A covenant is an agreement between two parties; binding both parties in the fulfillment of their agreement in order for it to be valid. In marriage, the agreement “Until death us part” is confirmed by a ring. The world will know by noticing the ring on our finger that we belong to someone as a husband or wife united by covenanting with each other. In the case of unfaithfulness, the covenant is broken; therefore, no longer the other party is obligated to hold unto it. In this covenant, God said, “Two shall be one flesh.” So, we see the pain that divorce causes goes intrinsically into the soul of the family for years to come, specially of the children, whose hurt cannot be healed, because they were part of the marriage covenant, as “in one flesh.” Marriage covenant kept them secure, binding them together in the strength of that covenant that God established. God expressively shows His displeasure about divorce saying, “And this you do with double guilt; you cover the altar of the Lord with tears and with weeping and crying out because the Lord does not regard your offering any more or accept it with favor at your hand, yet, you ask, Why does He reject it? Because the Lord was witness [to the covenant made at your marriage] between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously and to whom you were faithless. Yet, she is your companion and the wife of your covenant [made by your marriage vows] And did not God make [you and your wife] one [flesh]? Did not One make and preserve your spirit alive? And why [did God make you two] one? Because He sought a godly offspring [from your union]. Therefore, take heed to yourselves, and no one deal treacherously and be faithless to the wife of his youth” (Mal. 2:13-15). Divorce breaks the peace that the covenant provided, which is the glue that keeps the family together, glowing His will on earth as it is in heaven. It leaves God out, resulting in confusion of understanding of His purpose from generation to generation.
Author: Jacinta da Cruz Rodgers
I have been committed to teaching the truth of the Word of God beginning with Trans World Radio on Bonaire, N.A and Swaziland, Africa (1969-1980), then through churches in the United States in both English and Portuguese and then through ministry in Israel (2005-2006). This ministry continues through local Bible studies and outreach to the world via the internet.
I have written a book about my life from that of an orphan in Brazil to missionary in 5 countries. You can find out more on the "Book" page of our blog site.
Blessed Be the Glory of the Lord
In the Old Testament, the presence of the glory of the Lord was visible by fire, thick clouds, great earth quake. These phenomena happened when God came down to Mount Sinai to covenant with Israel (Exo. 19:18). We read in Exodus 19:18 the following: “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. Israel reacted to this with fear and trembling, saying to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die; and the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was” (Exodus 20:19,21). The glory of the Lord is His holiness. No man can comfortably experience the glory of the Lord and be the same as before. When the holy meets the unholy there will be shock, shame and fear. For man’s nature is sinful from his birth. When Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord, He described it saying, I say the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. And the skirts of His train filled the temple; above Him stood the seraphim; each had six wings; with the two [each] covered his face, and with two [each] covered his feet, ad with two [each] flew. A one cried to another sand said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory! And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone and ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of host! “Woe is me” was the expression of conviction Isaiah experienced when beholding the glory of the Lord.
“Blessed is the glory of the Lord” should be the declaration of every person that beholds it. For Isaiah, it came in its glorious manifestation of God Himself. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, was the sound of praise that came from the seraphim in adoration to God’s holiness. “The Lord of hosts” is a title for YAHSHUA. Isaiah was indeed on holy ground. Seraphim are six-winged powerful angels. Who surrender the throne of God declaring the holiness of God. They are fiery angels. Isaiah received forgiveness when he repented and one of the Seraphim came to him with a live coal in his hand; with it he touched his mouth and said, Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity and guilt are taken away, and your sin is completely atoned for and forgiven (Isaiah 6:6-7). That was the Glory of God manifested through forgiveness and cleansings of his sins. “Then he heard the voice of the Lord, saying, whom shall I send? And who will go for us? (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit). Then said Isaiah, Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 68-9). Joshua also experienced the glory when seeing a Man standing near him with His drawn sword in His hand. Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What says my Lord to His servant? He said, Loose your shoes from off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy” (Joshua 5:13-15). He surrendered to God and He instructed him on what to do next, which was the destruction of Jericho.
