Phil,

I really like that. Thanks.

Love and Blessings,
Pat Ferguson


At 08:19 PM 11/7/04, you wrote:
>      A long time ago, there was a single voice.  The voice spoke
>from the totality of darkness and said,  "Let there be light and
>there was."  Thus God revealed Himself by His own spoken Word.
>
>      From the earliest days of man's creation, the spoken word was
>law.  there was nothing that was written because it was superceded
>by the spoken Word of God which became the language of men.
>Later, when God made covenant with man, he did so by His spoken
>word.  The spoken word covenant was confirmed by the shedding of
>blood.  Before the coming of Christ, the sacrifice symbolized the
>blood covenant between God and man.  It wasn't just any sacrifice
>but the sacrifice which God spoke to man by way of man's obedience
>to God and His law.  Later, of course, the commands were written
>by God as a reminder of His already spoken words.  Later still,
>God inspired His followers to write what He spoke and revealed by
>His Holy Spirit.  Jesus, God's only begotten Son, fulfilled the
>entire law for us including becoming the supreme blood sacrifice
>once and for all.  Thus, God's Words were fulfilled eternally.
>
>      In the beginning of mankind, he began living by his own words
>because such is the nature of the Creator.  Human covenants were
>thus established by words alone.  The cutting of covenants became
>the outward symbol of agreement.  The cutting of the hand in order
>that blood may flow served as the blood covenant and thus when men
>shook hands who were in agreement, the testimony of their
>agreement could be felt in their hands which served to physically
>confirm their spoken words to be the whole truth and nothing but
>the truth in God's stead.  The placing of the left hand upon the
>Bible in a court of law and the raising of the right hand to swear
>is, therefore, not an accidental occurrence.  the lifting of the
>covenant hand, with its scars, showed the person was a man of his
>word.
>
>      Today's modern man decided that words were not enough and
>began the writing of contractual agreements which, theoretically,
>would hold up in a court of law as legally binding.  Yet
>contracts, treaties, and agreements are broken every day.  Man's
>word is no longer the Word of God in practice or belief.  Yet, the
>Believer in God, and the one who has accepted the covenant
>relationship by His only begotten Son, once again, by word only,
>has become the promised covenant with God.  The covenant one can
>now once again live by his words because his words have become
>God's Words restored.  To confirm covenant with man again, God's
>own righteousness is thus imparted to the man who confesses Jesus
>Christ as Lord.  Man needs not to write what he believes; he only
>has to say it before God's eternal court.  The Holy Spirit is the
>Spirit of Holy eternal witness which is the circumcision made
>without hands that is the Holy Spirit of promise.  We have become
>the seed of Abraham and inherit the promise.
>
>      I was amazed, recently, when the Hispanic man with one arm
>came and gave my youngest son an estimate for all the concrete
>work my son needed for his new home.  This included the basement,
>the pad for the garage, and a driveway.  When their conversation
>was complete, the man said, "Do you need me to draw up a
>contract?"  My son said, "Do we need one?"  The man said, "I trust
>you.  I need no contract.  Your word is all I need."  My son said,
>"You have my word," and thus they agreed.  Everything was done and
>no paper contract was written as an agreement; their own words
>bound them to the truth.  It is sad to think that such agreements
>by word used to be the norm and now is rare.
>
>      For the Christian, we have the privilege, if we so choose, to
>live by our word once again.  Furthermore, we also have the right
>of speaking God's Words in place of our own.  This, too, is
>covenant in origin.  The two parties would exchange vows, words,
>which sealed their allegiance to each other to the exclusion of
>all others.  God has exchanged His Word with us, His Son, who now
>abides in us through the personage of His Holy Spirit.  This gives
>us legal right to use His name and His Words in relationship to
>His work and for our own lives.  Do you have a contract with God
>through Jesus Christ His Son?
>
>Phil.
>
>I Flew Kites With Jesus
>www.SafePlaceFellowship.com