“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 26:3–4
Abraham, Isaac’s father partnered with God before Isaac was born. After the death of Abraham God still continued the partnership with his son. There is a blessing in partnering with God in whatever you do. The presence of God alone will bring prosperity into your life. He will not leave you to do anything on your own; He will support, guide, and protect you from all potential evil practices. “And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” Genesis 28:15
For God to partner with you there should be:
- Decision from within to please Him at all times. “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” Daniel 1:8
“There are many among professed Christians today who would decide that Daniel was too particular, and would pronounce him narrow and bigoted. They consider the matter of eating and drinking as of too little consequence to require such a decided stand—one involving the probable sacrifice of every earthly advantage. But those who reason thus will find in the day of judgment that they turned from God’s express requirements and set up their own opinion as a standard of right and wrong. They will find that what seemed to them unimportant was not so regarded of God. His requirements should be sacredly obeyed. Those who accept and obey one of His precepts because it is convenient to do so, while they reject another because its observance would require a sacrifice, lower the standard of right and by their example lead others to lightly regard the holy law of God. ‘Thus saith the Lord’ is to be our rule in all things.” –The Sanctified Life, p. 19–20
You must make up your mind that there are things God does not like and that is sin. You have to restrain from sin if you want His partnership in order to progress in your spiritual life.
- Submit yourself to God. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. You give Him the steering wheel and let Him drive you to your destination without stopping. Submission implies complete trust that God’s arrangements are for your own good. Willing submission is what is needed. The verse closes by telling you to take a stand against the devil. The devil will flee from the soul that has submitted to Christ. “We cannot save ourselves from the tempter’s power; he has conquered humanity, and when we try to stand in our own strength, we shall become a prey to his devices; but ‘the name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.’ Proverbs 18:10. Satan trembles and flees before the weakest soul who finds refuge in that mighty name.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 130–131. “We may resist temptation, and force Satan to depart from us.” –Ibid., p. 130
- Abide in the Lord. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.” John 15:4. A continuous abiding in a living connection with Christ is essential for growth and fruitfulness. Occasional attention to matters of religion is not sufficient. Riding high on religious fervor one day while falling into a low period of neglect the next day does not promote spiritual strength. To abide in Christ means that the soul must be in a daily, constant communion with Jesus Christ and live His life. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. It is not possible for one branch to depend on another for its vitality; each must maintain its own personal relationship to the vine. Each member must bear its own fruits.
- Do not follow the Crowd. “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” Proverbs 1:10. The will of man is sovereign of his being. Neither man nor the devil can make us sin except by persuading us to will to do it. The soul must contemplate the sinful act before passion dominates over reason. Sometimes men who have long resisted submit to iniquity, feeling that they have done all that can be expected of them. But temptation, no matter how strong, is never an excuse for sin. Even though the pressure mounts with continued resistance, the will can, and must learn to say NO—to the very end.
“An impure thought tolerated, an unholy desire cherished, and the soul is contaminated, its integrity compromised. ‘Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.’ If we would not commit sin, we must shun its very beginnings. Every emotion and desire must be held in subjection to reason and conscience. Every unholy thought must be instantly repelled. To your closet, followers of Christ. Pray in faith and with all the heart. Satan is watching to ensnare your feet. You must have help from above if you would escape his devices.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 177
- Forget about false Science. “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.” Jeremiah 10:2. The heathen often predict fortune from celestial phenomena such as eclipses and comets and other extraordinary appearances in the sky. The only true science is in the word of God; and the best science is the science of salvation.
- Do not tolerate sin. “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Ephesians 5:11. Not only will they not participate in unfruitful works they will not countenance them nor have any sympathy with them. The Greek word for “reprove” here used is “elegcho” which can also be translated to mean, “to refute, to convict or to expose.” But in word and in life the Christian should be a continuous rebuke to the world of evil. It is not sufficient to only “have no fellowship” with the works of evil; but they must be reproved—convicted. The Christian cannot remain neutral, a passive observer in the face of wickedness; he must be aggressive in the exposure and denunciation of sin. Sympathy with afflicted men must not degenerate into indifference or sentimental tolerance.
- Refuse to Partake in evil. “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.” 1 Timothy 5:22. Dare to be different, as were Daniel’s three friends when asked to bow to the golden statue. They decided to remain strong, even in the face of the fiery furnace. Although there were likely other Hebrews on the Plain of Dura, only three chose to stand for the Lord (Daniel chapter 3), and refused to partake in the sin of bowing down to the golden statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. It takes courage to go against the flow of sin in this world, but if we are partnered with Christ, “With God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37
To progress you need to partner with God, which means that you must:
Refuse, Rebuke, Resist, Remove, Reject, Refrain from sin at all times.
“The work of gaining salvation is one of copartnership, a joint operation. There is to be co-operation between God and the repentant sinner. This is necessary for the formation of right principles in the character. Man is to make earnest efforts to overcome that which hinders him from attaining to perfection. But he is wholly dependent upon God for success. Human effort of itself is not sufficient. Without the aid of divine power it avails nothing. God works and man works. Resistance of temptation must come from man, who must draw his power from God. On the one side there is infinite wisdom, compassion, and power; on the other, weakness, sinfulness, absolute helplessness”. –The Acts of the Apostles, p. 482
Ebrima John Jaiteh and Wendy Eaton