Beneficiaries Of The Master's Divine Entitlements

By Dr. Perry Parker

Beneficiaries of the Master's Divine Entitlements was written using the backdrop of some of the Bible's most outstanding and beloved characters of faith (i.e., Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, and Jesus) to illustrate the power and efficacy of the audible Word spoken to them in the face of extreme hardship and challenges. In these contemporary times, we are very fortunate and blessed to have God's written Word that has the same power and efficacy to bring to fruition in our lives every promise God has made.

The challenges that we face during our most difficult times are akin to Abraham trekking and traversing up the mountainside with Isaac, his son, in tow, oblivious that he was to be the sacrificial offering. Abraham, not knowing whether God would provide a substitute lamb or not, had the faith to declare to his beloved son Isaac, "God himself will provide a lamb for the burnt offering." And indeed, God did provide a sacrificial ram caught in a brier bush.

The scriptures encourage all of us to walk and live by faith, trusting in the promises of God, even though our obstacles, our challenges, and our difficulties appear to be glaringly defying that God can't fix or change them. However, as beneficiaries of the Master's divine entitlements, you have the right to declare that God Himself will provide.

The author gives a few examples of his own of how he became the beneficiary of the Master's divine entitlements through believing and trusting in the promises of God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685177683

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Beneficiaries Of The Master's Divine Entitlements

Dr. Perry Parker

ISBN 978-1-68517-767-6 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68517-768-3 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Dr. Perry Parker

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

I Am Trying to Make Sense of the Master's Message

The Situation Looks Hopeless. Believe in Hope Anyway!

Lord, What Now?

Bad Habits Die Hard but Die They Must

It Is Hard to Hold Down the Chosen of God

Divine Entitlements through Enforced Compliance

Let God Fight for You, and You Will Always Win!

A Person After God's Own Heart Is a Crown Jewel Beneficiary of the Master's Divine Entitlements

Grace by Faith Equals Divine Entitlements

Christian Believers, Use Your Authority!

If You Received the Holy Ghost's Power, Live and Walk in That Authority

Caution: Dangers Ahead

Sometimes We Just Need a Word from the Lord to Bring Out the Best in Us!

Do Not Let Your Imagination Cause You to Forfeit Your Blessing

Fear Not; You Shall Recover All!

When God Withholds Full Recovery, Will You Still Bless and Praise His Name?

About the Author

Introduction

The word entitlement suggests in the minds of many people someone that has privileges or rights to the exclusion of others. The dictionary definition is the fact of having a right to something or the amount to which a person has a right or the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment. The working-class society—the socioeconomic disadvantage, the marginalized, and the proverbial living on the edge and climbing the rough side of the mountain of life people—they are rarely privileged to live a lavished lifestyle. However, there are characters in the Bible, like Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, David, and Jesus, just to name a few, that understood entitlement from a divine perspective.

These characters of antiquity were not born into royalty. No, they were for the most part just everyday common folks that had a divine encounter with the Master somewhere along their continuum of life, which forever altered their destiny. Ironically, the things uniquely penchant with the characters mentioned above was that they responded in obedience in faith to the Master's call despite the uncertainty of their future or the future of their family.

The Sacred Text declares, So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17 KJV). Faith will always require one to respond out of a person's capacity to hear the Word of God to be a beneficiary of the Master's divine entitlements. For example, in the Sacred Text, it is written, Abraham believed and hoped, even when there was no reason for hoping, and so became the father of many nations (Rom. 4:18 GNT).

In other words, Abraham left the comforts of his family, home, and familiar surroundings and responded in faith to the Word of God. The Sacred Text said, For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker are God (Heb. 11:10 KJV). Also, the writer of the book of Hebrews said, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8 GNT).

My endeavor in writing this book is to engender a sense of hope in the lives of those who read it that the Master has not forgotten you! Together we will pull back the curtain of history of Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, King David, and Jesus Christ to take a vignette look at how each of them was a beneficiary of the Master's divine entitlements through their faith in Him with the anticipation that the Master will do the same thing for you and for me as well.

We don't develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.

—Barbara De Angelis

Chapter 1

I Am Trying to Make Sense of the Master's Message

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trails.

