Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our sermon or midweek study. You will normally see us posted on Sunday. I am Rev. Laura A. Neff. Our ministry was built on the truth of God’s love. It doesn’t conform to society’s wishes. This ministry shares the Word of God, the Spirit of Christ Jesus. Those who know me well will recognize that there are definitive differences in the creation of every sermon from this point forward. It is God’s will that has brought this to be. We wish only that God’s truth will be shared within His words as brought to us by the Spirit as it fills my heart, mind, and soul to be shared with my hands, but with His words alone.
You will find us in the following location: http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
Rev. Laura’s other sites: Facebook & Blogspot & Twitter
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 grows or changes every week. This is our current list.
- Please continue to pray for Elder Cal Jennings and his health issues, which are numerous. He has been having issues with his pain, vision, and memory. Add to the prayers with a need for new housing as the family is in dire straits there at this point in time.
- Please pray for calm and peace for Sister Theresa Bogard who is going through a lot right now.
- Please pray for my father-in-law who has had another stroke while driving and would be in denial regarding his health.
- Please pray for my daughter’s grandmother-in-law who has been in the hospital with heart issues and my daughter’s mother-in-law, Suzanne, is unable to travel to be with her during this worrisome time.
- Please pray for Jerry Verduft who has just tested positive for COVID-19 Coronavirus. Pray for the family as well as they wait and watch for healing and healthy outcomes. My longtime friend Jeff asked for prayers.
- We are ever watchful in regard to the weather, the unrest, and the virus and response to that virus. Let us pray for calm skies and seas, calm voices and spirits, and also healthy outcomes for those who are affected.
- We pray that the upcoming school year is filled with progress for our children who are attending and for the teachers and staff that must adapt to what is considered the “new normal” around this world.
- Continue to pray for four of my family members as they go through some dramatic changes in some cases.
- Be thankful for each day we live as we do not know what tomorrow brings.
- Pray for all of our outreach ministries with Pastor Stephen Okoth, Pastor Robert Nganwa, Pastor Simon Peter Javaji, Rev. Lisa Tyler, and all the others who have joined us.
- Pray for our nations that the voice of God be heard through the Spirit.
- Pray for our friends and families that their tomorrows bring blessings and pray our own be the same.
- Pray for those suffering as a result of the terrors that have occurred just this past week around this world.
- Pray for our sick and wounded that they may heal.
- Pray that truth is revealed where falsehoods have been shared around this world.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our very own Ministry Elder, Cal Jennings. May this birthday bring a year filled with blessings of peace and unconditional love.
Prayer: Father in heaven, this is our prayer for today. We pray for those who have been ill or injured. We pray for those who have suffered from terrors around this world. We pray for our entire ministry, including our various outreach ministries around this world. We pray for our family members who are suffering from illness, pain, and so much more. We pray that those who have a voice will be heard when they need to be heard. We pray for those who have suffered from evil and wickedness around this world, may they find solace in Your grace. For each of these we pray in Your Holy Name, through our Savior Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Opening Song: Open My Eyes Lord https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj-jJM7ODIY
Sermon: We are going through seeking how to discern evil when it is disguised as good and vice-versa. We have spoken on occasion regarding Jehoshaphat. He was a very well educated advisor for the then king of Israel. Here we see him in the midst of a discussion with the king regarding one thing that we see so often in this world today. Some people are quite good at discerning evil intentions. Micaiah was one of those people and saw through the veneer of the king, which irked the king to no end.
2 Chronicles 18:7 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
No matter how much you like or dislike someone in life, there’s always one who can make that feeling or expression worse. Here we see this king complaining to Jehoshaphat.
2 Chronicles 18:17 KJV – And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?
People with the ability to discern good in the midst of evil are people to pay attention to. There is so much in this world that is evil all the way to the core. Understanding how to unmask this evil for what it is, that’s something that takes practice, persistence, and the art to discern is something all of us need to learn. Discernment is the art of being able to recognize and separate good from evil in this world. It takes understanding and also knowledge as to what we are seeking. As said before, it takes practice to hone this craft we are all capable of.
Now we are going to explore one of the least favorite Scrolls in Scripture. That would be the Scroll of Job. The reason we are looking into these writings would be that in nearly every scroll of Scripture there is the evidence of discerning evil from good and vice-versa. Let’s start here.
