionate Jesus, You are the Light of the whole world. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who do not believe in God and of those who as yet do not know You. Let the rays of Your grace enlighten them that they, too, together with us, may extol Your wonderful mercy; and do not let them escape from the abode which is Your Most Compassionate Heart.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who do not believe in You, and of those who as yet do not know You, but who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Draw them to the light of the Gospel. These souls do not know what great happiness it is to love You. Grant that they, too, may extol the generosity of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.
Fifth Day
Today bring to Me THE SOULS OF THOSE WHO HAVE SEPARATED THEMSELVES FROM MY CHURCH
Most Merciful Jesus, Goodness Itself, You do not refuse light to those who seek it of You. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who have separated themselves from Your Church. Draw them by Your light into the unity of the Church, and do not let them escape from the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart; but bring it about that they, too, come to glorify the generosity of Your mercy.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who have separated themselves from Your Son's Church, who have squandered Your blessings and misused Your graces by obstinately persisting in their errors. Do not look upon their errors, but upon the love of Your own Son and upon His bitter Passion, which He underwent for their sake, since they, too, are enclosed in His Most Compassionate Heart. Bring it about that they also may glorify Your great mercy for endless ages. Amen.
Sixth Day
Today bring to Me THE MEEK AND HUMBLE SOULS AND THE SOULS OF LITTLE CHILDREN
Most Merciful Jesus, You yourself have said, "Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart." Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart all meek and humble souls and the souls of little children. These souls send all heaven into ecstasy and they are the heavenly Father's favorites. They are a sweet-smelling bouquet before the throne of God; God himself takes delight in their fragrance. These souls have a permanent abode in Your Most Compassionate Heart, O Jesus, and they unceasingly sing out a hymn of love and mercy.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon meek souls, upon humble souls, and upon little children who are enfolded in the abode which is the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls bear the closest resemblance to Your Son. Their fragrance rises from the earth and reaches Your very throne. Father of mercy and of all goodness, I beg You by the love You bear these souls and by the delight You take in them: Bless the whole world, that all souls together may sing out the praises of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.
Seventh Day
Today bring to Me THE SOULS WHO ESPECIALLY VENERATE AND GLORIFY MY MERCY
Most Merciful Jesus, whose Heart is Love Itself, receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who particularly extol and venerate the greatness of Your mercy. These souls are mighty with the very power of God Himself. In the midst of all afflictions and adversities they go forward, confident of Your mercy; and united to You, O Jesus, they carry all mankind on their shoulders. These souls will not be judged severely, but Your mercy will embrace them as they depart from this life.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls who glorify and venerate Your greatest attribute, that of Your fathomless mercy, and who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls are a living Gospel; their hands are full of deeds of mercy, and their hearts, overflowing with joy, sing a canticle of mercy to You, O Most High! I beg You O God: Show them Your mercy according to the hope and trust they have placed in You. Let there be accomplished in them the promise of Jesus, who said to them that during their life, but especially at the hour of death, the souls who will venerate this fathomless mercy of His, He, Himself, will defend as His glory. Amen.
Eighth Day
Today bring to Me THE SOULS WHO ARE DETAINED IN PURGATORY
Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.
Ninth Day
Today bring to Me SOULS WHO HAVE BECOME LUKEWARM
Most compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself. I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love let these tepid souls, who like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love, and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Father of Mercy, I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His three-hour agony on the Cross: Let them, too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy. Amen.
http://www.catholicity.com/prayer/divinemercy.html
Stations of the Cross
A Printer-Friendly Version of the Stations of the Cross on the "Online Ministries" web site.
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/stations.html
Why do the Stations?
The most important reason for reviving the practice of making the Stations of the Cross is that it is a powerful way to contemplate, and enter into, the mystery of Jesus' gift of himself to us. It takes the reflection on the passion out of my head, and makes it an imaginative exercise. It involves my senses, my experience and my emotions. To the extent I come to experience the love of Jesus for me, to that extent the gratitude I feel will be deep. Deep gratitude leads to real generosity and a desire to love as I have been loved. First, just a note about the history of the stations:
The History:
From the earliest of days, followers of Jesus told the story of his passion, death and resurrection. When pilgrims came to see Jerusalem, they were anxious to see the sites where Jesus was. These sites become important holy connections with Jesus. Eventually, following in the footsteps of the Lord, along the way of the cross, became a part of the pilgrimage visit. The stations, as we know them today, came about when it was no longer easy or even possible to visit the holy sites. In the 1500's, villages all over Europe started creating "replicas" of the way of the cross, with small shrines commemorating the places along the route in Jerusalem. Eventually, these shrines became the set of 14 stations we now know and were placed in almost every Catholic Church in the world.
