Friday, October 14, 2011

He is my portion...and I am His!

Wow...where do I begin with this weeks bible study?  So many amazing truths unpacked and delivered in a way that I have never heard before.  Let's start here:

The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi and gave them a special blessing of no land.  Wait, that can't be right...no land? The poor Levites didn't receive ANY land?! Instead, they received God himself as their inheritance (Psalm 119:57).   Hmm...this got me thinking; what do I value more?  God himself, or stuff?      I was ready to pack up and go home after this concept, that's enough for me to mull over this week!  But nope, there was more...

 But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.  (Deut. 4:20)

For the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance (Deut. 32:9)

How humbling and completely amazing is the fact that I have inherited God himself, and God gets just as excited about the fact that He has inherited me?!!!!  What?!?!  I have never thought about the fact that I am His inheritance! When I first tried to let this concept sink in I was completely humbled and actually felt sorry for God.  I felt like God was getting shafted because He inherited me and my mess.  However, in Ephesians 1:18 He talks about me being his "glorious," or beautiful inheritance.  I need to meditate on that truth...I still cannot understand how I can be His glorious/beautiful inheritance, but I am!  The fact that God finds me to be so valuable/precious to Him, makes me feel really special!

I felt especially challenged by the way that Beth described her relationship with God.  How she talks to Him so informally and laughs/jokes around with Him.  I love the way she truly treats Him like any other friend.  I feel like i'm missing out on intimacy with God because i'm more focused on things than on Him.  I need to rethink what I have been valuing.  I love how Beth ended this weeks study with this verse:  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  (Psalm 73:26)



Questions to ponder:

What do you value more:  God himself, or stuff?
How does it make you feel to know that YOU are Gods inheritance/portion?
Do you desire a more intimate relationship with God? What is standing in the way?

1 comment:

Val Arington said...

I loved Beth's teaching this week about the Levites. I knew they didn't receive land but I never thought about them receiving God Himself as their inheritance. I confess I love real estate! I'm afraid I would have been bummed and whined if I were a Levite & missed out on the land allotment.

Some days I am so wrapped up in HIm that nothing else matters but other days I so easily slip into whining to God about all kinds of things He does or doesn't do for me. I get wrapped up in what God does rather than who He is. I want to be satisfied by Him and Him alone!

I pray that my relationship with Him becomes more intimate every day. I want our relationship to be a blessing to Him, never thought about that...Hard to believe that I am His inheritance. I will keep pondering that thought... I wonder how God feels when He is pleased with His inheritance (me) & I am not satisfied with my inheritance (HIM). ouch! Forgive me Lord for being anything less than blown away by You and You alone!!