Mother's Day 2022*

We, at Everlasting Covenant have always had very special Mother's Days. God worked, and still works, many miracles through, and on behalf of, mothers. The first mention of "mother" is found in Genesis: "And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living." (Gen. 3:20). The three pictographic Hebrew letters that make up the name "Eve" mean fence, peg, covenant: or protection, secure, unbreakable promise. The root word meaning is "to breathe, bring forth (declare or show)". God breathed into Adam's nostrils to create a living soul. The mother is the bond of the family, who fences and secures it. The woman gives life, and Yeshua, Jesus, is called "a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Later, we see that Jacob's first wife, Leah, although she was unloved, bore children, while Rachel, Jaacob's much-loved second wife, was barren (Gen. 29:31). However, as Rachel cried to the LORD, He heard and answered her: "And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb." (Gen. 30:22). God is the One who opens the womb. We believers in Christ have been called to bring forth spiritual life in the earth. It is the seed of the Word that we plant. God brought forth living things whose seed was in itself, according to Genesis. The man has seed, but the woman is necessary to bring it forth. Society and so-called science are trying to change this rule of creation in these last days. It is God's creative will, however, concerning His people: "Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle." (Deut. 7:14). Male and female created He them, although the world says differently. It was considered a reproach among men when a woman could not bear children, although the LORD said that barrenness could be present in either the male or female. Faced with this reproach for years, a priest's wife, Elizabeth, who was barren, conceived a child in her old age, who would be John the Baptist. Elizabeth had known that it was the Lord who had dealt with her (Lk. 1:24-25, 36). Six months later, the angel Gabriel would inform Mary, an unmarried virgin, that she also, like her cousin Elizabeth, would conceive a child. Even though her circumstances would speak otherwise, the angel assured her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her, and she would conceive as a result. The holy thing born, the angel said, would be called the Son of God (Lk. 1:35). The Holy Spirit gives us the power to conceive and bring forth life, both physical and spiritual life. After His resurrection, Jesus stood in the midst of His disciples, and began to open their understanding of the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms, which He had fulfilled with His suffering and resurrection. He further instructed them, because they were witnesses to these things, to preach repentance and the remission of sins to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem (Lk. 24:44-47). Jesus added: "And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be indued with power from on high." (v. 49). The prophet Daniel also wrote about the people who know their God and do great exploits. Of this same truth, the Apostle Peter wrote of the divine power that has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness. This same divine power, according to the precious promises which God has given us, enables us to be partakers of the divine nature. About the importance of having the characteristics of this divine nature he wrote: "...if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:1-8, excerpt). Everything concerning our walk of faith incorporates the fruitfulness of motherhood: "...Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath a husband." (Gal. 4:26-27, see also Isa. 54:1). The fruitfulness associated with motherhood is such a foundational truth that even evil powers steal it to spread wickedness in the earth, and in the spirit. One of the powers of wickedness in the end times is called the Whore of Babylon, who will be subjected to the judgment of God. She encompasses such a large territory that she is described as sitting upon many waters, or peoples. She has committed fornication with kings, and all of the inhabitants of the earth have gotten drunk on the wine she has given to them. The scarlet colored beast that she sits upon is full of blasphemies. She is arrayed like royalty in purple and scarlet, and adorned in wealth with gold and precious jewels. She holds a cup in her hand "full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." (Rev. 17:1-5). She is a mother of harlots like herself, so she will bear fruit, although it is wicked fruit, and abominations. The drunkenness associated with her and those who partake with her, is not the drunkenness of wine as we know it, but it is drunkenness with the blood of the saints, and their martyrdom. She is associated with a city that sits upon seven hills. Those who wonder (with admiration) at her and the beast from the pit that she rides upon, are those "whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." (v. 8). The kings who are given power to rule by the Beast will make war against the Lamb, the King of Kings, and those with Him, but He shall overcome them (v. 13-14). The people and nations who are under the power of the Beast spoken of, accomplish God's purpose, whether they know it or not: "For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled." (v. 17). It is time for the Chruch to bring forth godly fruit and life, by the power of the Holy Spirit, given to those who believe Christ and will receive the Spirit promised by God. Church traditions, and the traditions and doctrines of men, don't bring forth that kind of life, but only the Life-Giving Spirit, Jesus. This Mother's Day, call your mother, and do something nice for her in appreciation of her. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 5/8/2022 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and theshroudofturin.org.