—Chinese Proverb

Abram was the name that his father, Terah, had named him at his birth when he was at the ripe old age of seventy years old, (Gen. 11:26 GNT). Abram, along with his family, vacated the land of Ur in Babylon, intending to journey to Canaan; however, they went as far as Haran and settled there (11:31). The Master intersected Abram's life with a divine yet clarion call:

The Lord said to Abram; leave your country, home, your relatives, and your father's home and go to a land that I am going to show you.

I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing. And through you I will bless all the Nations. (Gen. 12:1–3 GNT)

Imagine with me just for a moment how you might have felt if you were in Abram's shoes. You just got home after a long day tracking and traversing up and down the hilly terrain of Heran, trying to contain those smelly sheep, yet necessary, to provide you and your family the wool to keep you warm when the sun invariably dipped below the horizon each evening, especially during the fall and winter months. Oh, and let us not forget, those succulent lamb chops that Sarai prepared as only she could every Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday.

You see, Tuesday and Friday were tilapia and because Saturday was the Sabbath (a day of rest). Sarai would prepare Abram's favorite leftover gumbo stew consisting of diced lamb chop and tilapia with corn bread muffins on the side; and for dessert, a mixed berry cobbler pie; and for a chaser, two goblets, one of pure juice from the vine and one of pure well water from Abram's well. That sounds delicious!

Clearly, for Abram and Sarai, life was relatively good. Abram had an established routine seven days a week. The day of Abram's divine call that came from the Master was an anomaly. For Abram, each day was no different from any other day. He may have just finished supper and thought that he would take a stroll outside, taking in all the splendor of the Master's creation, watching the stars twinkling against the black velvet backdrop of the heavenliness. With each measured breath, he inhaled and exhaled, enjoying the cool aromatic breeze that filled his lungs and swept gently over the landscape.

Suddenly, he thought he heard someone called his name: Abram. He knew that was not the voice of his beloved bride, for she never called him by his first name. She always called him by names of endearment, like honey or sweetie pie. No, this voice was different. Abram discerned the Master had called him and told him he was to leave all that was near and dear to him: country, relatives, and father's home (Gen. 12:1 GNT).

Again, imagine how the Master's message must have affected him. Abram probably thought, How am I going to break this news to my wife and relatives? Surely, they will think I have lost my mind. Abram knew Sarai would probably be wondering by now, What is taking him so long to return home? I am sure Abram was trying to process the message himself. I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation (v. 2).

I am also sure he rehearsed in his mind what he heard, but trying to make sense of his reality, Sarai was not able to have children (Gen. 11:30 GNT). Excited but baffled at what he just heard from the Master, he sprinted home even though he was seventy-five years old (12:4 GNT) and relayed the news to his wife.

Sometimes hearing from the Master will feel like your world and your sense of normalcy and equilibrium just got jettisoned without your permission. The Master's revelations to His children sometimes fly in the face of common sense—rational and logical thinking. The Sacred Text says:

My thoughts, says the Lord, are not like yours, and my ways are different from yours, As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways and thoughts above yours. (Isa. 55:8–9 GNT)

The Master made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis chapter 15 wherein God told Abraham to take various animals and to divide the animals down the middle and lay them back-to-back, which he did. However, when the sun went down, the scavenger birds tried to eat the dead animals, and Abraham kept chasing them away from the sacrifice (Gen. 15:10–11). We are not told how long Abraham kept up this arduous task of trying to chase off the scavenger birds, but I can only imagine how time-consuming and tedious it must have been.

However, in the process of time, Abraham fell into a deep sleep (Gen. 15:12), most likely induced by the Master to teach Abraham that the Master did not need Abraham to help Him hold up His end of the covenant. The same God who created the fowls of the air was able to protect the sacrificed animals—a lesson Abraham needed to learn. A lesson we all could benefit from is to learn that the Master does not need our help to be God, in any way, form, or fashion. The Sacred Text says, I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is no one else (Isa. 45:5–6 KJV).

I will never forget when I returned to Michigan after living in the state of Oregon for ten years where I did some church planting in the cities of Portland, Springfield, and Eugene. The Master was leading me to start a church in the city of Pontiac, my birthplace. We had a few members, but we did not have our own place of worship.

