The Covenant

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

 MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

Between God and Israel there is a covenant

That He is fulfilling in this day and time

A contract He will not revoke or recant

Covenant blessings - eternal and sublime

The history of Israel, going back to Abraham and beyond, is one long cycle of entering into covenants with God, which are, sooner or later, disavowed.  This is inevitably followed by periods of sorrow, destruction, and grief.  When humbled enough, they turn back to God and covenant yet again to be His people and to do His will. To read this narrative in the Old Testament, page after page, book after book, is a testament to God’s love, patience and long-suffering and His use of covenants and rites to guide His children.

It is noteworthy that covenant-making - this most prominent, persistent and oft-recorded feature of God’s relationship to man – finds little emphasis in modern Judeo-Christian liturgy. Even the Protestant practice of communion often focuses more on relational issues between man and God, and less on a renewal of covenant obedience and promises. The only other Protestant sacrament - that of baptism is more of a rite of initiation signifying acceptance of Jesus than a covenantal ordinance and one that can be performed by any other saved soul.  

In the Catholic tradition there are seven sacraments which are rituals that primarily bestow grace more so than ongoing covenant obligations.  There are three rites of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion.  The other four rites bestow God’s grace in daily living: Penance to restore the soul to grace from sin,  Matrimony and Holy Orders which marry husbands and wives to Christ, or Priests to Christ as they enter the priesthood or Nuns who enter a cloistered life. Lastly the Sacrament of Healing administered to those who are very ill or near death.  In each case while some vows are uttered, the focus is on receiving or being restored to God’s grace.

The secularization of modern Israel is a testimony of the diminished role of the covenant, even among God’s covenant people.  But even religious Jews only give credence to the Noahic and Mosaic covenants, and even then, only as historical covenantal promises or guidelines – not as conditions for salvation.

Liturgically speaking, there is at least one exception to the lack of focus on covenant obligations.  One church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) of which I am a member, takes covenants and covenant living to a very different level and incorporates them into the daily fabric of religious life.  For them, covenants are the prelude to binding ordinances both of blessing and exaltation, and include baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordination (for men) and various other covenants and ordinances only found and entered into in sacred temples set apart for those purposes.  In this life the highest and most revered covenantal ordinance is temple marriage that seals husbands and wives and their offspring together for eternity.  On a weekly or regular basis, all of these covenantal ordinances are renewed in communion or by returning to the temple and performing ordinances in behalf of deceased family members who did not have the opportunity to do so while in this life. (see 1 Corinthians 15:29)

The biblical theme of the covenant was so central and important to understanding God’s plan for us, that the Apostle Paul spoke of it often:

Galatians 3:7-8  “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” (Covenant of Abraham)

Romans 4:13 “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. (Covenant heirs through faith and then the works of faith -ordinances)

Romans 8:15-17 – 15, 23 “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together…. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”  (Adopted into the Covenant)

Ephesians 1:4-5  “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated (foreordained) us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will….” (Adopted by Covenant)

Acts 3:25 “Earlier, Luke records, “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.”  (Children of the Covenant)

These brief words and references, associated with receiving Christ and His kingdom, are simply to remind us of the importance of covenants both anciently and now, in our day.

Thus our meditative verse reminds us:

God keeps His covenants made with manEach fulfilled in His own time and wayMay we covenant to obey His commandAnd make our adoption sure someday

The Covenant

And then will I gather them in from the four quarters of the earth; and then will I fulfil the covenant which the Father hath made unto all the people of the house of Israel….And because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and also the judgments of the Father upon my people who are of the house of Israel, …. then will I remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them.

Book of Mormon   3 Nephi 16:5, 9-11

Between God and Israel there is a covenant

That He is fulfilling in this day and time

A contract He will not revoke or recant

Covenant blessings - eternal and sublime

Oft would the Lord have gathered them

Like nurturing chicks under His wing

But they would not honor or obey Him

But mocked and crucified their King

 Israel now gathers throughout the earth

Though earlier crushed and cast out

God is bringing salvation and rebirth

For Abraham’s seed – all who are devout

For Israel will, if they will, be reborn

And yet receive the gospel of Christ

Worshiping Him they have forsworn
He, who for them paid the ultimate price

Abraham’s Covenant has been restored

With authority to sanctify, seal and bind

Families adopted and blessed by Lord

Eternal, covenant families, as God designed

God keeps His covenants made with man

Each fulfilled in His own time and way

May we covenant to obey His command

And make our adoption sure someday

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

Synagogue of Sinners

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

A church is for those striving to be more holy

It beacons those seeking clarity, peace and purity

And others emerging from the dark, repenting slowly

And all who are looking for God’s safety and security

There is an old saying, oft repeated, but worth repeating.  “Church is not a haven for saints, but a hospital for sinners.”  Yet, absurdly, it is often the one place where we are most apt to try and hide our sins.  We are inclined to read, and even to preach from Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” than we are to acknowledge, confess and account our sins.