Job 2:10 KJV - But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Job was tormented by Satan, with the permission of God, to test his mettle. It takes a while to figure out whether things are designated by God as learning experiences or not. This is why we must practice every day in regard to telling good from evil and evil from good, and then separating ourselves from that evil, no matter how good it appears to be. Job took a while to manage this, thus the reasoning for writing out all that his life encompassed, the gains and losses, the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom that came about because of those gains and losses.
Job 24:21 KJV - He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.
I have heard many, many times, that people do not want to do much study in the Scroll of Job, because of its many depression inducing events in the devout man’s life. With the amount of depression invoking scenes and descriptions, this is understandable. However, if we do not study even the most depressing of moments in Scripture, we cannot prevent them from occurring in our lives here and now. Depression can swallow people whole, and keep them there. It’s something some of us have seen in too many ways in our individual and collective lives. Here we see another moment with Job and his efforts at discernment.
Job 30:26 KJV - When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
Believing, as we have learned in previous sermons, isn’t about seeing things in front of us, hearing things first hand. Believing is a matter of the heart, the mind, the spirit and the soul. It takes all parts of our humanity to realize and recognize how our individual components, conscious and unconscious, physical and spiritual, to recognize what is good and what is evil in this world. All of us have to literally reflect through each level of whatever is happening in our lives to create that happy person God most wishes us to recognize and realize. We now will explore the Scroll of Psalms and the view of good and evil and discerning between them.
Psalm 34:14 KJV - Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Now, I don’t know about how you have perceived your lifetime, no matter its length, but seeking peace has been a trial of errors in this world, God’s peace, not what we perceive it to be. Pursuit of God’s peace and God’s good is a challenge, no matter our devotion to God and His Unconditional Love.
Psalm 35:12 KJV - They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.
Evil permeates everything at some point. Without practicing the ability of discernment, this verse shows exactly what can come out of our lives. Practice recognizing good and evil, together and separately. You’ll learn quite a lot in regard to how your spirit and heart and soul will react to what evil can do to you individually and collectively.
Psalm 36:4 KJV - He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
King David, the author of the Scroll of Psalms, shares a lot regarding his personal experience in practicing discernment. In Psalm 36, David is speaking to the chief musician for the clan of Korah at Alamoth. Now the clan of Korah is quite interesting in the big picture consideration of David’s writing. He is showing where a rift at one time existed between the Korahites and God was healed by the very young sons who were spared from the fate their elders managed. Bringing peace and hope to all the people of Israel, and this is why David writes to the chief musician of the clan.
Psalm 37:18-29 KJV –The
Lord knoweth the days of the
upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of
famine they shall be satisfied.
But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into
smoke shall they consume away.
The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy,
and giveth.
For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed
of him shall be cut off.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:
and he delighteth in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed begging bread.
He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
For the Lord loveth judgment, and
forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the
wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.
Now, you will notice there are distinct similarities with this passage and the Beatitudes as spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. David, at the time, didn’t truly understand how important it was to record life as it occurred with him as King of the Israelites. Even today there are those who do not realize or recognize the great importance that Scripture has for every single human being willing to believe without seeing God in the flesh, or Jesus either one. The ability to believe is something that we must learn to understand, as young children, or as aging adults. Learn as though it were vital for your next breath of air. That’s why we explore these verses so carefully. We continue to study the ability to discern good from evil, even now. Here we are exploring another verse in the Scroll of Psalms.
Psalm 38:20 KJV - They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
Evil is our adversary, and a very devious, one at that. The reason for that is because so much we think would be good, would actually be evil to the very core. It is our biggest challenge to find those wolves in sheep’s clothing. That is why we must keep working at our learning, our knowledge, in order to gain the wisdom God’s Unconditional Love proves to exist. This is a warning from King David in this last verse today.
Psalm 52:3 KJV - Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
David closes our study with the word Selah. This is a word we have explored before. It means “think about it” in ancient Hebrew. Now you understand why I always end each sermon this way. Now that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that Jesus taught us saying:
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: Randy Travis ~ Open the Eyes of My Heart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWaPJfBefpg
~ Shalom ~
Rev. Laura A. Neff
Elder Calvin Jennings
Covenant of Hope Ministries Main Site: http://www.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 © 2021 http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
Our mission for Covenant of Hope Ministries is not to exploit fear, but to conquer it, and overcome all that is created through fear together as the bringers of the light of Jesus found in the midst of darkness.
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