God, himself- OUR PORTION.
Look again at Romans. 8:17:
"And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together..."
If we are Children of God; if He has made us sons and put the Spirit of His Son in our hearts, then we are heirs - we are inheritors. We are heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. Look at the implications of this:
" The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world and they who dwell therein"
(Psalms 24:1)
"And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth" (Genesis. 14:19)
The earth, and all its fullness; all men, all cattle, all heavens, all things; all silver and all gold belong to God by right. He has the right of ownership on everything. Yet see what God offers us. He came and spoke to Abram in Genesis 15:1...
" After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, fear not, Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceedingly great reward."
The first thing God deals with in us is the issue of fear. The spirit of fear must be cast out first, before a man can stretch forth his hands in faith for the great portion of our inheritance. God says; "fear not"! I am big; I am great; I am the Almighty but " I am thy shield "; " I am thy exceedingly great reward" I am yours. I am your reward...I am your heritage. The Possessor of heaven and earth is now your heritage. David saw this when he confessed:
"The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea I have a goodly heritage." (Psalm 16:5--6).
I must emphasise here, that materials, goods, money and all the like are too small to measure the parameter of our wealth in Christ. Sincerely, it is delusion to leave possessor of heaven and the earth, in pursuit of these things, which will be added unto you, when you need them.
The same scripture is rendered thus in Moffat translation:
"Thou art what I obtain from life, O thou Eternal, thou thyself art my share" (Vs 5)
" The measuring line mark out delightful places for me; for me the heritage is superb indeed." (Vs 6. Jerusalem Bible).
God Himself is what I obtain in life; Himself is my share. David said, " for me the heritage is superb indeed ". For you, what is the superb thing you are pursuing in life?
Jeremiah in lamentation 3:24 declared:
"The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him..."
All men of spiritual insight knew this truth. They pursued this inheritance with all their heart and strength. They gave up all in order to possess this. They guarded their lives; gagged themselves, punished their bodies and their appetites so as not to miss out on this inheritance, though invisible to the eye of a carnal man. Daniel refused to defile himself with the King's meat; Joseph refused to commit sin and was imprisoned for thirteen (13) years, just to maintain this inheritance.
Yet, there seems to be a conflict we all go through. It is the conflict that this inheritance is first and foremost spiritual. It is invisible. We are tempted here and there to exchange it for the visible ephemeral things of this age. We are tempted to seek a physical expression of it in material things; in concrete, discrete, countable, physical and visible things. This is a soft spot where the enemy of our souls seeks to ensnare us. Look at Abram in Genesis. 15:2--3 mirroring our heart:
"And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold to me, thou hast given no seed: and lo, one born in my house is my heir".
Do you see the irony of our heart s now!... "Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless..." Several men (Christians) disregard this glorious inheritance, God Himself, in pursuit of " what and what and what" we can get - children, houses, car, Lands, clothes, wife, husband, certificates, promotions, politics etc. As far as they are concerned, God is not enough an inheritance. Even if they will settle down, at least let it be Jesus plus something else....
Are you throwing away this glorious heritage because you are under some carnal pressure? Is money more important to your heart now than your relationship with the LORD? What exactly is true prosperity? Is it in the abundance of the materials you possess? Jesus said:
"Take heed and beware of covetousness; for a Man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 12:15).
Prosperity is not in materials we amass around. True prosperity is "POSSESSING GOD AS OUR POTION IN LIFE". The truth is that when God (who calls things forth into existence - the things that be not as though they were) becomes your heritage in this life...you live above any lack. You do not need to carry about bags of money to show you are rich, or build houses in every town in the country to ensure you sleep well. All these actually shows the poverty of your soul. You are now possessed by those things. You are no more a possessor. You are a possessed man! You no longer have the liberty of going about with God as your source of support, your shield and your security. You are caged, enslaved and imprisoned behind iron bars you call security gadgets. You depend more and more on dogs and security guards, because your treasure is now in the visible; in the natural realm, where thieves can break in and plunder.
Listen to divine injunction from the lips of your master:
" And seek not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after; and your father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves bags, which grow not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.(Luke. 12:29-34)
The men of the world are all running after things. I say unto you, it is the manifestation of the spirit of fear, the spirit of bondage to pursue things. It is poverty of some sort to be possessed with the pursuit of 'things': clothes, cars, houses etc... It is a shame for a child of God to be scrambling with the world over things, especially when it robs you of a deep relationship and communion with God. Take the word of God seriously. Provide for yourselves bags which grow not old, a treasure in heaven that fail not.
Men who understood this glorious inheritance like David and Joseph, did not care what they had to give up to maintain it.
" And the Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he had to prosper in his hand.
And Joseph found grace in his sight and he served him: and he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field." (Genesis. 39:2--5)
This is the dimension of this inheritance.
Joseph was a slave, as far as the carnal eye could see. He hardly had a dress. He was sold out naked unto Potiphar of Egypt. Yet, the scripture says he was a prosperous man because the Lord was with him. Whatever he laid his hands to do prospered. His Egyptian master knew and saw that the Lord was with him. How? You may ask. If you walk boldly into this inheritance, if you Cherish it and esteem it above all other pursuits men will know it as well. Material things were not the measure of prosperity. The Egyptian - the Landlord; the captain of guard of Egypt; an officer of pharaoh, would have been said to be prosperous...but, he was not. What he had were mere things. They were not blessed until Joseph came in with this rich inheritance. He brought prosperity and blessing to Potiphar because he brought God in as his own personal belonging. In conflict with Potiphar's wife - with sin, Joseph surrendered his only clothing, Potiphar's wife was able to snatch mere cloth off Joseph, but not his real inheritance - God. He want out naked but very rich, very prosperous. He went into prison: wore the prisoner gown, ate the prisoners food, slept among prisoners, yet with this God who was his only possession. Joseph became the ruler in prison. The keeper of the prison handed over to him as he noticed a strange blessing on Joseph life. He saw that the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper (Genesis 30:23)
Joseph became the second in command in Egypt. Dispatch riders, chariots, and trumpeters went ahead and behind him shouting "Bow the knee"! " Bow the knee"!... simply, because he possessed the Spirit of God. When a man possesses this glorious inheritance - God Himself - there is nothing that he will lack.
This our potion (God Himself) is the essence of all things... and God again says to you today: " Fear not; I am thy shield and thy exceedingly great reward." Will you receive this or are you searching yonder for a "kid"; a show"?
Will you act foolishly like Esau, as to exchange this for a mess of pottage? (To be continued)
I hope you are blessed?
Remember: (CONNECTING TO GOD'S HELP) is on the 1st of June 2018, we shall be waiting on the Lord with a fast as the Lord gives you grace. Its a time that no yoke or burden of the enemy is permitted to stay on your life and destiny. If you are in Enugu, you will do yourself great good to join us on that 1st @ suite E23 CtoC Plaza, by Nkpokiti Rd, Enugu. 5pm dot.
Every Saturdays is (DEEP EXPERIENCE WITH JESUS) you are also invited to come and meet with Jesus. Time is 5pm. Same venue. The LORD bless you real good in Jesus most precious name!
SDTSM.
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