A very insightful man of God once said to me, “There’s never been more sin and evil in the world, yet, at the same time, there’s never been more good and righteousness in the world.” In coming days, the spectrum of good and evil will intensify on both ends of that continuum. There will be less and less room in the middle.  Thus, society will change the traditional bell curve into a well curve that leaves fewer and fewer folks living in the middle grey areas of spirituality – sometimes described as the great gulf of misery.

29 “Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—  30 And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.”   Book of Mormon, Helaman 3:28-30

Note that the bridge between the two ends of the new well curve is both straight and narrow. The man or woman who is focused on Christ will find this bridge and its beams and girders strong having been forged in the crucible of the Atonement and coated in red. 

The Church, God’s house of prayer, instruction, and place of covenant renewal is and should be a haven for both saints and sinners - the line of demarcation between the two being only figments of our vanity and pride.  In reality, the difference can more accurately viewed a sliding behavioral scale of good and bad daily choices.  Those more saintly and spiritually mature have an opportunity be role models for those less so inclined.  And those who come to church emerging from a sinful society would do well to seek safety and spiritual security under the protective wings of those who were also once, themselves, less saintly and less spiritually disciplined and anchored.

The church, the synagogue, the temple - all are metaphors for houses of holiness – places of spiritual solitude, rectitude, fortitude, and certitude.  May our attendance and work there reflect not only our sacramental communion with God, but spiritual communion with our brothers and sisters who are seeking a better life and who will learn pure doctrine from both the scriptures and by our saintly example.

Thus our meditative verse instructs and encourages us:

God will decide the worthiness of all hearts

So, let us minister to all who diligently seek

The love and warmth the God of love imparts

As a synagogue of sinners - repentant and meek

Synagogue of Sinners

Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out from among you, but ye shall minister unto him and shall pray for him unto the Father, in my name; and if it so be that he repenteth and is baptized in my name, then shall ye receive him, and shall minister unto him of my flesh and blood.  But if he repent not he shall not be numbered among my people, that he may not destroy my people, for behold I know my sheep, and they are numbered.  Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out of your synagogues, or your places of worship, for unto such shall ye continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them.

Book of Mormon   3 Nephi 18:30-32

A church is for those striving to be more holy

It beacons those seeking clarity, peace and purity

And others emerging from the dark, repenting slowly

All who are looking for God’s safety and security

So, let us not cast them out, but embrace them

Healing their wounds in a loving, caring way

Never knowing if they will receive God to know Him

Finding safe haven as they learn to pray and obey

Neither judge nor jury; ours is the servant’s task

To walk by their side, guiding them along the path

To the Redeemer under the Spirit’s rays to bask

In a synagogue of safety free from Satan’s wrath

Our synagogues are for all the yet unrepented

All of us – for all have some repenting to do

So, fill the pews with the spiritually discontented

Those seeking happiness, searching for what is true

Does this describe your church and house of prayer?

Can those who are spiritually without find a home within?

Or do we reject these wanderers who need our loving care?

Those poor in spirit wanting to escape uncertainty and sin

God will decide the worthiness of all hearts

So, let us minister to all who diligently seek

The love and warmth the God of love imparts

As a synagogue of sinners - repentant and meek

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

                                                                                                                            

That Bitter Cup

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

There is a bitter cup of virulence

Deadly to mortal man’s condition

A toxic cup of poison so intense

Only Christ could drink at His volition

We all have witnessed the pain and suffering of those who have chosen to drink from the cup filled with the bitterness of life – a cup brimming with anger, hate, or fear – a cup full of  bad choices, habits, and addictions.  This cup is usually prepared by the person’s own hand and consumed without regard for its consequences.  Often palatable at first, the bitterness is felt later in both body and soul.

