Articles by Charlotte Gambill

Don't Disown What You Own

At the outset of this year I want to share some thoughts with you that have shaped my life recently and taken me to a new depth with God. Paul has taught some life changing things in his recent series on being 'With Him.' Yet, in the past few months I have faced some trying circumstances which could have left me thinking that he hasn't been with me at all. Many of us face similar times when ill health, relationship failures or financial pressures visit our lives. It is especially in those times that we have to know that we are with him. God began to speak to my spirit and show me that in everything I go through in life, I have a choice to either own it or disown it.

He owns you

I realised that many Christians struggle in testing times because they haven't understood that God owns them. If he owns you, then he owns everything you face.

When you purchase an item such as a TV or a video you are given a certificate to prove you own it and a guarantee. Well the same is true in the spiritual. God bought you.1 He paid the highest price anyone could pay, his son's life. In that moment he took ownership of you and gave you a lifetime guarantee, the Word of God. You can go and look at it as much as you want and claim its promises and warrantees over your life.

The problem however, is that the only time most people reach for the guarantee is when something goes wrong, and the same is true in the spiritual. Most people run to the Word when the pressure is on to find a promise to help them out. But being owned by God qualifies us for so much more than this.

You own him

When you own something there are three main places where it shows, in your language, lifestyle and the way you look. Lets briefly look at all three:

1. Own him in your Language

If you own something, your language reflects it. So, we can tell God owns us by the way he speaks about us. He doesn't 'call us servants but friends;2 we are 'a chosen people and a royal priesthood.'3 But what about you? Does your language reflect your ownership of him? Or do you speak of God in a distant religious way?

Sometimes I listen to people praying and know that they don't own him. How? Well, if you own a car do you do not ask to borrow it everytime you need to go out, you just use it because it's yours. Yet many times I hear Christians asking God for things he has already given in their guarantee.

Another evidence of people's lack of ownership is when they talk to God in the church service, yet in their place of work they never mention him. When you love someone, you speak of them all the time, especially when they have done so much for you. So ask yourself the question, am I owning God in my language? Be like David who said, 'You are my God, my shelter, my provider.'4 That is the language of ownership.

2. Own him in your Lifestyle

Many Christians want to own Jesus but they don't want it to change their lifestyle too much. That's like wanting to get married but still live as a single person, which would not be acceptable to your partner, so why do we think its acceptable to God? You see once you are owned, it means you belong!

Paul put it this way: 'You are no longer foreigners but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household.'5 God is saying, I own you, you are not a stranger anymore, and because you are owned by me you belong in my house. A lot of people want to marry God but don't want the relatives! But it is part of the deal.

This is the reason why partnership with our church has become something we no longer quantify by how many classes people attend etc. Instead, we embrace those who own the vision through their language, commitment, finances and lifestyle. They are true members expressing their sense of belonging. Ultimately, churches never hold people who do not practically outwork their sense of ownership of the collective vision and purpose through their lifestyle.

Those who say they are owned by God but are stingy and don't tithe or give, violate what it mean's to be owned by him. 2 Peter 1:3 says we have been given everything we need if we participate in his divine nature. We must own that divine nature by participating in it fully. Therefore, as he freely and abundantly gave, so should we in return.

3. Own him in your Looks

Finally, ownership changes the way you look. This was brought home to me recently while I was out walking and talking with God about the situations I was facing. I cried out to him about several things pressing on me. As I cried out, my hip began to hurt and I started to limp a little. At first I thought I had over done the walking but then God spoke clearly to me. He said, 'stop disowning these circumstance and pushing them across to me, I want you to own them, wrestle me for this breakthrough! Now go and read about Jacob.'

Once I had limped back home I went to the Word and began to see how Jacob had never truly owned anything himself. His life was one long list of begging, stealing and borrowing other people's blessing. Then one day when Jacob was alone, God kept him up all night wrestling him and Jacob cried out, 'I won't let you go until you bless me.'6 God blessed him but touched Jacob's hip so that he had a limp as his mark of the day he fought for, and owned, his own blessing.

Some of the things God wants you to own will mark you forever! Look at Jesus' nail prints, scars, and spear marked side; they where his marks for your ownership. The stripes on his back were the marks of ownership of your healing. Some things are so precious it will cost and mark you to get them but it is well worth it.

The Devil wants to 'dis' you!

I have realised that the Devil is out to 'dis' you! He is the king of 'disses;' disappointment, disbelief, distress, disobedience, discontent, distrust. Need I go on? The Devil wants to put a 'dis' in your life wherever he can and there is no better 'dis' he enjoys than disowning God.

The Devil has seen your lifetime guarantee and it says 'if you disown him he will disown you.7 That's what he is after. So, let's not kid ourselves, we are all capable of this when facing tragedy or a trial and the thoughts come from the enemy that God has disowned us. Many believe the lie and start in turn to disown him. They avoid church, leaders, fellowship and distance themselves from God's house. They disown what could be their finest hour. Even Peter, who knew Jesus more than most, fell into this trap and disowned Jesus when the pressure was on.8 So we must wise up!

I firmly believe that no matter what I face, how hard or hopeless it seems, that I can own it. There is no testimony without the test, no trophy without the trouble, no triumph with out the trial. If we want one we must own the other.

My challenge to you at the outset of this year is to determine in your heart that good, bad or ugly, you will own it all and use it to strengthen your walk with him. That way you can't lose. Whatever you disown, the Devil can take up residence in, but if you retain ownership there is no place for him to settle. Paul never disowned one hardship. He boasted in his weakness and rejoiced in his sufferings; he owned every circumstance, however extreme.9

This year, why not do the same?

1 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 2 John 15:15, 3 1 Peter 1:9, 4 Psalm 91, 5 Ephesians 2:19, 6 Genesis 32:24, 7 Matthew 10:32, 8 Luke 22:24, 9 2 Corinthians 12:9