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| Our Mercy Seat at Home |
God’s covenants with Israel stood whether they were in the land or out…they weren’t based on location, but relation. He was their God and they were his people. They stood for those who were unfaithful and those who were faithful. He rewarded those who were faithful and put to testing those who weren’t.
In this last 16 – 18 months I haven’t felt God’s hand lift from my life at all, in fact he has led us into an abundance of blessing that I’d never have imagined. He has renewed our strenghth, our determination and multiplied our fruit. He has hidden us in the cleft of the rock and covered us with his hand. We’ve stood on the mountain and he has spoken to us with his still, small voice. We’ve seen his glory afresh.
The path isn’t yet clear as to when it will be possible for us to move back into The Army and flesh out our covenants in full, and we trust the Lord for those timings, but our covenant commitments to the Lord are as true today as they ever were. As I said back in September
“This ‘exile’ may be permanent. The call might be to make my home ‘out here’ in the wider church. The call might be to come back and take my place on the field. What is certain though is that whatever the future holds, it is the Lord God who must be the one who gives the command. We are in no doubt that we are following where he is leading. He often reveals just glimpses of his sheer competency to work out his will in spite of the odds. We simply want to be at the centre of his will for us wherever that is and in whatever way he wants us to serve him”
And so at the top of 2012, I affirm again my previous covenants with the Lord, regardless of the response of the ‘third party’ mentioned in these covenants and inspite of the challenges of fulfilling the ‘Salvation Army’ related bits. I seek to live them ‘during times of popularity or persecution’ to the glory of God and for the salvation of the whole world.
Finally, I resolve to carry/wear a visible sign of these covenants.
Andrew M Clark 