Not all bitter cups are concocted by us.  As we drink freely of life’s experiences, our cup may also be filled with virulent elements sipped unwittingly or unwillingly - dregs that saturate our body’s cells and organs with disease, ill-health, and sickness.  Such cups of physical pain and anguish are a product of our genetic inheritance or life-choices, or accidents. They may also be a schoolmaster sent to humble, refine, and purify our mortal tabernacles to make them more habitable for our spirits.  These too, are cups of bitterness, usually awful to the taste, painful and sometimes life-threatening; but each sip carries with it the possibility of greater sanctification.

The imagery of the “cup” comes from many scriptural and historical sources.   As part of the Jewish Passover observance, four cups of wine mixed with water were and, for some observers, are still consumed – each a symbol of an exodus event or doctrine – First, the Cup of Salvation and Blessing (with the telling of the story of the miraculous exodus from Egypt) – Second, the Cup of Deliverance before eating (eating of the food with bitter herbs), Third, the Cup of Redemption after supper (with songs of thanks) and Fourth, the Cup of Elijah known also as the Cup of Restoration.  (see Ex. 12:26–27, Luke 22:17, 20; 1 Cor. 10:16, and Ps. 113–18)

As Jesus and his disciples observed this ritual, He took the third cup and offered a new saying – signifying the fulfillment of the ancient ritual and the ushering in of the New Covenant, “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.  (Matthew 26:27-28) Little did those present in that day, nor do many today, realize the prophetic importance of those words. 

Only a short time later, in Gethsemane, Jesus, in earnest prayer, began to take upon Himself the bitterness of the sins of the world. Thus commenced the Atonement.  As He prayed, He referred again to the Third Cup of Redemption – for Him, “That Bitter Cup.”  For that cup required suffering and pain whose intensity would be unimaginable to us. This prayerful plea to remove that cup would be asked three times.  “Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.  39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:38-39)

As Christians, we believe that IF we turn to Our Father in Heaven, humble, repentant, and obedient to His laws, covenants, and ordinances, THEN, according to His grace and will and plan for us, He, because of Christ’s Atonement, may modify, moderate, or eliminate the consequences of our drinking from the bitter cup.   

Our meditative verse reflects upon “That Bitter Cup” and suggests that:

If we would pass upon our sip of the bitter cup

We must walk in the low valley and the plain road

From the Fount of all Righteousness we must sup

Refreshed by its purity and power upon us bestowed

That Bitter Cup

And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

Book of Mormon   3 Nephi 11:11

There is a bitter cup of virulence

Deadly to mortal man’s condition

A toxic cup of poison so intense

Only Christ could drink at His volition

That bitter cup of man’s indignation

Full to the brim with troubles and grief

Broiling and roiling without cessation

A toxic wine of worries with no relief

That bitter cup full of ills and sin

That only the Savior could consume

Drinking the dregs to their bitter end

Ending the power of death and the tomb

Thus, Christ did the Father’s will

In all things that the Father asked

That the Savior might save and fulfill

God’s plan and creations first to last

 If we would pass upon our sip of the bitter cup

We must walk in the low valley and the plain road

From the Fount of all Righteousness we must sup

Refreshed by its purity and power upon us bestowed

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

Fatal  Flaws

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

Of all the most foolish and fatal flaws

Being quick to do bad and slow to do good

Are a combination that gives heaven pause

As often, we fail to do the good we should

The older we get and the more experience we have, we become more sensitive and attuned to what are called fatal flaws.  These are deeply destructive behaviors we usually know about, but find so difficult to manage or remove.  Some, rather than seek help to eliminate them, spend their lives and energies covering and concealing them with layers of compensating behaviors – hiding them from others and sometimes, with enough doses of denial – from themselves.  It is a condition from which none of us are immune and for which most of us have some personal experience.  Hence, the need for persistent vigilance, faithful diligence, and humble teachableness.

Fatal flaws may be found in our character, our ethics, our management of relationships, or our business or management acumen. And, by definition, if they are fatal flaws, they will be destructive to our patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting at significant life-moments.

These are not those pesky, negative, and minor personality imperfections that we find a nuisance, but generally benign.  Neither do we refer to mental health impediments arising from our DNA and bio-chemical influences which cause our ever-so-temporal vessel to be sometimes fractured or broken.  These may be addressed by medicinal, behavioral, and spiritual remedies that remediate, moderate, or by gracious tender mercies that enlarge our capacity to manage and endure.

The fatal flaws of which we speak are often learned and reinforced throughout our life, but, even they are subject to remedial cures when we find the correct prescription.  These particular flaws run deep, even into the fabric of our soul, and when they do, our spiritual life may unravel and spiral downward.

