BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee (verses 1–5). Notice, The LORD said to Abram, "I am the Almighty God." In Hebrew, what He actually said was, "I am El Shaddai." Literally translated, that means I am the God that is more than enough. The word Shaddai can also be used to refer to a nursing mother. That's very revealing. A mother is everything to a baby. She gave life to that baby. She is that baby's food, protection and everything else. So, when God called Himself El Shaddai, He was saying to Abram, "I am everything you are ever going to need." The next thing He said was, "Walk before me, and be thou perfect." One translation says, be sincerely blameless. In the Hebrew language it's clear that God wasn't requiring Abram to be perfect as we think of it. He was simply telling Abraham to stay in relationship with Him and, if he missed it, to repent. God's part, He said, was this: "I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly." This covenant is God's will. Abraham didn't even have to agree to it. God said, "As for me…my covenant is with you." Once the covenant terms were laid out and agreed upon, there was a name change. In covenant practice, this is where two become one. It's like what happens today when people get married. When Gloria and I got married, for example, before we said our vows, she was Gloria Jean Neece and I was Kenneth Max Copeland. Afterward, she became Gloria Jean Copeland. Why? Because we entered a covenant of marriage. When God entered covenant with Abram, He changed Abram's name by putting an H in the middle of it. In Hebrew, H stands for Hashem, which means "The Name, the Name of God." Abraham's new name signifi ed that he and God were now one, and that they always would be. As far as God was concerned, they would never be divorced. "I will establish my covenant between me and thee," He said to Abraham, "and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee" (verse 7). Talk about being promoted! When God joined His Name to Abram's, He lifted him up to His own level. Why could God do that? Because He's GOD! There's an incident in the life of the great general and emperor Napoleon that wonderfully illustrates this principle. As the story goes, he was reviewing his troops one day, when the massive stallion he was riding bolted and a soldier, risking his own safety, stepped out of line and caught the horse by the reins. After the soldier got the stallion settled, Napoleon said, "Thank you, Captain." "Sir, I'm just a private," the soldier replied. To live the victorious, abundant life Jesus has provided, we must be Blood covenant-minded. B V O V : 7

• Cover