A Wedding and One Hundred- Eighty Gallons of Wine
The first wedding ceremony was performed by God Himself in a beautiful garden, called the Garden of Eden. Since Adam was created before Eve, there was not found a helper meet for him fit to be his wife. God however, performed an astounding act to make this happen. He caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and while he slept, He took one of his ribs or a part of his side and closed up the flesh. And the rib or part of his side which the Lord God had taken from the man, He built up and made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. Then Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of a man. (Gen. 2:21-23). Adam’s rib constituted a covenant that united the two to be one. They were one in the flesh, one in body in God’s plans for them. The beauty of this union is very significant for today’s confusing life style, for God didn’t create two women, or two men to unite them as husbands and wives, but one male and one female in order to procreate and fill the earth. Constituted by God, the first wedding was sealed by Him, saying, therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall become united and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Gen. 2:24). Adam woke up from surgery pleasantly surprised seeing what God had brought him out of his own body. He then called her Woman, for she was taken from him. She was created for him to be a help mate. Life was complete for Adam. In perfect harmony Adam and Eve lived happily in that beautiful garden, until sin entered into their souls. And their lives became what we experience today.
In the New Testament, John chapter 2, the story is told that YAHSHUA was invited to a wedding, perhaps his mother’s family. The incarnated God, Who performed the first wedding in a garden, was now performing His first sign at the beginning of His ministry by participating in the celebration of the wedding, when providing a new wine at the end of the old one, – an ample supply of one hundred eighty gallons! (John 2:6) It was not just a wine as usual at a wedding celebration; It was a wine that symbolized the new covenant- the covenant of blood, which was to be made reality at the shedding of His blood for our redemption. It was the new covenant when Jews and gentiles would be as one in the sight of God, in His purpose of their salvation. As the bridegroom of His church, YAHSHUA was going to pay for His bride’s redemption with His own blood. But it is necessary for His bride to be a willing bride, as it was in the case of Rebecca, who was willing to leave family behind to be Isaac’s bride. YAHSHUA became the bridegroom of whosoever will accept His gift of redemption. When the time comes, He will come back to fetch His sanctified bride as she is now being sanctified by the Holy Spirit; She will be presented to Him blameless and holy. Indwelt by the Holy Spirit, He constitutes the guarantee of her salvation. As a ring guarantees the bride of her bridegroom’s commitment to her, so, the Holy Spirit seals us with the engagement ring guaranteeing our salvation. Revelation registers the future wedding of YAHSHUA with His bride by saying, Let us rejoice and shout for joy; let us celebrate and ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself. She has been permitted to dress in fine linen, dazzling and white- for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. That was the result of the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification. Now glorified, the bride of Christ became as He is in holiness (Rev. 19:7-8).
Insecurity, An Enemy of the Soul
Insecurity, a spirit that hinders and handicaps humankind, is often accepted as normal and in a sympathetic attitude, the world embraces it by providing ways for it to develop even further. When we utter the words, “I can’t do it” we are declaring weakness of insecurity controlling every move we must make to be successful. It is in some way, fear of failure. It manifests itself in many ways unknown to most of us. Saul, the first king of Israel, is an example of it. Chosen to be king, Saul was “tall, dark and handsome,” as we would describe him today. The Bible describes him as, A choice young man and handsome; among all the Israelites there was not a man more handsome than he. He was a head taller than any of the people (I Sam. 9:2). However, as they say, “Don’t judge the book by its cover,” Saul fits well in this situation. Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin from a well-to-do family. His father was “a mighty man of wealth and valor.” But Saul had a problem following God’s directions. As important as they were, he disregarded them to do what he thought best. He was forty years old when he began to reign. From the beginning, Saul showed his insecurity when he wouldn’t wait for Samuel to do his job of a priest that of offering to the Lord the burnt offering. He took the liberty to do it himself. Samuel then told him, You have done foolishly! You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God which He commanded you; for the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever; but now your kingdom shall not continue; the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and the Lord has commanded him to be prince and ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you (I Sam. 13). In another situation of war with the Amalekites when the Lord sent him on a mission to utterly destroy the Amalekites and fight against them until they were consumed (I Sam. 15). Saul again went his own way and did not do as the Lord commanded him. Insecurity prevailed in his life to the point of persecution of his servant David, the anointed of the Lord to be the future king of Israel, for his jealousy and envy of him. In his insecurity, he sought the counsel of a witch woman, a thing not permitted in Israel. Tormented by an evil spirit, Saul suffered tremendously to the point of seeking someone to ease his suffering, when someone recommended David, a young lad, who played the harp to calm the evil spirit. Saul’s life was a wasted life because of his insecurity. His kingdom could have lasted forever, according to the words of the Lord to Samuel. But his disobedience and rebellion coupled with insecurity against the commandments of the Lord caused Him to remove Saul from such a position. His heir to the throne was taken away and given to a shepherd boy, who was after God’s own heart.
