*DOMINION MANDATE DAILY DEVOTIONAL*

TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2020

*YOU BELONG TO GOD BY POSSESSION*

*BIBLE READING: EPHESIANS 1:14*

*"And the Lord will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem." Zechariah 2:12 (NKJV).*

The reality of the truth that we belong to God has more likely than not dawned on us; nobody having this profound revelation can claim ownership of anything (1Timothy 6:7). We have seen in previous studies that we belong to the Lord God Almighty not just because He created us but also because He redeemed us; however, there is yet another truth of His Ownership of us that drives the point even further home. We actually belong to God by possession.

In layman's terms, to possess something means to take ownership and control of it. During his encounter with Abraham after the rescue of Lot, Melchizedek referred to God as, "Possessor of Heaven and Earth"(Genesis 14:19b).This was true because God Almighty not only owns the Heavens and Earth but also controls them in His Sovereignty; this is also the case with us as blood-washed believers. Having said that, there are two major angles from which we can understand possession as it relates to our belonging to God:

(1.) Possession by ownership: This refers to the fact that He owns us, therefore, we are His Property and Prized Possession. The world is crucified to us even as we are crucified to the world (Galatians 6:14). This is what makes us His Bond servants.

(2.) Possession by control: This means that He has occupied our lives and innermost beings with His Presence. In other words, the same way an occultist is possessed by demons; when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord, He evicted evil spirits from within us, giving them a quit notice that He might dwell in us through His Holy Spirit. Anytime we try doing anything that displeases Him, He gets grieved because He has possessed us (Ephesians 4:3.

It is the greatest honour to be known as God's Property because that is what possession is all about. We need to abandon our agenda and allow the Holy Spirit accomplish His Purposes through our yielded lives. The Scripture makes it clear to us that anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ "is not His."(Romans 8:9). The Lord God Almighty has total control over us, hence, we must continually honour Him in and with our lives.

*PRAYER
Heavenly Father, we ascribe all glory, honour and adoration to Your Holy Name. Thank You, Lord, for the privilege of being Your Prized Possession. Bind us to Your Will, O Lord, that we may be free indeed; fill us to the overflowing with Your Holy Spirit that we might be fully possessed by Your very Essence in Jesus' Mighty Name.

*CONFESSION
• The Lord has absolute control over my life.

• I am totally possessed by the Holy Spirit.

• My spirit, soul and body constitute the Temple of the Living God.