Omag

. 2005 04	PARTNER Magazine

Ever since creation, God intended to have a personal relationship with us, (man)
... His special creation
and even after man sinned, God did not change ...

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

--- Exodus 19:10-11

Yet every time God reached out to man,
man turned away from God...

Now all the people witnessed the thunderings,
the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet,
and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.
Then they said to Moses,
"You speak with us, and we will hear;
but let not God speak with us, lest we die."

--- Exodus 20:18-19

All through the Bible God yearned to have a relationship with man, saying ...

"For I am the LORD, I do not change;
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
Yet from the days of your fathers
You have gone away from My ordinances
And have not kept them.
Return to Me, and I will return to you,"

--- Mal. 3:6-7

Therefore one of the most important results of salvation was the restoration of that
... personal relationship with Him ...

For if by the one man's offense death reigned
through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

--- Rom. 5:17

The possibility to go to God, personally
The possibility to enter God's throneroom,
and speak to Him, personally!

No! ...
It has never been God's plan to have to have a mediator between Himself and His creation,
...but to have a personal relationship with His man.

Right from the beginning we find God Himself, personally working with man ...

Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air,
and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them.
And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.

--- Gen. 2:19

Right from the beginning we find God personally visiting man ...

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day,
and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

--- Gen. 3:8

Right from the beginning we find God having a personal relationship with man ...
WHY?
Why does this relationship have to be so "personal"?

God created us in His Image ... His inner Image,
... and only as we get to know Him personally, will we get to know who and what we really are!
God created us in His Likeness ... His outward position,
... and only as we get to know Him personally, will we get to know how to use the authority He gave us!

But there is even more to this personal relationship than just getting to know about ourselves ...
For,
... although God has given us instructions for life in His Word,
And,
... although God has given us insight into His will and His promises,
... in His Word ...
There is so much to life and our walk with God that only happens through,
... a personal relationship with Him!

Is your relationship with God...

Sure we need to get to know God and in particular,
... we need to get to know His Word.
One of our primary objectives is to please God,
and as the Bible teaches us...

But without faith it is impossible to please Him,
for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

--- Heb. 11:6

And the Bible further teaches us...

So then faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.

--- Rom. 10:17

Yes,
without knowing God's Word, knowing what His will is,
... knowing what He has planned and purposed,
And, without knowing what He promised,
... knowing what He will do and won't do,

We will not be able to take hold of those promises,
We will not know what is possible and what is not,
We will not know God's intentions of blessing us,

As for instance the promise God made in Deuteronomy ...

Now it shall come to pass,
if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God,
to observe carefully all His commandments
which I command you today, that the LORD your God
will set you high above all nations of the earth.
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you,
because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:

--- Deut. 28:1-2

And,
the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth,
as you get to know His Word,
as you carefully observe ALL His commandments,
And,
... ALL these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you!
Yet,
... something seems to be missing!

A personal connection...!

Who is it,
... that God will set high above all the nations of the earth?
Not only those,
... who carefully observe all His commandments,
but those,
... who ALSO diligently obey the voice of God!

Now it shall come to pass,
if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God,
to observe carefully all His commandments
which I command you today, that the LORD your God
will set you high above all nations of the earth.
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you,
because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:

--- Deut. 28:1-2

Who are those who obey the voice of the Lord God?
They are the same ones who also diligently seek Him ...

But without faith it is impossible to please Him,
for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

--- Heb. 11:6

Just knowing God promised to bless you,
Just observing God's commandments,
and
Just believing in God's promises,
... is just not enough!

There needs to be a connection between us and God,
... a real connection,
... a personal connection!

We need to get close to God Himself,
We need to get into His presence!

Continued above...

...a personal relationship?

God told us very plainly in His Word,
that He is not about to change,
and what He expected from the beginning,
... He still expects today ...
a personal relationship!

Yet every time God reached out to His people,
... every time God drew close to them, personally,
the people turned even further away from Him!

God wanted to personally speak to Israel, the way He spoke to Abraham,
God wanted to personally speak to Israel, the way He spoke to Moses,
... and not to have someone to speak for Him!
But ... Israel rejected that personal connection!

Then the LORD said to Moses,
"Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow ...
For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai
in the sight of all the people.

--- Exodus 19:10-11

Afterwards, Israel even rejected God's personal rule,
... and demanded a king to rule over them ...

