Covenant Church at Creekside | Weekly Inspiration for Christian Living

While it can be confusing, the trinity—God as 3 persons—illustrates the relationship between God and humanity, not the relationship within the Trinity. So we need to understand that Jesus even though we think of him as a baby in a manger with a chronological birthday, was with God BEFORE creation. Jesus is carrying the attributes of the everlasting father to you and me even as a babe. He is everlasting. There will never be a time that exists outside of Jesus. Why is this important? Because Jesus is eternal, he can take on our sins to give us that gift as well.

Dios fuerte

What makes someone excited to receive a gift? Acute awareness of a need can make a gift so much sweeter. What comes to mind when you think of receiving a gift of a mighty savior? Are you in the midst of trials that lead you to great anticipation? But given our current culture and drive towards self-reliance you may be completely unaware and out of touch with your need for the gift of a mighty God. We either attempt to solve our problems or deny that they exist. But we are not capable of solving it all on our own and it is through experiencing our problems that we can accept the gift of a mighty savior. And Jesus is ready and waiting. You are his treasure, and like a momma bear, the Mighty God is ready to fiercely love and defend you.

"Consejero admirable"

Advent 1: We look to the story of the woman at the well to see how Jesus acts as a wonderful counselor. Jesus speaks with her in such a way that she feels entirely known. The depth of her shame lies exposed to him, yet his response to her says, "I know you, and I am with you now." In our shame, we act as though we can't approach Jesus, but Jesus already knows you and yet still came for you and me. Jesus is a "wonderful counselor." Walk with him, talk with him, confess, and let yourself be loved by him so that you can experience his wonderfully transformational nature.

“El pacto”

Throughout scripture, we have many examples of the analogy of marriage to describe God's relationship with His people. Through this analogy, we find God imploring us to remain faithful to Him as He will be faithful to us. In Matthew 9 and Mark 2, Jesus refers to himself as the "bridegroom" providing us with a theology of the kind of love that Jesus has for his church—submit to one another out of reverence. The love that Jesus has for the church is sacrificial love. He gave himself up for her without thought, without deliberation. He cares for us as his own flesh and bone. And while we humanly cannot wrap our minds around this depth of relationship with God, Jesus wants to know you. Sit with this passage this week. Pray for the Father to reveal this truth to you in your heart. Don't resist Jesus' self-sacrificing for you.

In receiving a declaration of love, we may find ourselves feeling unworthy and undeserving of that love. How could this person who is so perfect have these feelings for me? In this scripture, we are told that we are the bride of Christ. The Lord takes delight in you and you will be married. We feel unworthy but God is making us worthy.—ritualistically covering us is righteousness. We cannot do it on our own. While we may have that head knowledge of this, our hearts yearn for confirmation, for conviction, and when we experience a glimpse of it, we rejoice in God as He does in us.

“Jesus es Juez”

From his background and experience, Paul is the perfect person to establish Jesus as the answer to the great philosophical questions being pondered. He describes who God is, our responsibility to seek, understand and worship Him, and our accountability to his authority. Through the righteousness of Jesus, we have a standard of right and wrong and there is liberty for us in that we do not bear the responsibility for wielding the scales of righteousness. We were never meant to be "judge." But through Christ, there is clarity in the balance of judgment, justice, and love.