The Ketubah and the Heart of God*

Tonight begins Shavuot on the Jewish Calendar, also known as Pentecost in the Greek. The Jewish people associate Shavuot with the giving of the Torah, and the Christians associate Pentecost with the giving of the Holy Spirit. In the giving of the Torah to His people, God was establishing a marriage covenant, or ketubah, with them. It is especially important to be aware of God's marriage covenant with Israel at this time. Many are reporting that war is imminent between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. Rocket attacks are being exchanged daily. God's Word has been prophetic regarding the attacks of the surrounding nations upon Israel, especially Jerusalem, and His promise to Israel: "And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it...The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah." (Zech. 12:3, 7). Judah is "the people of praise". Who is Judah but all of the people who praise God. The Church does not replace Israel in this meaning, but the Church joins together with Israel. Israel, the Jew, is not defined by the outward appearance, or outward circumcision, but by the inward circumcision of the heart (Rom. 2:28-29). God's promise to Israel, to Judah, to Jerusalem is a marriage promise. This promise includes the marriage of His Son. In Zechariah 12, the LORD promises that the house of David and Jerusalem, in a spirit of grace and supplications "...shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn" (v. 10). The LORD promises to refine them through the fire, and "...they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God." (Zech. 13:9). This is the essence of the marriage covenant between God and His people. This is God's covenant promise: "...blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." (Rom. 11:25-27). The LORD states His marriage to Israel clearly:"Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you...and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors (shepherds) according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowldege and understanding." (Jer. 3:14-15). The LORD promises that He will restore the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride to the land. Those voices will cry, "Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever...I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness (Messiah) to grow up unto David...In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness." (Jer. 33:11-16). When the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride are removed from the land, the land becomes desolate, but when those voices are restored, the land is again inhabited. The new covenant is also a marriage covenant: "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers...which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them...But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel...I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jer. 31:31-33). Revelation prophesies of the Marriage of the Lamb, and His wife that has made herself ready (Rev. 19:7-9). The New Jerusalem will come down from God out of heaven "like a bride adorned for her husband". When it comes down, the cry goes out, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God." (Rev. 21:1-3). Here again is repeated part of that marriage promise we read in Zechariah. It was also part of the same marriage promise of God when Jesus said, "And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." (Lk. 24:49). This promise from God was fulfilled on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon those who waited in the Upper Room (Acts 2). The marriage covenant of God includes the Holy Swpirit dwelling within each believer, rather than playing "church as usual". Our marriage to Christ has a purpose: "...ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him that is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Rom. 7:3-4). In her marriage to Christ, the Church brings for fruit unto God. Fruitfulness is the purpose and product of our marriage to Christ. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 5/16/21 message to the church. To contact: PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and at Endtimeschool.com

The Signs of the Times*

 

After the miracle of the loaves and the fishes by which Jesus fed thousands, Jesus traveled to another area where the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were seldom united in anything, both came to Jesus and demanded that He show them a sign from heaven (Mt. 16:1, Mk. 8:11). The meaning of "heaven" used here pertained to the stars and planets set in the heavens. Jesus sighed at their hypocrisy. They could discern signs of impending conditions that would affect their everyday lives, but they could not discern the greatest sign of all-Himself, sent by God to them. There was to be no other sign for them, but this sign of Jonah, a living warning call to repentance and the salvation of God before the destroying judgment. One who would be dead three days and returned, like Jonah from the belly of the fish. And the destroying judgment did come to Israel, to Jerusalem, and to the Temple of God at the hands of the Romans in 70 AD, on the same date, the 17th of Tammuz, as a similar destruction had come hundreds of years earlier at the hands of the Babylonians in 586 BC. The stars, sun and moon were set in the sky by God, not to be worshipped as in astrology, but for the purpose of dividing the day from the night, the light from the darkness, and "for signs, seasons, days and years" (Gen. 1:14-19). The Hebrew calendar reflects this principle. According to the Mishnah, five calamities have occurred on this same date, the 17th of Tammuz. The 17th day of Tammuz occurs today, July 21, for this year. The Jews observe this date with three weeks of mourning, understanding the ongoing ramifications of God's significant dates and times. The constancy of math and days in the scriptures is an awesome act of God.

