Luke 12: 13 - 21, Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." NKJV
The Word of God declares that we are blessed from the very moment we come to faith in Christ. Even so, just as a farmer plants a seed into the ground and waits for the harvest, the Word of God that brings the blessing of God takes time to produce fruit. Consequently, we must continue to abide in Christ and in the Word so that we will become partakers of God's blessings, bearing much fruit. When we walk with God, the blessings of God will come upon our lives and will eventually overtake us.
Read the story of Abraham, who is known as the father (founder) of the faith in Christendom; you will see that when God first called him out of his father's country and away from his kindred, Abraham didn't have many possessions. Nevertheless, as he continued to walk by faith, God began to bless him in the natural realm making Abraham's name great among the people.
The longer Abraham walked with the Lord, the greater He blessed him. The increase was so great that the herdsmen of Abraham and Lot begin to quarrel over the land in order to obtain adequate pasture for their herds. Therefore, the only thing the uncle and nephew could do was to divide the land and part company. After God had greatly blessed Abraham and made him rich, God gave Isaac to he and Sarah. The couple had finally acquired their heart's desire from the Lord. They both had reached a pinnacle in their faith walk and had witnessed the riches of God's favor and blessing on their lives.
It was after God had richly blessed Abraham that He told him to take Isaac upon the mountain and offer him as a sacrifice unto the Lord. Did you realize that Abraham could have said, "I've gotten all that I've ever needed and wanted from the Lord, and I don't need God any longer?" We must be very careful when, after we've walked with God for a while, and He has blessed us that we don't get lifted up in pride and give the Devil a place to rob us of our spiritual inheritance. It is very hard stepping out in faith with nothing in the natural except "a word from God." However, it can become very dangerous when, after we've been blessed by the Lord, we allow ourselves to lose focus of God and dwell only on His blessings.
When God has blessed us with everything that we have desired, we must beware of the flesh nature and keep it crucified, lest we get lifted up and forget the Lord. If we should become lifted up through pride, then we will give the enemy an opportunity to take our passion and focus away from God and redirect it toward our possessions. God doesn't mind us being blessed and having possessions; He just doesn't want possessions to possess us.
If we allow ourselves to get to a place where our possessions and our earthly wealth cause us to disobey and ignore God in our hearts, then we will be walking away from the only hope we will ever have in this life, or in the life to come. When we disregard God, we disobey God's Word; if we refuse to obey the Word, we no longer walk by faith. Consequently, the blessings, along with our hope will dry up.
If we choose to walk away from the God of hope because He has blessed us in the natural, then we are cutting off our own souls. Blessings apart from God cannot save our souls. Our souls can only live when we hear God and keep His Word. Remember the man in today's scripture. Instead of honoring the Lord with his substance, he decided to hoard up his blessings and take it easy.
After we have been blessed, our faith will be threatened; the enemy will begin to tempt us to relax. If we give in to Satan's plans, and we back away from God because of all the goodness in our lives, then we will fall into the same snare that the man in today's story did. What will it profit us, if we should gain the entire world, but forfeit our very soul? Nothing!
America has experienced the greatness of God's favor, provision, and authority. Nevertheless, over the past fifty or sixty years, Americans have chosen to indulge in the pleasures of "our success," at the expense of standing up and defending the truth in our society. As a result, we are living in a secular society that offers no hope. Somewhere along the way, Americans have lost their way. However, it's time for us to return to the God of our salvation. It's not too late for both America and the church to turn to God, repent of our sin, and allow God to restore greatness to this country and His church. All God asks is that we, who are called by His name, humble ourselves and pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways; then, He will hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land.
We must return to the Lord with our whole heart, allowing God's mercy to restore the soul of America back to righteousness and holiness. If we want to see both America, and the church in this nation become what God intended us to be, then it must begin with you and me. This is our opportunity to become a part of a mighty move of God that will see the soul of America restored to the God who birthed this country.
Over the course of April, I will be sharing some very important information about an evangelistic outreach that will cover North America and Canada. Through this soul winning outreach, literally millions of souls can come to know Jesus in 2013. Together, we can see the glory of God return to this nation as never before. Will you join us? There is hope for America, and His name is Jesus!
If the Holy Spirit has touched your heart through today's devotion, and you want to share with us what has transpired in your life, please contact me at passion30@whcnorth.org. The transformation has already begun.
The Goodness of God Produces Repentance,
Pastor Asa Dockery
P.S. This devotion is an excerpt from the prophetic word God gave me for the nation this past Sunday. The title of the message is, "A Nation in Crisis." If you want to learn more about the hope we have in Christ and in God's plan to restore the soul of America, please log onto our website at www.whcnorth.org. You can download the video, the audio, or the transcript (which will be posted after 3-26-13).
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