Psalm 16:5 - "The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot."
Reflect on this: (The LORD is the "exact accounting" of the revealed obvious portion given to me(He is my everything), and the compressed but unseen reckoned measure; He grasps my way: holding me up to support my choosing, supporting me for the things chosen for me, and keeping me for the result of the choices).
The Math of Heaven is amazingly in our favor, at all times. He has given us all things; and all things are within our reach, are for our benefit, tailored for us, and are kept safe (from moth, rust and thieves) in His Love Repository. "The LORD is the portion (all things) of mine inheritance (the seen allotment)" And "The LORD is the portion of my cup (the unseen, pressed down, "owl" requisitioning)."
"All things" = "the realized/seen daily provision x gratitude" + "unseen cup, the owl who hunts in the night, the secret thoughts of the heart x a passionate devotion for Him".
Take a little bit of time with this. The true power and blessing of our life comes from two sources:
1. A Delightful Gratitude for the Obvious Blessings of God - The Inheritance.
2. A Devotional Passion for the Secret Time with Him - The Cup (the Owl).
The amazing thing ... In our day, the LORD is drawing us to the treasure chest of true completeness - true Shalom, true wholeness... that is found only in Him.
Jeremiah 11 - has been a universal draw as a promise for prosperity or success from many sources, but the true message has been garbled by our almost covetous need for tangible wealth and "stuff" or a desire to be rid of symptomatic pain and distress. True Shalom is not found in the obvious, but always recognize that the obvious blessings of God need to be greeted with a delight filled gratitude. That is only half of the road less traveled.
While pondering a partial sign along the road that appeared to say "For I know the thought that I have purposed for you, thoughts of Prosperity ..." The car spun around the corner of a remote highway before my Father-n-Law could catch the Scripture reference ... But just up the road in the dark, stood an owl - just glaring at him as swerved by him. An owl, standing in the middle of the road - just glaring at him. He needed to put this together.
Upon arriving home he searched for the scripture, but this was what he found contrary to the modern day tout for riches : Jeremiah 29:11, 12, 13 - "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
After this study, in his travels he found more and more people that he would share Jeremiah 29:11 with, would tell him "That is our verse!" Or "We have kept that as a promise!" ... And the scripture was making connections with other believers; ... But what about the Owl?
Father's Day 2018 - Dad and I collided in a study and when he heard the word OWL connected with a devotion to God in the secret times. He opened his heart to the dire importance of the Owl ... The passionate desire to seek the LORD in the secret times where the only eyes that would see him would be God's eyes. He learned that for the sake of all the children looking up to him ... Knowing Jesus would have to be his passion in the secret instead of ungodly vises. Wow what a revelation!
Note: the Hebrew word for "CUP" in Psalm 16:5 is also translated "owl" ... Think about an owl: Silent in its flying, nocturnal in its hunt, focused in hunting the object of its unseen desire ... Though thought of as unclean. A sinner, normally bent to searching for the forbidden pleasures of sin in the dark, NOW saved by grace...can find that sin will lose its grip on him if the choices made in secret are choices made in a passionate desire to know Jesus.
Dads and Moms - for the sake of the Children - seek Jesus in the secret ... Remember the Owl!
Be Grateful for God's obvious blessings and passionate about knowing Him in secret;
Shalom will grow within and around you.
HLFA,
Jeff