We also have signs all around us in these times. As our nation has turned way from God, floods, storms, tornadoes, as well as racial and ethnic divisions, have ripped our land. Have the people of God discerned these signs, and if so, have they changed their lives accordingly? As the signs mount up, what is important to God's people: the things and kingdoms of this world, or the kingdom of God?

The prophet Daniel wrote the word of the LORD concerning the end times, and what was to be the role of the people of God in them:

"And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know (know by experience, to ascertain by seeing, to recognize, admit, acknowledge, confess, to know intimately, to be revealed) their God shall be strong (strengthened, sustained, encouraged, made bold, made firm, to press, be urgent), and do (accomplish, produce, act with effect, bring about, appoint, ordain, institute) exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil many days...And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed."   Dan. 11:32-35 (excerpt)

Those who have an intimate knowledge of God are called to accomplish great things during these times of the end. It will not be without cost to them, however, as Daniel revealed.

Jesus described in parables the conditions challenging the kingdom of God, and what should be the driving focus of the people of God.
Concerning the challenges to the kingdom of God, Jesus told the parable of the man who sowed good seed in his field (Mt. 13:24-30). As the crop grew, it was noticed that worthless plants called tares, which initially look like wheat but never grow the head of useful grain at maturity, had been sown among the good wheat seed. The man knew immediately that this was the work of an enemy during the night. His servant asked if the worthless plants should be removed immediately, but the wise owner said to let them continue to grow together, otherwise the good wheat might be pulled out with them. "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."
The matured worthless tares without the developed grain head would be easily identified and separated out at harvest time to be destroyed, while the good wheat, having produced the fruit of grain, would also be easily identified and harvested into the barn.
John the Baptist also spoke to the religious hypocrites who recognized the warnings of the wrath to come, but failed to produce fruit worthy of repentance, which is the fruit the LORD was looking for. Again, these fruitless hypocrites would experience the cut of the ax, and the casting into the fire by the One coming who would baptize with fire (Mt. 3:7-12).
Jesus warned not to put importance and effort into material and corruptible things as the world does. Those things will be consumed, destroyed and stolen. Make effort instead to value and accumulate the heavenly treasures, which are indestructible. As you so labor, your heart and soul will be fixed on those things. In the case of those who covet the corruptible things, the light they do have will be darkened into great darkness (Mt. 6:19-23).
Those heavenly treasures are described in parables by Jesus:
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
                                                                                                         Mt. 13:44-46
Have you discerned the signs of the times? Will the expected fruit and grain be found in you at the time of the coming harvest? Where are you laying up your treasure? In the corruptible things of this world, or in the eternal, incorruptible things of heaven, the things of the kingdom of God? The signs tell us that time is growing short.

We hope to soon be able to bring to you and many others an End Time School, instructing and preparing as many as possible regarding the end of this age, and the events marking the soon return of Christ. We hope that you will support this work of the kingdom of God. More details will soon be forthcoming.

 *The above is based upon the 7/21/19 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson.

To Contact/Submit prayer requests/Support the ministry/Order the book, "NAZAH":

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Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 

Dr. Stevenson's newest book is now available:
  

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How Much Fruit is in a Seed?