The good news is that even these fatal flaws are subject to the life-saving, the life-restoring medicine of Jesus’s Atonement.  This week’s meditative verse focuses on addressing our spiritual fatal flaws and prayerfully pleads that we may be:

Quick to accept God’s kind courtesies

Quick to abandon the vile and the vain

Quick to obtain God’s tender mercies

Quick thru heaven’s gate to live and reign

Fatal Flaws

O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world!

5  Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom's paths!

Book of Mormon   Helaman 12:4-6

Of all the most foolish and fatal flaws

Being quick to do bad and slow to do good

Are a combination that gives heaven pause

As often, we fail to do the good we should

O that we be not:

Quick to reject good works – believing them a bother

Slow to turn away from worthless and useless things

Quick to follow Lucifer, the evil son of the Father

Slow to forsake sin and the baggage it brings

And,

Slow to walk in God’s straight path

Slower yet to see our awful condition

Quick to evoke God’s rage and wrath

Quicker yet to shadow the Son of Perdition

O that we might be:

Quick to embrace God’s will

Slow to engage the sorrows of sin

Quick to serve others with Godly skill

Slow to join the evil and worldly din

And,

Quick to accept God’s kind courtesies

Quick to abandon the vile and vain

Quick to obtain God’s tender mercies

Quick thru heaven’s gate to live and reign

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

The American Decree

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

God has decreed that America be a land that’s free

An America of promise, but only if Him we serve

For once America denies Him and ignores His plea

Ruin comes and we’ll receive the deserts we deserve

We have come to appreciate that there are many wonderful lands and people.  Each nation has a history and heritage of promises of well-doing and covenants of well-being for its people.  However, civil society comes at a price and the human condition often exacts its will on those who struggle and sacrifice to give birth to freedom and its institutions. 

So it was with America, long before it was America according to one scriptural text.  It seems God has had His eye upon this land even as with Israel to whom He said,  “3 And ye have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the Lord your God is he that hath fought for you….6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written … that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left….8 But cleave unto the Lord your God, ….11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God.”  (Joshua 23)

The Lord’s message to America was equally terse as He proclaimed, “And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off….” (Book of Mormon, Ether 2).  Whether or not one accepts the ancient Mormon text as scripture, its words and creeds are consistent with God’s message to all of His children everywhere, and in all places and seasons of history.

God’s ancient covenant with America, we call The American Decree.  Like the decree spoken to Israel of old, it is a homily of hope and promised bestowal of blessings, but predicts dire penalties if His divine will is ignored or He is no longer recognized and welcomed as its sovereign.

In advance, we regret the dark and burdening tone evoked by this meditative verse.  However, rather recent but foreshadowed events in the body politic and a seemingly immoral and crumbling civil society have evoked troublesome reflections, a heavy heart, and a troubled spirit. 

Thus we observe:

Seemingly gone, are statesmen of virtue, truth and liberty

Rejected by the crowd - discarding principle for popularity

As by degree, we usher in the dark-side of the American Decree

When that which we hold dear and revered, is no longer a verity

The American Decree

And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.  For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.  And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done.  Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.

Book of Mormon   Ether 2:9-12

God has decreed that America be a land that’s free

An America of promise, but only if Him we serve

For once America denies Him and ignores His plea

Ruin comes and we’ll receive the deserts we deserve

For the decree of God is everlasting and firm

Upon those who possess this land of inheritance

Choice above others, as those who come and live affirm

A land of freedom and peace in a world of turbulence

The record of kingdoms and nations makes it clear

That God keeps His promises and His eternal decrees

Destruction will come when the people will not adhere

To His laws and obey Him in ever-decreasing degrees

No longer “one nation, under God” we spiral downward in decline

Led by those who seemly care little for Him or in His sacred decrees

Who promote not His principles or values, nor seek to know His mind

Who now tempt the American Decree, as we ripen in sin and iniquities

Seemingly gone, are statesmen of virtue, truth and liberty

Rejected by the crowd - discarding principle for popularity

As by degree, we usher in the dark-side of the American Decree

When that which we hold dear and revered, is no longer a verity

Would that this epitaph were less onerous or at least little more kind

And perhaps there will be a day when true principles are again revered

When people restore a nation under God and morality is again enshrined

And the American Decree is cheered - its warnings less dreaded and feared

I write this caption to my children and theirs, and theirs

That they may know of my love for them and this nation

That they may stand up for God’s promises and be His heirs

Children of the Covenant, destined for a celestial destination

Larry Doyle Crenshaw