Why Put Them On the Web?
We do this for the same reason we have done the Daily Reflections and the Online Retreat on the web - accessibility. It would be wonderful if each of us would find the time to explore our church, or a classic church in town, and make the stations there, going from station to station. However, it is much easier to imagine almost anyone with a computer going through these stations, any time, day or night.
What if I have never made the Stations before?
Go to the page on "How to do the Stations" and see how simple it is. On the web, it's easy. I can do one a day, for two weeks. I can do several at a time, and just do them, when I get a chance. I can do all 14 at a time, and return to them in my prayer and imagination as I do them.
The most important thing to remember is that this can be as personal as I'd like it to be. One of our common religious struggles is to realize that we are not alone. The Good News is that Jesus entered into our life's experience completely - even suffering and death - and that he fell into the hands of a Loving God, who raised him from death to life. We can have complete hope that suffering and death have no complete hold on us. We will all share eternal life with him, if we can fall into the hands of the same Loving God. And, along the way, we are not alone. Jesus is with as one who knows our suffering, and the death we face. That can be deeply consoling.
So try the stations, and experience the consolation they offer. And return often, to be renewed in this intimate experience of Jesus' solidarity with all humanity in our way of the cross each day.
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How to do the Stations?
Making the stations is easy. And, we tried to make this online experience of them an easy adaptation of what one would do, if doing them in a church before real stations.
The Context:
The first point to note is that this is prayer. It isn't an intellectual exercise. It is in the context of my relationship with God. I could read through the text of each of the stations, and look at the pictures, but that wouldn't necessarily be prayer. This is an invitation to enter into a gifted faith experience of who Jesus is for me. It becomes prayer when I open my heart to be touched, and it leads me to express my response in prayer.
The second thing to remember is that this is an imaginative exercise. Its purpose is not a historical examination of "what really happened" on that day in history. It's about something far more profound. This is an opportunity to use this long standing Christian prayer to let Jesus touch my heart deeply by showing me the depth of his love for me. The context is the historical fact that he was made to carry the instrument of his death, from the place where he was condemned to die, to Calvary where he died, and that he was taken down and laid in a tomb. The religious context is that today Jesus wants to use any means available to move my heart to know his love for me. These exercises can allow me to imaginatively visualize the "meaning" of his passion and death.
The point of this exercise is to lead us to gratitude. It will also lead us into a sense of solidarity with all our brothers and sisters. In our busy, high tech lives we can easily get out of touch with the terrible suffering of real people in our world. Journeying with Jesus in the Stations, allows us to imagine his entry into the experience of those who are tortured, unjustly accused or victimized, sitting on death row, carrying impossible burdens, facing terminal illnesses, or simply fatigued with life.
How to:
Just go from one station to another. When "arriving" at a station, begin by looking carefully at the image itself. Click on the image there to enlarge the photo. See who is in the scene. Look at how they are arranged and what the artist who created this image is trying to tell us about the drama there.
This online version is divided into four parts:
• The first part is a simple description of the scene. It helps us be conscious of what the "meaning" of this station is for us.
• The second part is the traditional prayer at each station. Its words become more and more meaningful as we repeat them throughout the journey.
• The third part is the contemplation of the scene. This is a guided reflection on the power of the scene for me, to enter it more deeply and to lead to some experience of it personally.
• The fourth part is my response. This is expressed in my own words. It is the place where the sorrow and gratitude flow from my heart.
When to do them:
The beauty of the online version is that I can do the stations whenever I like. The only guide we'd offer is to not rush through them. Just reading through them is not making them, any more than walking around a church to look at them is making them. It could be a wonderful prayer experience to do them as only one or two stations a day for one or two weeks. It can also be powerful to do all 14, very prayerfully, over the course of 40 minutes to an hour, in a single evening, or to do seven one night and seven the following night. Finally, it can be wonderful to return to the experience several weeks or months later, and discover that because of some struggle or difficulty I am experiencing, the stations become a different experience and a fresh experience of consolation.
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The First Station: Jesus is condemned to die.
