With your Bible in hand, Our Possessions accompany you.
OUR POSSESSIONS
Then He said to them, “Watch out and guard yourselves against every form of greed.”
Moreover, not even when one has an overflowing abundance does life consist of possessions.
Nor is it derived from them. — Luk_12:15.
Little children (believers, dear ones), guard yourselves from idols.
These include false teachings, moral compromises, and anything that would take God’s place in your heart. — 1Jn_5:21
The petition addressed to Christ, in this paragraph from which our text is selected, has been presented to Him.
Thus, it has continued in subsequent ages.
Men are always demanding that He should divide the inheritance more equally.
But our Lord did not come to adjust human relationships by the exercise of His autocratic will.
He deals with the overreaching and grasping avarice that leads the rich to withhold.
It also addresses the discontent that compels the poor to murmur and recalls Our Possessions.
Our Lord announced the far-reaching truth that life does not consist in what we possess, but in what we are.
We are rich not in bank credit or inheritance.
We are rich in the purity, strength, and generosity of our nature.
Moreover, when we lay up treasure for ourselves, we become paupers in God’s universe.
Thus, the only way of dealing with covetousness is to regard our property only as gifts entrusted to us.
Consequently, it is for the benefit of others.
Moreover, let us mortify the spirit of greed, which is so strong within us all.
We sow the acreage of our life as indicated in 2Co_9:1-15[PS1].
Sensual appetite is an idol with many (Php_3:19[PS2]).
Eating and drinking, feasting and pleasure-seeking are idols before which many prostrate themselves.
Moreover, other idols exist beyond these.
Whenever any earthly object engrosses our soul and intercepts love and faith, it is an idol.
However, when we look up from anything we possess into God’s face, we may use it.
We may thank Him as its Giver and enjoy it without fear.
We are not likely to make an idol of what we receive directly from the hand of our Heavenly Father.
It is His good pleasure to give good gifts to His children.
PRAYER
O Lord, the Portion of our Inheritance, give us grace, we pray Thee. Additionally, what we can enjoy in Thee, give us according to Thy Will. Moreover, what we cannot, deny us. AMEN.
Evening.
And those whom He predestined, He also called. Moreover, those whom He called, He also justified, declared free of the guilt of sin. And those whom He justified, He also glorified, raising them to a heavenly dignity.— Rom_8:30
In the second epistle to Timothy, first chapter, and ninth verse, these words are given. They declare the calling is holy and not earned by our works. It is according to his own purpose and grace.
This calling forbids trust in our own doings. It guides us to Christ for salvation and then purges us from dead works.
Our Possessions should reflect the heavenly calling. If you live in sin, you are not called. If you belong to Christ, you seek holiness.
Has the calling elevated your life toward God and his will? The Philippians passage speaks of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Is your calling truly high, holy, and heavenly? Beloved, you are called of God for this purpose.
Morning
Let us lift up our hearts and our hands [in prayer] Toward God in heaven; ” — Lam_3:41
Our Possessions remind us that the act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness. This is a salutary lesson for proud beings like us. If God gave us favours without requiring prayer, we would not know our poverty. A true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities. Moreover, it reveals hidden poverty.
While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness. The healthiest state for a Christian is to be empty in self and dependent upon the Lord for supplies. To be poor in self and rich in Jesus is the aim. However, our weakness yields strength through God to do great exploits.
Prayer, then, uses us as a tool; it places the creature in the dust. Prayer, apart from answers, is a great benefit to the Christian. As the runner gains strength by daily exercise, we gain energy by prayer. Moreover, prayer lifts us to mount above the clouds.
Prayer girds the loins of God’s warriors and sends them forth. An earnest pleader leaves the closet, like the sun rising from the east. Prayer is the lift that makes the weak strong against their enemies. We know not what prayer cannot do! We thank thee, great God, for the mercy-seat, a proof of thy loving-kindness. Help us to use it rightly today!
MeWe join our group at Friends in Jesus. Moreover, you may also want to join Creation Ministries International. Read all about it: Creation.com. Finally, Find more study topics at Quo Vadis World. Facebook.
We give thanks and acknowledgement to Rick Meyers for e-Sword. Additionally, the address is P.O. Box 1626, Franklin, TN 37065, United States of America, www.e-sword.net.
The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem.
Achaia has been prepared since last year for this contribution.
Additionally, your enthusiasm has inspired the majority of them to respond.
[PS2] Php 3:19 states their fate is destruction, and their god is their belly.
Moreover, their worldly appetite, their sensuality, and their vanity are in view, and they focus their mind on earthly things.
[PS3]1Ti 4:4 For everything God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
1Ti 4:5 states that it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
Additionally, it is set apart, dedicated to God.
[PS4] Php 3:13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet. Moreover, one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.
Php 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize.
Thus, that prize is the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters sharing the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest whom we confessed as ours. Moreover, we accepted Him as Savior; He is Jesus.
