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Volume 33   Number 41 Oct 11, 2009

        Genesis 15:1,5-6: After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward… Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
        This reminds us of the message last week on “GOD IS WRITING A NEW HISTORY FOR YOU.” The following song comes from the above verses we have just read in Genesis.

Get out of your tent. I’ll show you, My son, the stars of the sky.
Get out of your tent. I’ll show you, My son, the sands of the sea.
Can you count it? Can you imagine it?
Everything I have dreamed for you, My son,
What My hands have done for you, My son,
My blessing will be over you.

A New Story God has for you.
A New Time God has for you.
Everything that has been lost,
I hear from you. I will bless you.

        Genesis 15:12-18 tells us that God put Abraham to sleep, and God made a Covenant with Himself on Abraham’s behalf. God did not want to give Abraham the opportunity to mess things up---or you could say, God did not want to give mankind the opportunity to mess up this Covenant. So God made a Covenant with Himself on our behalf to guarantee our future and purpose.
        Genesis 22:15-17: Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
        Remember that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, which is recorded in Genesis 22:1-14. The very thing Abraham had waited for, the promise he had longed for, and the ability to fulfill his future, Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac. God made a provision, and said that because Abraham did not withhold his son, He would bless him. Verse 14 says that Abraham called that place where God provided for his need “Jehovah-Jireh.” And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
        The theme for our International Ministries Conference is Psalm 105:8: He has remembered His COVENANT forever, the WORD which He commanded, for a THOUSAND GENERATIONS.
        Within Psalm 105, there are some amazing facts we need to look at. Verses 11-12: …saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance,” when they were but few in number, indeed, very few, and strangers in it. God was preparing His people, and even though they were few in number, that did not change the purpose of God for them.
        Verses 17-19: He sent a man before them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. Until the time that his word (logos: word of promise) came to pass, the word (rhema: spoken word) of the Lord tested him. This seems to be the norm in the Kingdom of God in the realms of the Spirit.
        When you get a promise, as did Abraham, there is going to be a time of testing, proving, pruning, and preparing. When God gives a word or promise, there will be a time when the word of the Lord—even the rhema or spoken, anointed word—is going to test you. Abraham was willing to lay down his promise to obey God. How about you?
        Read the entire chapter of Isaiah 55. Here is a brief over-view. Verse 1 speaks of those who are thirsty for God, and Verse 2 speaks of those who are hungry for God. These are two KEYS which will open the purpose of God for you. In Verse 3, we see again the covenant: Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you… He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying.
        Verse 5 says: …Nations who do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God… Even here at Bread of Life, we have seen this take place. Verse 6: Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Seek God’s presence; seek His face. Verse 7: Let the wicked (those who are wrong or lawless) forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. It is time to start acting right and thinking right.
        Verses 8-9: “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.” Stop thinking like man, and start thinking like God. After all, if you are in Christ then you have the mind of Christ.
        Verses 10-11: “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.” When you speak the word of the Lord, then it will produce what God said. We are reminded of Romans 10:17: So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (this is the spoken word, not written; the rhema word).
        Verse 12 says that we are to go out in joy (the joy of the Lord is your strength), and be led in peace. Set your heart to stay in peace. Even the mountains and hills will break forth into singing, and the trees (creation) shall clap their hands. Verse 13 speaks of the fir tree (prosperity and fruitfulness) and the myrtle tree (perfume, worship, and divine presence).
        There are almost 300 scriptures which speak of Covenant. Isaiah 55:3 speaks of the Everlasting Covenant. Luke 1:72-73 is the Holy Covenant: To perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham. Hebrews 8:6 is the Better Covenant: But now has He obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. 2 Corinthians 1:20: For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
        Romans 4:17-22: …(as it is written, “I have made you (Abraham) a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”
        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. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
        Hebrews 6:13-15: For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
        Now for us, we have the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood. 1 Corinthians 11:25: In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
        This takes us back to the theme for our International Ministries Conference. Psalm 105:8: He has remembered His COVENANT forever, the WORD which He commanded, for a THOUSAND GENERATIONS.