Jesus stands in the most human of places. He has already experienced profound solidarity with so many on this earth, by being beaten and tortured. Now he is wrongfully condemned to punishment by death. His commitment to entering our lives completely begins its final steps. He has said "yes" to God and placed his life in God's hands. We follow him in this final surrender, and contemplate with reverence each place along the way, as he is broken and given for us.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
As I view the scene, I become moved by both outrage and gratitude.
I look at Jesus. His face. The crown of thorns. The blood. His clothes stuck to the wounds on his back.
Pilate washes his hands of the whole affair. Jesus' hands are tied behind his back.
This is for me. That I might be free. That I might have eternal life.
As the journey begins I ask to be with Jesus. To follow his journey. I express my love and thanks.
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The Second Station: Jesus Carries His Cross.
Jesus is made to carry the cross on which he will die. It represents the weight of all our crosses. What he must have felt as he first took it upon his shoulders! With each step he enters more deeply into our human experience. He walks in the path of human misery and suffering, and experiences its crushing weight.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
I contemplate the wood of that cross. I imagine how heavy it is. I reflect upon all it means that Jesus is carrying it.
I look into his eyes. It's all there.
This is for me. So I place myself with him in this journey. In its anguish. In his freedom and surrender. In the love that must fill his heart.
With sorrow and gratitude, I continue the journey. Moved by the power of his love, I am drawn to him and express my love in the words that come to me.
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The Third Station: Jesus Falls the First Time.
The weight is unbearable. Jesus falls under it. How could he enter our lives completely without surrendering to the crushing weight of the life of so many on this earth! He lays on the ground and knows the experience of weakness beneath unfair burdens. He feels the powerlessness of wondering if he will ever be able to continue. He is pulled up and made to continue.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
I stare at the weakness in his eyes. I can look at his whole body and see the exhaustion.
As I behold him there on the ground, being roughly pulled up, I know forever how profoundly he understands my fatigue and my defeats.
This is for me. In grief and gratitude I want to let him remain there. As I watch him stand again and gain an inner strength, I accept his love and express my thanks.
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The Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Mother.
Jesus' path takes him to a powerful source of his strength to continue. All his life, his mother had taught him the meaning of the words, "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord." Now they look into each other's eyes. How pierced-through her heart must be! How pained he must be to see her tears! Now, her grace-filled smile blesses his mission and stirs his heart to its depth. Love and trust in God bind them together.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
As I watch them in this place along the way, I contemplate the mystery of love's power to give strength.
She knows the sorrow in every mother's heart, who has lost a child to tragedy or violence.
I look at the two of them very carefully, and long for such love and such peace.
This is for me. Such incredible freedom. The availability of a servant. I find the words to express what is in my heart.
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The Fifth Station: Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross.
Jesus even experiences our struggle to receive help. He is made to experience the poverty of not being able to carry his burden alone. He enters into the experience of all who must depend upon others to survive. He is deprived of the satisfaction of carrying this burden on his own.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
I look into his face and contemplate his struggle. His weariness and fragility. His impotence.
I see how he looks at Simon, with utmost humility and gratitude.
This is for me. So I feel anguish and gratitude. I express my thanks that he can continue this journey. That he has help. That he knows my inability to carry my burden alone.
I say what is in my heart, with deep feeling.
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The Sixth Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus.
Jesus' journey is at times brutal. He has entered into the terrible experiences of rejection and injustice. He has been whipped and beaten. His face shows the signs of his solidarity with all who have ever suffered injustice and vile, abusive treatment. He encounters a compassionate, loving disciple who wipes the vulgar spit and mocking blood from his face. On her veil, she discovers the image of his face - his gift to her. And, for us to contemplate forever.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
What does the face of Jesus hold for me? What do I see, as I look deeply into his face?
Can I try to comfort the agony and pain? Can I embrace him, with his face so covered with his passion?
The veil I behold is a true icon of his gift of himself. This is for me. In wonder and awe, I behold his face now wiped clean, and see the depth of his suffering in solidarity with all flesh.
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The Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time.
Even with help, Jesus stumbles and falls to the ground. In deep exhaustion he stares at the earth beneath him. "Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return." He has seen death before. Now he can feel the profound weakness of disability and disease and aging itself, there on his knees, under the weight of his cross.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
I contemplate Jesus brought very low. As I behold him there on the ground, with all the agony taking its toll on him, I let my heart go out to him.
