Complimentary Story
November/December 2024My Dad has been gone 8 years now; hard to believe. I miss him so much. While he was here on this side of heaven, he taught me a lot of things. One of the things I remember most was to take care of your things. My dad’s car was always clean and filled with gas, his shoes shined, his uniform pressed, his garage orderly, his tools cleaned. My dad took care of his things.
My God, my Heavenly Father, takes care of His things also.
1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, A PEOPLE FOR HIS POSSESSION…”
As a covenant bound, born-again, Jesus-saved believer, I am a person of God’s own possession! He owns me. If you didn’t understand the character of God, who loves us and gives us every good gift, the thought of being under His possession might scare you. It is the safest, most secure place to be. Why? Because, like my earthly daddy modeled, God takes care of His things.
My dad had this mind-set because he worked very hard his whole life to have what he had. He did not grow up in a wealthy family, nothing was just given to you or free. If you wanted something, you had to work hard for it. When it cost you, you appreciated it – you cared about it.
Do you ever stop to think about what it cost God to make you “a person for His possession?” It cost Him His Son. He paid a high price to bring you under His loving care and authority. What it cost Him is a reflection of the value He sees in having a relationship with you. When something costs us; we appreciate it. Maybe you need this reminder again today…God loves you so very much…so much that He sent His only Son to cover your sins once and for all so that you could have an eternal life to spend with Him. Hallelujah!
Do you know that your eternal life under God’s holy care is not a future event, waiting for you in Heaven. You were brought into His family, made His possession, the moment you accepted the gift of salvation in Jesus.
1 Peter 1:9-10, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Once you were…but now you are! Oh, the promise in those verses! Once I was not His possession, but now I am! Once I was in darkness, but now I am in His marvelous light! Once I had not received mercy, but now I have! What a glorious truth of who I am because of my God’s good heart toward me.
A friend of mine said this recently… “If I see myself as being possessed by God, it will order how I view my possessions.”
Because if I belong to God…which I do, hallelujah…then everything I own belongs to God also. He has simply allowed me to be a steward over it for this little breath of life I have on earth. I will use it as He directs, care for it because it is not wholly mine. I will have no fear of lack because my provision does not come from the things I possess, but from the God who possesses me.
This chapter in Scripture goes on to urge us “as strangers and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11) to conduct ourselves honorably because of our position as God’s possession, for His glory. It tells us to honor every human authority. (1 Peter 2: 17). Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
Because we are God’s possession, and under His care and authority; we need not have any fear of human authority. As we head into the 2024 presidential election, this might seem a hollow and hard-to-believe statement for some of us. It is a true statement. I have a desire for a specific outcome for this election. It will make my life here on earth, as an American, easier and more financially profitable. I believe ‘my candidate’ will create a better and safer United States if elected. I want this for my kids.
However…I will have no fear because of the earthly authorities that are over me, because they are all under the authority of my God – my good God who cares for me because He takes care of His things.
This is a message, not just for election season, but for all seasons. As a Christian, I am not saved for the purpose of getting into Heaven someday. I am saved and given an immediate purpose to glorify God with every aspect of my life; because it is now His life to direct. I am God’s possession and He takes great care of His things.
Through my earthly Daddy and through my Heavenly Father; I have been blessed to understand the heart of a Provider and Protector that takes care of His things. Hallelujah!
Chris McMahan,
Email: Happy1970@icloud.com
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