Only Believe, All Things Are Possible
Her son laid lifelessly on his bed. Believing that all things are possible to those who believe, she took the matter to the Prophet Elisha. She traveled about twenty miles, seeking solution for her problem. Not until she approached the prophet, did she say anything about the death of her son. Instead, when asked, is it well with you? Well with your husband? Well with the child? And she answered, It is well (II Kings 4:26). The story of the Shunamite woman found in II Kings 4:18-36 is an amazing story of courage and faith. She believed in the resurrection power; therefore, she did not plan her son’s funeral. God honored her faith and through the Prophet Elisha, He gave life back to her son. This story is an encouragement. We must believe that our God’s power is greater than the power of death. He is the life giver; He is the Resurrection and He is life. The written Word is filled with promises to uplift and to encourage those who seek the Lord with all their heart. He said, I am with you when you walk through the fire- fire of tribulation, as He was with Daniel’s friends when thrown in the furnace. I am with you through life and through death. Although, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. (Ps. 23). YAHSHUA is preparing a place for you and me and when it is ready He will come to fetch us from this world. He said, “Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so I would have told you, for I am going away to prepare a place for you. And when I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3).
I Said, I Will Confess My Sins to the Lord
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven.” This a very uplifting statement to the transgressors, as in all of us. The Bible tells us that YAHSHUA was wounded for our transgressions. He was wounded emotionally and physically, although He never transgressed or violate a law, a command, moral code or boundary. He suffered the wound of our transgressions. In the cause and effect, transgression has its effect on the body through diseases. YAHSHUA took that upon Himself and for a moment, He suffered the pain transgression causes. Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has made to light upon Him the guilt and iniquity of us all.” To go astray is to deviate from the right way rebelliously, in order behave as we please. This sounds to me as sin of transgression. Transgression is knowing what is right and not doing it. We all suffer the consequences of transgression. One example is in our eating habits. Day after day, we transgress the law of nature which our Lord established for the well-being of our body. He created living foods to nourish our living cells; but knowingly, we choose man created dead foods, filled with harmful chemicals to feed the body. Worse yet, is when we ask God to bless the poison we are about to partake for the destruction of our health in the name of YAHSHUA. Diseases have taken our body as a result. Not connecting the dots, we continue eating for our destruction and asking God to heal us. The sin of transgression will continue destroying us, unless we admit we have sinned and have a change of heart toward God and what He has created for us to eat. This is only one aspect of the sin of transgression that affect all of us. Don’t you know, asks Paul “that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own, You were bought with a price, so then honor God and bring glory to Him in your body” (I Cor. 6:19-20).
We transgress God’s law in many aspects of life. In the law of marriage – ‘till death us part, disloyalty in our relationship with Him and with others. Israel, when in their pilgrimage to the Promised Land, lived a life of transgression against God’s Laws. Blessed above all nations, Israel has not understood her responsibility to obey God. Israel committed a grave sin that of having other gods besides Him after God covenanted with her. They did not repent and continued throughout their lives serving and worshiping false gods. A sin of transgression against God has not been dealt with to this day. YAHSHUA suffered much for the sin of transgression. The world is without excuses to continue transgressing against God today, after He has provided a way to be forgiven through His Son. David suffered much for not dealing with his sins. In his silence concerning his sin, his groaning was continuously all day long. Pain in the bones and in his kidneys, kept him suffering under God’s heavy hand upon him. That led him to acknowledge his sin to God, hiding nothing from Him. He confessed his transgression and he was forgiven from all he had confessed to God. A relief, with wings of peace took him from that estate of guilt and freed him. As a result, he had this to say from the heart: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Ps. 32). The Bible assures us that when God forgives us, He remembers our sins no more. “He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities, for as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercy and loving-kindness toward those who reverently fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:10-12).
