An interview with Mike Gladieux,
conducted by Jon Wilson, senior coordinator of Word of Life
Mike and his wife Martha Gladieux have been members of covenant community in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA for more than 48 plus years, first with the Word of God Community and in the last few years with Word of Life Community. In the following interview conducted by Jon Wilson, senior coordinator of Word of Life, Mike shares a personal vision the Lord gave him about the call to covenant Christian community and a reflection on God’s steadfast love and faithfulness to the covenant he made with us as a people.
Here is a summary of Mike’s vision and reflection on God’s covenant love:
This was a vision I received – not an actual physical manifestation – when I was on an Ignatian retreat back in January 2011. In this vision, the Lord was standing there holding us in His hands, The Word of God in one hand, and The Word of Life in the other hand. He was holding us in that covenant He made beginning in 1970. As I reflect on God’s covenant with us as a people, the words that come to mind to describe this are – His tender loving kindness, His precious love for us, and how He cherishes us, and how He is utterly faithful like a rock and absolutely unshakeable.
I now realize that this overwhelming vison does, in fact, confirm for me that the Lord did indeed make a covenant with us – and it allowed me to see His attitude toward His covenants – his tender-loving kindness, precious love, absolute faithfulness, unshakeable like a rock. The key biblical Hebrew word for covenant love is chesed, which literally means steadfast loving-kindness, utterly faithful love).
I know that His covenant with us is not like the covenants with Israel that have lasted for millennia and have involved millions of people, nor is it comparable to the New Covenant in His Blood, which is intended to encompass the entire human race… But, it IS a covenant, and He initiated it with us, and that means it immediately incorporates His covenant love and faithfulness towards us. It’s a fundamental mark of God’s loving kindness.
I think that in the days to come the Lord will continue to show us His faithfulness to the covenant he made with us. This might be especially important for us to remember as a people because of what will be happening in and around us – if the days that are coming are to be dark and difficult. This basic fundamental truth is something we need to recall and to keep in mind.
Also, because God made a covenant with us, He must have a special and vital role for us to play in the events that are to come. It is His way of establishing us in His plans, of securing us beyond any possible doubt that he has made a covenant with us and the Sword of the Spirit. God is absolutely faithful and steadfast like a rock.
A video of the whole interview With Mike Gladieux and Jon Wilson is available here:
Top photo credit: photo collage of early charismatic prayer meetings and community activities, (c) 2020 Living Bulwark/The Sword of the Spirit
Mike and his wife Martha Gladieux have been members of covenant community in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA for more than 48 plus years, first with the Word of God Community and in the last few years with Word of Life Community.