Genesis 15. God's Covenant with Abram. How precious that God initiates a covenant with Abraham! The God who made Abraham now makes a promise to Abraham to bless him, keep him, to give him many descendants, and to be God to Abraham and his descendants (See Genesis 17).
I love what God says to Abram in Genesis 15:1, " . . . Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." Look also at Isaiah 41:8-10 as the covenant with Abraham and his descendants continues, "But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away; Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'"
Do not be afraid. I have chosen you. I have not cast you away. Fear not. I am with you. Do not be dismayed. I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
Wow. That last paragraph needs to be posted to our refrigerator and facebook walls. I am going to think of those phrases as covenant words. The things God says to me to remind me He is here to stay. I think the point is: God loves me. God will keep His covenant with me.
Genesis 15:6 says that Abraham believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. Abraham just took that step of faith which was merely to believe. And, God accomplished all the rest. I believe God also gave Abraham the ability to trust and believe that what God said was true.
I have to end today just publicly thanking God for His blessings. I talked in earlier blogs about the importance of following after Jesus in your youth. I am blessed this year with a high school choir who are doing just that. My co-teacher and I started this year ending most days of class with a brief devotional thought and/or prayer. The students now are the ones who make sure we end each class with a prayer circle. They are a blessing to my heart each day I get to be with them.
