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 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

The days are here. The long awaited messiah came bringing the blessing of a new covenant. A new agreement between God and man whereby we can have access to God. It’s not an agreement we can simply break and it have no power. Now God puts the reflection of his character, his law, within us. He writes it not upon stone, but upon our hearts. We no longer rely on teaching about God, because we can actually know God personally. God does not simply have a relationship with our leaders and spiritual guides, he knows us all. He has forgiven our sin and all we need to do is enter into this covenant, cut with the blood of his son, Jesus. Have you trusted in him today?

For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.

How many times did God have compassion on His people in the Old Testament and remain faithful… many. God is not a fickle friend, He will remain true to you even when we mess-up over and over again. Just never give up! Keep following. Keep going. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit in side you to give you the strength to carry on. God doesn’t change, He still loves His people…

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,   

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,   

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,   

the Spirit of counsel and might,   

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

Jesus is the one who came. He was a Hebrew from the Jewish people, but he is much more than that. He is the branch of that family tree who actually brought forth fruit. Real salvation. Not temporary relief from oppressive governments or land, but eternal life. God’s Spirit was with him, he knew why he was here. He was wise beyond man and able to accomplish more than is humanly possible. He put God the Father’s will as supreme, he did nothing apart from the father. Jesus is this one who would come, predicted over 700 years before he was born. God is amazing. Trust in Jesus, the branch.

16 In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. … 25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah; she was a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord…

The most important thing in leadership is integrity. Character is not something that is quickly built. Every leader is going to make mistakes, every leader is going to lead in directions people don’t like (otherwise, they’re not leading), but it should not be called into question, specifically Christian leaders, that they have God’s will as their aim. There is no substitute for godly character in a leader, there are all kinds of personality types and leadership styles and strategies, but integrity is not optional. There’s a big difference between “I don’t like what they’re doing” and “they’re doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord.” If you don’t have the latter, be thankful it’s just the former 😉