As in a Mirror
When we look in the mirror, what we see is the reflection of ourselves. What the mirror shows truthfully and undeniably is the reality of what we look like. Many of us spend hours in front of a mirror dressing our face with makeup, eye shadows, eye brows straightening. At the end of this ordeal, we take a last look in the mirror to perfect our art work. It is amazing what a little makeup here and there can do to a face. Thanks to a mirror that can be done. But all of these are external and superficial beauty we desire, so to be accepted by the world, wanting to feel good about ourselves. There is however, an internal beauty provided by our Lord YAHSHUA when He died to cleanse us from our sins and iniquities; It reflects from the soul to the world in ways that world will notice the difference. It is a beauty that shines love, unconditional love to all. Moses reflected the glory of God in his face when he came down the mountain, where he spent forty days and nights with God. The brilliance of God’s glory was so strong, he had to cover his face with a veil until he went up the mountain to talk to God. Imagine that! Paul said that Moses veiled his face so that the Israelites might not gaze upon the finish of the vanishing [splendor which had been upon it] (II Cor. 3:13). Moses carried with him the splendor of the glory of God every time he saw Him.
Like Moses, we God’s people have access to His presence and experience His glory, because YAHSHUA tore the veil that separated the holy from the unholy from top to bottom. He opened our eyes of understanding to perceive as in a mirror His glory being reflected in us. So, becoming more like Him, we experience the ever-increasing glory, as we are transformed into His image. This is done by the Holy Spirit, Who works sanctification through molding us into being like YAHSHUA. This is a beautiful gift, but at the same time very painful too, because our soul being carnal does not submit to God easily. Its desires are evil, and contrary to God’s holy desires and so are the thoughts of the mind; our emotion acts circumstantially depending on what is happening. As a result, the shinning of the glory of God fades away, His joy from where we receive our strength is diminished. We want to be like YAHSHUA; indeed, but going through the breaking of the power of our will, thoughts and emotions, is not easy to accept. Going through his spiritual battle, Paul expressed himself the feeling that we also struggle: “But I discern in my bodily members a different law at war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs. O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliverer me from this body of death? O thank God! [He will] through YAHSHUA Messiah our Lord! …” (Rom. 7:23-25a). Yes, God, in his love through the Holy Spirit, continues refining us and perfecting us until the day He calls us home. As silver and gold must be refined for the purpose of shinning the inner beauty as jewelry on the neck of one, or on the finger of another, we must submit to the work of the Holy Spirit of refining and transforming us from glory to another degree of glory according to His will. The veiled faces of those who continuously reject the truth is made impossible to perceive, to hear and listen, for darkness has covered their understanding. Not until they turn to the Lord in repentance will they be unveiled.
When You Walk through the Waters and Fire
When Israel was freed from slavery in Egypt by God, she experienced wonders and miracles. Not yet a nation, the sons and daughters of Jacob moved to Egypt seventy people in all. They prospered while Joseph was alive; but after his death in time another king aroused who did not know the background history of Joseph and his family. While made to work hard, Israel did not faint and continued progressing and multiplying to the point that Egyptians feared their growth and tried to kill their babes. But God saved their babes, including a specific one called Moses, found in the river and adopted by an Egyptian princess. Moses, grew up in the palace, and was considered a prince. But his heart was never leaned toward the life style of an Egyptian prince. He much preferred to be suffering with his own people. At forty years old, he killed an Egyptian who was mistreating an Israelite and had to flee for his life from Pharao. He found refuge in the land of Midian, where he met his future wife and lived there for another forty years, when God appeared to him in a burning bush and called him for a specific task, that of Israel’s liberator from bondage from Egypt. As he was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, he came to Horeb, or Sinai, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush… God called Moses out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, do not come near; put your shoes off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground…also he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, and moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters and oppressors; for I know their sorrows and sufferings and trials. And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand and power of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a land good and large, a land flowing with milk and honey… Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people, the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 1). Moses then asked Him, Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? (Exodus 3:11).
