MY
PORTION
BREAD
57 You
are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to obey your words. 58 I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious
to me according to your promise. 59 I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to
your statutes. 60 I
will hasten and not delay to obey your commands. Psalms 119:57-60 (NIV)
1 God is our refuge and strength, an
ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore
we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the
heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the
mountains quake with their surging. Selah 4 There is a river whose streams make glad
the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God
is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he
lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of
Jacob is our fortress. Selah 8 Come
and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the
earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with
fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will
be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of
Jacob is our fortress. Selah Psalms 46:1-11 (NIV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside
quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for
his name’s sake. 4 Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup
overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my
life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalms 23:1-6 (NIV)
23 Yet
I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will
take me into glory. 25 Whom
have I in heaven but you? And earth has
nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the
strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalms 73:23-26 (NIV)
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you
have made my lot secure. 6 The
boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a
delightful inheritance. 7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night
my heart instructs me. 8 I
have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not
be shaken. Psalms 16:5-8 (NIV)
5 I
cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the
living.” 6 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue
me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. 7 Set
me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me
because of your goodness to me. Psalms
142:5-7 (NIV)
8 And
God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all
times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)
7 To
keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to
torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away
from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace
is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That
is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,
in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)
BUTTER
“The strength of every saint lies in the
Lord of hosts. God can overcome His
enemies without our hands, but we cannot so much as defend ourselves without
His arm.” William Gurnall
“The Lord is our all-sufficient portion. God
fills Himself; and if God is all-sufficient in Himself, He must be
all-sufficient for us. It is not easy to satisfy man’s desires. When he dreams
that he is satisfied, instantly he wakes to the perception that there is still
something more, and his longings remain unfulfilled. But for the believer all that we can wish for
is to be found in our divine portion, so that we ask, ‘Whom have I in heaven
but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.’1
We can then delight ourselves in the Lord who allows us to drink of the river
of His pleasures.” C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg
“God is
the happiness of man because of His suitableness to the soul. A hungry man finds his stomach craving. Give
him music or honour and he is hungry still.
These are not suitable to his appetite.
Give him food and his craving is over.
So it is with a man’s soul. Give
it honour, profits, and the pleasures of the world, and these cannot abate its
desire; it craves still. These do not
answer the soul’s nature, and therefore cannot answer its needs. Set God before it just once, and let it feed
on Him; it is satisfied, and its inordinate, dogged appetite after the world is
cured. Tasting this manna tramples on
the onions of Egypt. God is the true
happiness of the soul because He is an eternal good. As the sun never sets, so the soul that rests
in God has an eternal Sabbath. Outward
mercies, in which most place their happiness, are like floods that swell high
and make a great noise, but are quickly over.
The blessed God is like the spring that bubbles forth and runs over
forever. This all-sufficient, suitable,
and eternal God is the saint’s peculiar portion, and therefore causes infinite
satisfaction.” George Swinnock
“We think
riches and honours are necessary and we must have our estates and lay up large
portions for our children. But in the
day of adversity, when death looks us in the face and God causes the horror of
the grave, the dread of the last judgment, and the terrors of eternity to pass
before us, then we put our mouths in the dust and sigh; ‘O how I have been mistaken! I have fed upon ashes, and my deceived heart
has turned me aside.’ We can now see how
the pardon of sin, an interest in Christ, a sense of God’s love, and the
assurance of glory, are the only indispensables. Christ alone is the One thing necessary, and
all others are but ‘maybes’ at best. All
the world has is but loss and dung in comparison with the excellence of the
knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord.” Thomas Case
“God’s love for us is higher and
deeper and broader and longer than anyone can imagine. He loves us with an everlasting love and He
rejoices over us with singing. He leads
us with cords of kindness and we rest secure between His all-sufficient
shoulders, finding repose in His shadow.
His eye is ever on us for our good and His glory never one surpassing
the other. His way is the best way even
though oftentimes extraordinarily, breath takingly difficult. In love, He meets our needs - not necessarily
our wants - as He is always in the process of conforming us into the image of
His Son AND He uses everything in our life towards that end as Jesus was to be
the first among many brothers. This is
taking hold of life that is truly life.
How are we to respond to this great love? The psalmist rightly proclaims: ‘25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My
flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion
forever.’ Psalms 73:25-26 (NIV).” BHY
“If the world’s darlings enjoy many good things, they lack
all without Christ. God is all good
things, and every good thing. He is
self-sufficient, alone-sufficient, and all-sufficient. If God were your portion, you would find in
Him whatsoever your heart could desire, and tend to your happiness. Are you ambitious? He is a crown of glory. Are you covetous? He is unsearchable riches and
righteousness. Do you desire
pleasure? He is rivers of pleasures and
fullness of joy. Are you hungry? He is a feast of wine on the lees and the fat
things full of marrow. Are you weary? He is rest, a shadow from the heat, and a
shelter from the storm. Are you
weak? He is everlasting strength. Are you doubting? He is marvellous in counsel. Are you in darkness? He is the Sun of righteousness. Are you sick?
He is the God of your health. Are
you sorrowful? He is the God of all
consolations. Whatever your calamity, He
can remove it. Whatever your necessity, He can relieve it. He is silver, gold, honour, delight, food,
raiment, house, land, peace, wisdom, power, beauty, father, mother, wife,
husband, mercy, love, grace, glory, and infinitely more than all these. There are all sorts of delights in Him. He is the tree of life bearing all manner of
fruits, and a variety of all comforts.
See God, and you see all. Enjoy
God, and enjoy all.” George Swinnock
“The world is our
passage, not our portion.” Matthew Henry
HEART
SAVOR
·
God is our sufficiency and strength – an ever
present help at all times.
·
When the fullness of God is your portion you
lack nothing of value.
·
Trust Him with your life. He is able to make all good abound, having
all that you need, at all times.