I store up this image in my heart, knowing that I will never feel alone in my suffering or in any diminishment, with this image of Jesus on the ground before me.
This is for me, so I express the feelings in my heart.
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The Eighth Station: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem.
The women of Jerusalem, and their children, come out to comfort and thank him. They had seen his compassion and welcomed his words of healing and freedom. He had broken all kinds of social and religious conventions to connect with them. Now they are here to support him. He feels their grief. He suffers, knowing he can't remain to help them more in this life. He knows the mystery of facing the separation of death.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
I look at their faces. So full of love and gratitude, loss and fear. I contemplate what words might have passed between them.
I remember all his tender, compassionate, merciful love for me. I place myself with these women and children to support him.
This is for me. So, I let this scene stir up deep gratitude.
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The Ninth Station: Jesus Falls the Third Time.
This last fall is devastating. Jesus can barely proceed to the end. Summoning all this remaining strength, supported by his inner trust in God, Jesus collapses under the weight of the cross. His executioners look at him as a broken man, pathetic yet paying a price he deserves. They help him up so he can make it up the hill of crucifixion.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
I pause to contemplate him there on the ground. The brokeness that makes me whole. The surrender that gives me life.
I pause to experience and receive how completely he loves me. He is indeed completely poured out for me.
As I treasure this gifted experience, I express what is in my heart.
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The Tenth Station: Jesus is Stripped.
Part of the indignity is to be crucified naked. Jesus is completely stripped of any pride The wounds on his back are torn open again. He experiences the ultimate vulnerability of the defenseless. No shield or security protects him. As they stare at him, his eyes turn to heaven.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
I pause to watch the stripping. I contemplate all that is taken from him. And, how he faces his death with such nakedness.
I reflect upon how much of himself he has revealed to me. Holding nothing back.
As I look at him in his humility, I know that this is for me, and I share my feelings of gratitude.
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The Eleventh Station: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross.
Huge nails are hammered through his hands and feet to fix him on the cross. He is bleeding much more seriously now. As the cross is lifted up, the weight of his life hangs on those nails. Every time he struggles to pull himself up to breathe, his ability to cling to life slips away.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
I make myself watch the nails being driven through his flesh. And I watch his face.
I contemplate the completeness of his entry into our lives. Can there be any pain or agony he would not understand?
This is for me. Nailed to a cross to forever proclaim liberty to captives. What sorrow and gratitude fill my heart!
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The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies On The Cross.
Between two criminals, a mocking title above his head, with only Mary and John and Mary Magdalene to support him, Jesus surrenders his last breath: "Into your hands I commend my spirit."
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
I stand there, at the foot of the cross, side by side with all of humanity, and behold our salvation.
I carefully watch and listen to all that is said.
And then, I experience the one who gives life pass from life to death, for me. I console Mary and John and Mary. And let them console me.
This is the hour to express the deepest feelings within me.
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The Thirteenth Station: Jesus Is Taken Down From The Cross.
What tender mourning! Jesus' lifeless body lays in his mother's arms. He has truly died. A profound sacrifice, complete.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
I behold this scene at the foot of the cross. I contemplate touching, caressing his body. I remember all his hands have touched, all who have been blessed by his warm embrace.
I pause to let it soak in. He knows the mystery of death. He has fallen into God's hands.
For me. That I might love as I have been loved. I pour out my heart to the God of all mercies.
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The Fourteenth Station: Jesus Is Laid In The Tomb.
They take the body of Jesus to its resting place. The huge stone over the tomb is the final sign of the permanence of death. In this final act of surrender, who would have imagined this tomb would soon be empty or that Jesus would show himself alive to his disciples, or that they would recognize him in the breaking of bread? Oh, that our hearts might burn within us, as we realize how he had to suffer and die so as to enter into his glory, for us.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
I pause to contemplate this act of closure on his life. In solidarity with all humanity, his body is taken to its grave.
I stand for a moment outside this tomb. This final journey of his life has shown me the meaning of his gift of himself for me. This tomb represents every tomb I stand before with fear, in defeat, struggling to believe it could ever be empty.
In the fullness of faith in the Risen One, given by his own Holy Spirit, I express my gratitude for this way of the cross. I ask Jesus, whose hands, feet and side still bear the signs of this journey, to grant me the graces I need to take up my cross to be a servant of his own mission.
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http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/stations-how.html
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