 

 

One seed produces enough fruit to feed many. As God created life on the earth, He created within that life the power to regenerate and multiply. He placed that power in seed form:

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good."   Gen. 1:11-12

Each seed produces the same plant and fruit that had produced it. As we know, when the planted seed grows, matures and bears fruit, it has in fact multiplied itself many times, even within each fruit.

The Hebrew word for seed is zerah. It means "seed, offspring, descendants, children, posterity, of moral quality, a practitioner of righteousness, a sowing time".

The future, or fruit, is contained and determined by the seed sown in the present. The Hebrew meaning of the word, as we see above, also contains the idea of an activity, or behavior, as well as a time, or season-there is a time for sowing.

Jesus told a parable of a sower sowing seed (Mt. 13:3-9). The seed itself has the potential to grow. Various conditions, like good soil, stony ground, devouring animals, overgrowing thorns, or unrelenting heat, can impact the resulting growth however. Seed planted in good soil multiplies itself many times over-thirty, sixty, one hundred fold- in the fruit it will produce. Jesus specifically identifies the seed sown in this parable as the Word of God (Mk. 4:14).

The Word, Jesus Himself, is a good comparison to a seed, because we know the Word also contains creative and multiplicative power:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made." 

                                                                                                             Jn. 1:1-3

This same seed, the Word of God, has been planted in each of us who believe. Are we being the "good soil" needed for the Word seed to grow, flourish, and produce fruit? We sometimes mix the seed of the Word with our own strange seed of our own ideas and will. God warns against what He calls "mingled seed":

"Ye shall keep My statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a different kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee."   Lev. 19:19

We cause harm by mingling the Word/seed with our own desires. A powerful example of this is found in the account of Abraham and Sarah. The LORD spoke a miracle promise, a seed, to Abraham, a childless man, that his seed (descendants) would be as numerous as the stars (Gen. 15:5). Abraham and his wife Sarah mingled that seed of the Word promise with their own reasoning and unbelief. That mingled seed bore fruit when Abraham conceived a child with his wife's maid, Hagar. Sarah became unhappy with this result of her own making, and abused Hagar. Now that seed was being mingled with jealousy and resentment. The child that was produced from all of this would still have the multiplication power of that seed promise (Gen. 16:10). However, having been mingled with unbelief, jealousy and resentment, the child or fruit produced from that mingled seed would be called "a wild man, whose hand would be against every man" (Gen. 16:12). We still see today in the Middle East the resulting fruit in the ongoing enmity among Abraham's seed.

Our ways and our words are the seeds that we sow. We need to be careful to understand the future ramifications of them:

"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him."  Isa. 3:10-11

The seed we sow by word and deed will affect the harvest that we reap. The two cannot be separated:

"A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence."   Prov. 13:2

When we are careless with our words, speaking things over and over again that should not be spoken even once, we a sowing a crop that will bring forth fruit after its kind:

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."   Prov. 18:21

While we seem to have little awareness of the power of the seed, and its direct connection to the fruit produced from it, the Devil is very aware, using that eternal seed principle for his own evil plans. Jesus revealed this in His parable of the wheat and the tares (Mt. 13:24-30). Good wheat seed (the Word) was sown in a field, but while men slept (sleep, rest, be indifferent to our salvation), an enemy came and sowed tares. Tares are a counterfeit (lying) wheat, difficult to identify until the plant matures but produces no head of valuable and desirable wheat grain. The tares and the wheat had to be left to grow together. Tearing out the closely mingled tares would also pluck up the nearby wheat plants growing with them. The separation would have to wait until the harvest. The tares would have to be allowed to continue doing their damage until then. The effects from a weary or negligent attitude regarding the seed/fruit principle can be long lasting. The enemy will use the opportunity that we give him.

The scriptures assure us that the principle of the sowing of seed and the reaping of the resulting harvest or fruit, and the seasons that accompany them, will exist as long as the earth exists (Gen. 8:22). Paul uses this same principle to teach that the connection between  sowing and reaping is a spiritual truth:

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary of well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."   Gal. 6:7-9

How much fruit is in a seed? Like the stars in the sky- too many to number.

 

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