But the thing displeased Samuel when they said,
"Give us a king to judge us." So Samuel prayed to the LORD.
And the LORD said to Samuel,
"Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you;
for they have not rejected you,
but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
--- 1 Samuel 8:6-7

Yet, even though man kept on rejecting God,
... even though man would not let God personally connect with them,
Praise God, He did not change or reject man!

"For I am the LORD, I do not change;
...
Return to Me, and I will return to you,"

--- Mal. 3:6-7

A personal God...!

God is a personal God,
who not only wanted to restore that personal relationship,
... between Him and man,
but He personally came and made sure it would be done!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

--- John 3:16

Having personally come to redeem us from sin, (separation from God)
Jesus said this to us ...

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
--- Matt. 11:28

Jesus said "Come to Me ... I will give you rest!"
"As I personally came to redeem you from sin and death,
I will personally take care of you ... Come to Me!"

Jesus is a personal Savior,
... who can only help us when we personally go to Him!

...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
--- Rom. 10:9

Whilst, at the same time making it clear that it is,
all about a PERSONAL relationship ...

When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door,
and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door,
saying,'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you,
I do not know you, where you are from,'
then you will begin to say,
'We ate and drank in Your presence,
and You taught in our streets.' But He will say,
'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from.
--- Luke 13:25-27

The Holy Spirit is our personal Helper...

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
that He may abide with you forever —
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it neither sees Him nor knows Him;
but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
--- John 14:16-18

It is not just a wonderful promise,
for Jesus has given us all the same personal invitation ...

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
--- Rev. 3:20

Make your relationship with God,
... a personal relationship!

Jan D vanderMerwe
Covenant Ministries

Return to Top...

COVENANT HOME ...

More & more children all over the world, numbering hundreds
of thousands, are neglected, homeless, dying from starvation
and disease, and the various help organizations do not seem
to be able to keep pace with this ever expanding problem,

... mainly due to a lack of funds ...

At Covenant Ministries we have no miracle financial solution, we do need and very much appreciate your financial support, but believe that we have found a way to practically help children through our Street Kidz Ministry.
Through the Street Kidz Ministry, we are not only providing food and shelter for the children, but the primary aim of this project is to encourage self sufficiency through the creation of real opportunities for development, self development, whilst also schooling the children and training them in God’s Word!

On the plot of land that we have the use of for the Street Kidz project, there is also a house, and God supernaturally gave us the use of it, to start an orphanage there ... Covenant Home.
“What does an orphanage have to do with touching and changing lives?”
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me...”
By extending His love to these little ones, we're investing in their future, the Body of Christ of tomorrow, the leaders of tomorrow, giving them a ... Christian home!

We see the Orphanage as an extension of the Street Kidz Ministry through which the kids are not only cared for but helped to become self sufficient.
Our vision for the orphanage is to bring up the children, teaching them the Word of God, equipping them for life and for His service. The older children together with the youth who are about to leave the home, besides attending regular school, are also taught skills, such as working the land. Teaching them to become self sufficient and releasing them into adulthood, independent and able to care for themselves.
... And as the older youth leaves, new young ones are continually being added.

This of course requires a lot of initial expense such as, purchasing the land, fixing the house, development of the land, etc., but the home should become almost self supporting within a year or two, when we envisage to start another...
... Covenant Kidz Home.

.
Continued above...

...NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!

To accomplish our vision of a real COVENANT Home,
... where children are brought up in God's ways,
... taught to be self sufficient & equipped for life,
needs more than just a plan!

It needs work, support and finances!

Yes, we need you, and these little ones need your help and support!
God is a personal God and as Covenant Partners, your partnership with us is both important and personal to us. We not only would like you to partner with us in the Covenant Home project but we would also like your support to be real, important and personal to you.
We have therefore decided not only to seek your support, but to also involve you more personally in the Home and the lives of the children through our ...

... ADOPT A "GOD"CHILD ...

project.

For as little as 30$ per month/per child, you can adopt any one or more of our beautiful children as your own little "GOD"child. The financial support for each child will be primarily used for feeding, clothing, housing as well as school and medical expenses. Other than overall reports on the Home, a personal report on your "GOD"child's progress will be sent to you regularly every few months.

It is also possible to either or additionally support Covenant Home itself, which funds will be used for furnishing, repairs & maintenance, transport, staff and finally also for purchasing the house and land.

Email us for full details, how to signup and adopt your very own "GOD"child today.