The Highway of Holiness
Darkness covers the earth; people walk in confusion, as zombies, they know not what to do; they tremble before the news; worries, fear and anxiety take hold of their hearts with lies blinding their eyes to believe the truth. A storm of great proportion is coming to earth, as our God cleans and purifies the earth with fire of judgement. For its people have forsaken the Creator and there is no respect for Him. Hopelessness, yes, hopelessness is the cloud covering the earth with needle injecting it with poison. People surrendering to the lies and in fear give themselves to their care, while God’s people cry to Him, as they battle the evil in this earth. The spirit of heaviness arises highly and widely in pursuit to overtake them. Weary and almost fainting, we God’s people keep the faith and hope in the promises of a beautiful future. Faith and hope are the sparkplugs of our souls. His voice we hear, “Fear not, for I am with you.” As Peter did, when he took his eyes from the Lord to focus on the storm, we too fear the storm; the beam of the light of faith grows dim and the strength of hope faints. We cry, Maranatha, come Lord YAHSHUA! As were in the days of Noah and Lot, so are our days. Violence, sexual perversion, greed and much more are eating the people as cancer does, silently taking their breath away. The cries of the innocent we hear daily without being able to help them physically. Justice, justice nowhere to be found in the courts of law- high and low. Peter describes Lot’s distress in those days saying, … “And God condemned to ruin and extinction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes, set them forth as an example to those who would be ungodly; and He rescued righteous Lot, greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of the ungodly and lawless, for that just man, living among them tortured his righteous soul every day with what he saw and heard of [their] unlawful and wicked deeds” (II Peter 2:6-8). That’s the world we live in. We cry as David; “I wish I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness; I would hasten to escape and to find a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest” (Ps. 55:6-8). The reality of David’s desire is reflected in our desire to be taken away from this wicked world by means of the rapture.
All Things Work Together for Justification and Glorification of Those Who Love God
(Romans 8:28)
“For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb; I will confess and praise you for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are You works, and that my inner self knows right well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes saw my informed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them” (Ps. 139:13-16). God’s sovereignty and wisdom demonstrated here is out of reach of the human understanding. In the formation of our body, God planed our future. “And in Your book, all the days were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them” (vs.16). God has always loved us. Even while He was creating us. However, man has left the comfort of God’s love to do their own thing. But among many, there are a few who have been faithful to Him. Their love for God has rewarded them with His calling and choosing them to be justified, sanctified and glorified. “Work together for good,” The good mentioned here is in reference to the spiritual good of justification, sanctification and glorification. The verses 29-30 explain in detail the “good” referred in verse 28 of Romans: For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was aware and loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning to be molded into the image of His Son (sanctification) [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren and those whom He thus foreordained, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified. And those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition or state of being].
The word molding has a strong connotation; it denotes strong action to conform anything to what it must be. We have an example in the book of Jeremiah the Prophet, when the Lord sent him to a potter’s house. Jeremiah said, I went to the potter’s house, and behold, he was working at the wheel; and the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so, he made it over, reworking it into another vessel it seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me; O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? Says the Lord. Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel (Jer. 18:1-6). This is a perfect picture of the meaning of Romans 8:28. As a pot is made of clay, so are we. God, our Creator, has the power to mold us into His likeness, as He told Jeremiah, O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? This is a painful process, for our soul is never willing to surrender to the holiness of YAHSHUA. The unrenewed soul cannot be saved. Sometimes, our Lord takes hard measures to call our attention in submission to His will. The letter to the Hebrews says, You must submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not train and correct and discipline? Now, if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all share then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons (Heb. 12:7-8). Yes, all things work together harmoniously to bring about God’s holiness into the life of every believer to make them partakers of the image of God.
Light from the Word 