TREASURES IN EARTHEN VESSELS

 TREASURES IN EARTHEN VESSELS - "ENEMIES IN OUR CANAAN" PART 4

HALLELUJAH! We are yet in another part of our weekly series. I believe God has indeed been showing us great things from His word. We bless His name.

Still on the series "Treasures in our Earthen vessels"...we started this week trying to look at what dishonours our treasures. One thing we must have  understood is that our treasures are put for the sole purpose of serving God, shining forth His Glory. He beautifies and adds colour to our lives that we may bring glory unto Him. Every Potter will love his work to stand out in any place, in the same vein, our Father wants this for us. We will now bring dishonour when we do not live according to His fashioned out plan.

One of the ways by which we set ourselves out of the honour that follows the treasure is Pride. We understand from the scriptures that God resists the proud and gives grace unto the humble. He gives grace unto the humble because they need it to continue being humble. The Treasures put in us will make us proud hence we must have the checks of humility to subdue it. It is human to want to take pride in certain things but from scriptures, this will only bring destruction our way. We see what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Saul in the scriptures. What is common to these men is that they were all Kings. With royalty comes honour but in this royalty, they were dishonoured. Pride will only cause a man's feet to stumble. Look at the foolish Nabal...he too was rich, the rich fool in the scriptures, he too was wealthy. Your treasures make you rich and make you wealthy but with them, we must learn meekness. The bible recorded in the book of Numbers 12 that Moses was the greatest man on Earth; only He had seen God and not be smitten but the scripture also says He was very meek(vs 3). Pride will not get you anywhere close to fulfilling God's ordained plan but will take you far from it. The devil is a case study. He lost his portion for allowing pride to set in. Remember God is the source and sustainer of our treasures. If this then be so, all the Glory must then be ascribed to Him and none other. 2Corinthians 4:7 "that the Excellency of power may be of God and not we ourselves". Giving Glory to God is a fertile ground for the Treasures in us. This brings us to the second reason why our Treasures may bring dishonour.

2. If we do not give thanks unto God. Our lack of being grateful for those things we have will only put a stop to their manifestation in our lives. The Bible makes us understand that giving thanks always is the perfect will of God 1Thessalonians 5:18. He who knows not how to give thanks for the fingers of God should not think he will see the hands of God. Thanksgiving shows our appreciation for that which we have received and it is a procurer also of that which is to come. Thanksgiving not only procures that which is to come but also multiplies that which we have at hand. Hence, if the Treasures are seeds at hand, then Thanksgiving multiplies them. If one Treasure is to bring great glory, how much more a multitude of treasures. When we are ungrateful, we only bring curse upon our good land. King Herod refused to give glory unto God, he was meat for the worms(Acts 12:18-25). God stops with His great plans for our lives when we stop giving thanks unto Him. Acts 2:47paraphrased, the Lord kept adding unto the church because they relented not in giving Him praise. If Thanksgivings procures more of God's goodness, what then will lack of Thanksgiving do?. If being grateful will open the heavens, what then will Ungratefulness do?. Mark 6:41 "And he (Jesus) looked up to heaven and blessed..."This is the story of how Christ fed the give thousand (Mark 6:30-44)

3. Murmuring and Complaining: One thing that displeases God is this murmuring and complaining. His ears cannot hear them. The same way murmurs can be displeasing to our ears as human is the same way they are displeasing to God's ears. "You have blessed him more than you have blessed me", "You have given him a better treasure than I have". God hates those who murmur and complain. We see this in Numbers 11:1 "And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp".

The Israelites had been faced with problems in the wilderness but instead of telling it to God, they chose to murmur and complain. Going through that scripture, we will see what their words entailed. So, this moved God sore and He struck them. Murmuring and Complaining will make God angry towards us; and if our sustainer is not pleased, how then can we be sustained. Murmuring and Complaining cuts us from our heavenly supplies. The FATHER works only with men who are joyful, happily doing what they are doing; bearing no grudge or headiness in their hearts. These are the people God wants to work with; He wants to give Open Revelations to. He won't just entrust any man with anything, He entrusts the "joyful", the "thankful" and the "meek_. 

Joel 1:12 "The vine has dried up, And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate tree, The palm tree also, And the apple tree— All the trees of the field are withered; Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men".

Lack of joy means lack of good things; means lack of Visions and Revelations. Nothing works where Joy is lacking.

TO BE CONTINUED...