God Our Portion Psalms 73:21-26 Psalms 16:5-6 Psalms 119:57-58 Psalms 142:5 Ephesians 1:17-23 John 1:16-17 Colossians 2:9-10 1 Peter 1:3-9 03.10.21

 

GOD OUR PORTION

BREAD

²¹ When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, ²² I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. 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 73:21-26 (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.   Psalms 16:5-6 (NIV)

 

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.  Psalms 119:57-58 (NIV)

 

⁵ I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Psalms 142:5 (NIV)

 

¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰ which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.  Ephesians 1:17-23 (NIV)

 

¹⁶ From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  John 1:16-17 (NIV)

 

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.   Colossians 2:9-10 (NIV)

 

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  1 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV)

BUTTER

“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

“When you have God for your portion, you have more than everything else put together. In Him every need is met, whether in life or in death. With God for your portion you are rich indeed, for He will supply your need, comfort your heart, relieve your grief, guide your steps, walk with you in the dark valley, and then take you home to enjoy Him as your portion forever.  ‘I have enough,’ said Esau; this is the best thing a worldly man can say, but Jacob replied in essence, ‘I have everything,’ which is a note too high for carnal minds.”   C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg

 

“I love Him because He first loved me.  His goodness and mercy and compassion to me are new every day.  And my assurance is lodged in these aspects of His character.  My trust is in His love for me as His own.  My serenity has as its basis an implicit, unshakable reliance on His ability to do the right thing, the best thing in any given situation.  This to me is the supreme portrait of my Shepherd.  Continually there flows out to me His goodness and His mercy, which even though I do not deserve them, come unremittingly from their source of supply – His own great heart of love.”   Phillip Keller

“Live today.  Tomorrow we are not given.  Yesterday we cannot change.  Grace is given in exact proportion for the day and need we are in – never more or less - the right now and time of the moment - for every heir of mercy - just as manna was.  It will be there tomorrow – and worry will not get it there.  It is always bestowed by the gracious, faithful Hand of God.”  BHY 

“The world is our passage, not our portion.”  Matthew Henry

“If the Lord calls you to suffering, do not be dismayed. For with it he will provide a deeper portion of Christ.”   Samuel Rutherford

“Our God is a suitable portion.  No object is as suitable to the heart as He is.  He is a portion that is exactly suited to the condition of the soul in its desires, needs, wants, longings and prayers.  All the soul needs is found in God.  There is light to enlighten the soul, wisdom to counsel the soul, power to support the soul, goodness to supply the soul,   mercy to pardon the soul, beauty to delight the soul, glory to ravish the soul, and fullness to fill the soul…No earthly portion can suit an immortal soul…The soul is the beauty of man, the wonder of angels and the envy of devils.  Nothing can satisfy the soul without God…The highest good is that which is the most suited to do good to the soul.  God is the most excellent portion suitable to the soul.”  Thomas Brooks

“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

“In Him are fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore.  Only He can satisfy; He is my all-sufficient portion.  He is my sun and shield, root and branch, foundation and corner stone, and my sword and shield.  He only can answer all my desires and necessities.  He is my God, my portion, and my all.”   Thomas Lye

“Without the transcendent and eternal God, there is nothing lasting or meaningful in life.  Our lives have meaning ‘under the sun’ only because of Him who dwells above the sun and beyond the stars – out transcendent Lord Jesus who alone gives us eternal significance.”  Robert J. Morgan   

“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

HEART SAVOR

·         God is our sufficiency and strength – an ever-present help in times of trouble.

·         We have been given fullness in Christ Who is the Head over every power and authority.

·         From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another.