ICS Daily Devotions
Covenant of Love
Gen 15:8 And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”
The covenant God established with Abram is the highest form of commitment and love – in it there is absolute security. God is saying that He will be faithful to bring the promise to pass and nobody is able to hinder it.
It’s called the covenant of love. Abram asked God: “how shall I know I will inherit” what has been promised to him. At that time, in their advanced age, Abram and Sarai were still childless and had doubts about having children. However, God remedied his anxiety through a “covenant” by declaring that all his descendants would be as vast as the stars. Through this covenant, God is making a commitment to bless all the nations and families of the earth.
A covenant, especially a “blood covenant” is defined as an obligation between two parties, which cannot be broken. It is a promise to give them your life, love and your protection forever. If a covenant partner fails to fulfill the covenant obligation, there is a curse that comes with breaking the covenant. It is not in God’s nature to not fulfill His promise and He will not allow Himself to be cursed for not observing the covenant.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
What our covenant partner possesses also belongs to us. And peace is one of them. It is God’s will for us to have His divine peace. Our daily worries and anxiety is not part of God’s plan for us. With His peace, nothing can be shaken, disrupted, and destroyed in our lives – as long as we stay focused on God and trust in Him, His peace will be present in all of our circumstances.
Num 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Romans 4:19-22 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Abraham did not walk by sight nor by his feelings but anchored his faith in God’s covenantal words. Rationalism underestimates the integrity of God’s word. He did not waver at the promise of God despite of their physical inabilities. He chose to believe and have faith in God. His faith was strengthened based on God’s covenant. Our faith should also be built on God’s word and promises. He was convinced by God’s word. Are we convinced by God’s word today? We should leave it to God to bring His promises to pass in our lives rather than fret over it.
We cannot overcome fear, anxiety, worries, and concerns with our own strength, but we are to fully surrender it to God who gives us victory. We can cast our cares on Him when we understand that In Christ we are able to drive out the fear and that God’s peace belongs to us.
Sermon Series: God’s Peace
