Our God The Faithful God

Good afternoon, welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries. My name is Rev. Laura A. Neff, the Rainbow Minister. The choice for Rainbow has to do with the fact that the rainbow symbolizes a promise made and one that can and will be kept. I made, long ago, a promise to God that I would do all I could to keep that faith within me. We are normally posted on Sundays for sermons and Wednesdays for studies. You can find these posted in the following locations.

Main Site: http://covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com/

Rev. Laura’s Other Sites: Facebook & Twitter &Google+ & Blogspot

Prayer List: We have many on our prayer list. Some wish to remain anonymous, and others only wish to have their first names mentioned. Our prayer list has grown from last week. This is our current prayer list for this week.

- Please pray for a colleague of my daughter’s who lost a family member recently.

- Please pray for a friend Susie Bartholow as she is in hospice. She is in very grave condition with cancer. Hospice care is in her home with her family. Keep them all in your thoughts and prayers.

- Please pray for my family members far away as chaos continues in their lives. The outcomes of so many things have worn them to a frazzle and they are seeking answer in prayers from near and far.

- Please pray for Elder Cal Jennings as he is going through a whole lot health wise and emotionally as well. Please pray that he will be able to find and follow inspiration still.

- Please pray for a friend of ours, Lucy, whose liver is failing. She is going to be on medication but may need a transplant. Pray that the first option works and she returns to health.

- Pray for a friend of my brother’s, who is far from home right now. There have been many problems for her right now. It is our hope that she will return and be here to complete her healing and more.

- Pray for our members Theresa and Wayne who had a very rough year last year. May some of their trials and tribulations end in time for our celebration of the birth of Jesus.

- Pray for those near and far who have been suffering in battles that do not have to be. Pray that peace can be found amidst the fear and anger, frustration and more. May hope blossom and bring that peace once more.

- Pray for our friends and our enemies, may they all find that the gift of God’s Son, Jesus, holds the hope and faith everyone seeks.

- Keep hope alive in your prayers no matter the pain or strife we might suffer.

- May God bless every one of us as we continue on.

* My youngest son’s birthday is Saturday and mine would be Sunday.

Prayer: Father in heaven, we thank You for this day and for these who are here to share it with us. We thank You for the blessings brought and for those yet to come. We pray that You can remind us always what we should be looking forward to. We bring prayers for those who have been seriously ill. Help those who are working to fight serious illnesses the ability to find solutions. We pray for those lost and those who mourn. We pray for all those who are victims of violence. We pray for patience and courage for those we love and care about, and ourselves as well. We pray for peace to reach out from the heart and be heard, felt, and understood. We pray that Your grace and love would fill the hearts of the many in this world. We pray all this in Your Holy Name through the Savior Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.

Opening Song: Here I Am Lord https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcxOkht8w7c&list=PL614A115BF39E5936&index=134

S ermon:  Good afternoon. Our midweek inspiration came as a result of a conversation held just yesterday. That conversation included the thoughts for one person who said that God didn’t hear them. God hadn’t in a long time. However, this same person said, for whatever reason my prayers, when saying them for her and others she worried about, seem to work. So I can see she believes, but is afraid to do just that. That brought me to the thoughts written here in the Old Testament.

Deuteronomy 7:9 KJV – Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

The faithful God, our God, he is God. Here it shows that He keeps His covenant, and mercy. However, we need to remember to love Him. How do we show that love? Keeping His commandments for, as this is written, a thousand generations. With this next verse we find begging, pleading, and more.

Nehemiah 1:5 KJV – And said I beseech thee, O Lord God, of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:

Why is Nehemiah crying? Why is he begging? He is doing so because the walls of Jerusalem have fallen. To him it is the worst news ever. He prays then, mourns even, for days. This is when he begs, pleads with God to have mercy for those who love Him. Those who keep His commandments. So, is he asking why the walls of Jerusalem had fallen? Is he asking if God would see it in His heart to realize there were good and faithful men and women in the city of Jerusalem? Perhaps he is, in a way, asking both questions. Like most in Scripture, Nehemiah seeks answers to his fears, his sorrows. This is something we all tend to do here on earth. Then, there’s a bright spot, some angel of mercy, of comfort, appears in one form or another. It could be a call from a friend, a letter in the mail, a visit that brings those comforts, that mercy and understanding. Remember Jesus said ‘there is no greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ (John 15:13 KJV)

This fact, friends are a gift, brings bright light at the end of a dark tunnel. Yet still we ask, we beg, we pray for mercy. Why? If God was the friend of Abraham, why don’t we see Him in the same light? After all, we are from the generations of Abraham. God does grant us mercy. How does He do so? He gives us the gift of friends. In the case of Nehemiah and others, it appears they have forgotten this. God is our friend, and He brings us friends down here on earth so we can remember and be grateful for this fact. Some might say, no, God is not our friend. He brings so much pain. If you recall, it would be the devil, Satan, who continually brings pain and strife to humanity and even to the animals and plants here on earth. Here Daniel shows a combination of sorrow, confession, asking for mercy.

Daniel 9:4 KJV – And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

He’s asking for those who love God, those who keep His commandments. Well, what those commandments do indeed proves that our love for God exists. It breathes. Yet many times we don’t see it, feel it, understand it, or know it. Why do we miss this fact? Why don’t we realize that God has a reason for everything? Those reasons will reveal themselves in their own time, not in ours. Now, that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that Jesus brought us.

Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13)

Closing Song: Angels Among Us  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey0HrEvh44c&index=122&list=FLys7UjSJHrgrNHy9kLrkxpw

~Shalom~

Rev. Laura A. Neff ~ The Rainbow Minister

Facebook & Twitter & Google+ & Blogspot

Calvin Jennings ~ Elder Facebook & Twitter &Blogster

Covenant of Hope Ministries

Main Site:

http://covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com/ 

       

Scripture Excerpts: The New Open Bible Study Edition: Copyright © 1990: Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.

Scripture Excerpts: Holy Bible: Copyright © 1982: E. E. Gaddy and Associates, Inc.

Scripture Excerpts: Holy Bible: Copyright © circa 1890-1910: International Bible Press,The John C. Winston Co.; Philadelphia, PA., USA

Sermon or Study Copyright © 2015

http://covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com/

Our mission for Covenant of Hope Ministries and Poetic-Expressions is not to exploit fear, but to conquer it, and overcome all that is created through fear together as the rainbow in the darkness.

This mission statement speaks of the rainbow in the darkness. Every time I would have a seriously traumatic thing happen in my life I would wake in the middle of the night. When I do I see a rainbow at the end of my bed, or even through the window behind my head. I’ll see that rainbow in a dark room even during the day. It will hover in the shadows and reassure me that God is with me.