I was out casually driving one day in the city of Pontiac when I approached a building; it was as if I felt the Master speaking to me: This is the building where I want you to start a ministry. Feeling like I had just heard from the Master, I circled around to take a closer look at the building. I noticed that the building was occupied by the UAW (United Auto Workers) was on a large sign adjacent to their property.

I was baffled—no, to be quite honest with you, I was downright confused because there was no for sale, rent, or lease sign indicating that the property was available. However, I was convinced that the Master spoke to me, This is the place where I want you to start a ministry. I concluded that the UAW members were using the building on a regular basis. I decided to settle the matter (because I am a realistic person although I have grown over the years and have learned to walk and live by faith) and go by when they were open for business, which I did. I rang the doorbell, and a man came to the door and said to me, How can I help you?

I told him who I was and my purpose for stopping by. After telling him my name, I said to him, I'm a minister, and we have a small congregation, and we're looking to start a church here in Pontiac and was wondering, would this establishment be open to us renting from you, or would they be willing to sell us this building?

He was appalled, I could tell by the look on his face, at what I just asked him. Nevertheless, he politely gave me a very short and succinct answer when he said to me, We have a business that we run here called the UAW, and we're not looking to rent, lease, or sell our property.

As I stood there and our eyes locked shortly, I thought to myself, Well, what have I got to lose now? I might as well tell him all that the Master told me. So that is what I did. I said to him, The Lord told me this is where I'm supposed to start a ministry.

Again, he said to me, but this time with more determination, As I told you before, we're the UAW, and we run a business here on a regular basis. However, our membership meets every third Saturday of the month, and I will take your request before them, and whatever they decide, that will be the end of the matter.

I said okay and asked him if it would be okay if I came by that following Monday after the membership board met to see what they decided. He said that would be fine. I came by on that Monday during their business hours, and to my surprise, and I'm sure to his surprise as well, they decided to rent their building to us on Sundays, and eventually they ended up selling me the property at a discounted price.

My purpose for sharing this story with you is so that you might understand how, as I stated earlier, sometimes when the Master speaks to His children and give them directions and guidance, it flies in the face of our common sense, logical thinking, and understanding. Walking and living by faith will never make sense to the natural side of us. For our life is a matter of faith, not of sight (2 Cor. 5:7 GNT). Also note,

Whoever, does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God's Spirit, such a person really does not understand them, and they seem to be nonsense, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis. (1 Cor. 2:14 GNT)

As I reflect on the ten years my family and I lived in Oregon (five years in Portland and five years in Eugene), it felt like that was the proving ground for my faith. I pastored a church in Portland and had a radio broadcast ministry three days a week as well. In addition, we had opened a second ministry in Springfield, Oregon.

I had entered a lease contract on a building that we were using for church services in Springfield, Oregon. However, in the process of time, we began to fall behind on making the rent payments on time for the building we were leasing there. I knew I had to make some tough decisions. I was certain that I did not want to discontinue our radio broadcast ministry and I was certain I did not want to close the Portland ministry. Although the Springfield ministry was relatively new, I really did not want to close that ministry either. Therefore, I took my dilemma before the Master in prayer, asking Him for guidance.

The Master gave me some guidance that I really did not care about or wanted to do. He said to me, Call the landlord up, and tell him you would like to meet with him in person. When you meet with him, give him back his keys to the building you are leasing from him, and tell him about your radio broadcast ministry in Portland. I told the Master that that was exactly what I did not want to do. However, not hearing anything more from the Master (which did not surprise me). I reluctantly did just what the Master told me to do.

I called the landlord up and asked him if I could meet with him. He said sure. I met with him and said, Here are the keys to the building and dropped them in his hands. I said to him, Oh, by the way, I have a radio broadcast ministry. I broadcast three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I told him the call letters of the radio broadcast station."

He looked me straight in the eyes and said to me, I would like to barter with you. If you are willing to advertise my real-estate agency each time you come on the radio and each time you get ready to sign off your radio broadcast ministry, I am willing to forgive all the back payments you owe me. Also moving forward, you will not have to pay to use the building as long as you continue to advertise my real-estate agency.