October 16, 2009

• The Lord is my portion..

  I found this writing by Winslow on a sweet little site called, Grace Gems! The newest study for my “God Notebook” is “God is our Portion”.
  

  I’m finding several examples for the word ‘portion’ in the scriptures. One is the portion assigned a person. It may be an inheritance or our lot in life. A second example of ‘portion’ points to GOD being our portion. Both situations refer to an allotment of sorts. Something assigned. A particular, specific amount in which we are to be satisfied.
  

  Today I was thinking
  about how I oftentimes do not like the ‘portion’ that God has assigned.
  Oh, of course, I would never say those words exactly.. but I say it in
  other ways by complaining about my circumstances or by being anxious
  instead of trusting and resting in His Sovereign Wisdom. 
  

  God has assigned me my
  portion today and whatever He has assigned He WILL provide the needed
  grace to live it out for His glory! Psalms 16:5
  

  Do I live as if I believe that? Not always!

  
  

  All, all is ours!

  (Winslow,
  “Daily Need Divinely Supplied” 1870)

  “The Lord is my portion, says my soul;
   therefore I will hope in Him.”  Lament. 3:24

  It is our great privilege, beloved, that we live in a
  ‘portionless’ world. When God parceled out the land
  of Canaan among the tribes of Israel, He made an
  exception in the tribe of Levi, to whom He said,
  “You shall have no inheritance in the land, neither
  shall you have any part among them;” assigning as
  His reason, “I am your share and your inheritance.”

  The gospel teaching of this is obvious and significant.

  As the Lord’s true priesthood, this world is not our
  portion, nor earth our rest. It may have required
  some painful discipline, and no small measure of faith,
  on the part of the devout Levite, as he gazed upon the
  fertile meadows, the watered plains, and the vine clad
  hills of the Promised Land, before he was made willing
  to relinquish it all for Him who is invisible.

  It needs no little teaching and discipline
  of our God, and no little faith on our part,
  before we are led to give up . . .
    the world,
    the creature,
    self,
    and all,
  for Christ; satisfied to have the Lord alone as
  our Portion, and heaven only as our inheritance.

  “The Lord is my portion, says my soul.” His love
  to us was so great, that when He could give no
  greater proof of that love, He gave HIMSELF!
  Nothing more could have expressed the yearnings
  of His heart, nothing less could have satisfied the
  desires of ours.

  And oh, what a Portion is God!

  All that He is, and all that He has is ours . . .
    every attribute of His being is over us,
    every perfection of His nature encircles us,
    every pulse of His heart beats for us,
    every glance of His eye smiles upon us.

  We dwell in God, and God dwells in us.

  It is not the world which is our portion, but
  HE who made, upholds and governs the world.

  It is not the creature who is our portion, but
  the Lord of angels and the Creator of men.

  Infinite portion!
  Illimitable power!
  Immeasurable grace!
  Boundless love!
  All satisfying good!
  All, all is ours!

  And what a Portion, O my soul, is Christ . . .
    a divine Christ,
    a redeeming Christ,
    a full Christ,
    a sympathizing Christ,
    an ever present Christ,
    an ever precious Christ,
    an ever loving Christ!

  “Lord, I bless You for the discipline that brought
  me to realize what a divine, all satisfying Portion
  I have in Yourself. You took from me an earthly
  portion, only to enrich me with a Heavenly one.
  You removed from me the human prop upon which
  I too fondly and idolatrously leaned, that I might
  learn what Christ was, as my soul’s all sufficient,
  all satisfying, and everlasting Portion. I can now
  admire the wisdom, and adore the love, that blasted
  my gourds and emptied me from vessel to vessel;
  that, rising superior to the broken staff, the drooping
  flower, and the failing spring of creature good, I
  might claim my portion as a true spiritual Levite
  in Yourself alone.”

  • 2:24 pm
  • 3 Comments