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Inheritance

Blessed! Part Two

by TerryLema

I wrote yesterday about being blessed by God. Blessed is a word Christians use often because we see it often in our Bibles. But God’s blessings are far deeper and more profound than the way blessing is described in our contemporary thinking (as enjoying happiness, bringing pleasure, contentment, or good fortune.)

In Scripture, blessing is often linked to endurance and perseverance. It is not dependent upon circumstances and can be found even amid poverty, sorrow and other like conditions.

When I think of being blessed by God, I think primarily of three things. God’s love. God’s forgiveness. God’s inheritance for us.

God’s Love: “Who (what) can separate us from the love of Christ …. For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our LORD.” [Romans 8:35-39 HCSB]

God’s Forgiveness: “We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” [Ephesians 1:7 HCSB]

God’s Inheritance: “He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” [1 Peter 3-4 HCSB]

I am blessed by God. I am loved. I am forgiven. And I have a future that nothing in this world can destroy.

And so do you. 

We are Blessed.

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Inheritance

by TerryLema

I received an inheritance once when my aunt died. She and my uncle had no children of their own and were like second parents to my brother and me. It was a blessing for our family at the time. We knew she did it out of love for us.

Our LORD has also promised us what Paul calls “the reward of an inheritance.”

“Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord.” [Colossians 3:23 HCSB]

Paul reminded us that when we do something, we are to do it as if we were doing it for the LORD Himself. Whatever that is … it could be teaching a Sunday School class or doing the dishes. It could be digging a ditch or writing a play.  The keys are “whatever” and doing it “for the LORD and not for men.”

God, in His great mercy and love gives us a down payment on that inheritance now.

 “When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.  He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.” [Ephesians 1:13:15 HCSB]

The marvelous thing about the down payment of our inheritance (the Holy Spirit) is that it is the power of God’s Own Spirit that enables us to do all the “whatever’s … for the LORD and not for men” so that we might receive that “reward of an inheritance from the Lord.”

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Heirs Don’t Earn!

by TerryLema

Ever caught yourself thinking you can “earn” something from God? We understand that salvation is unearned. Jesus paid it all. The Gospel is the declaration of “Good News,” and that news is that our salvation is already completed by Christ Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the Right Hand of the Father.

Yet still, in the human heart resides a need to “earn” our way with God.

We wonder why God doesn’t heal us, or bless us, or give us what we ask for when we have been so obedient, or so good, or so loyal. There is something deep inside us that makes us think we need to gain God’s favor through our work.

We forget one very important thing … heirs don’t earn, they inherit. And as God’s children, we are heirs.

“The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ.” [Romans 8:16 HCSB]

When my aunt and uncle died in the early 1990’s, I inherited a part of their estate. I inherited, not because I worked for it, but because of my relationship with my aunt and uncle.

We are heirs, God’s heirs, coheirs with Christ! We have not earned anything!  We are heirs because of our relationship with God the Father through our Lord Christ Jesus.

And what an inheritance it is!

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Pleasant Places …

by TerryLema

It is the last day of the first month of the new year.  The new year is not so new anymore.  There are already cracks in the “unity” promised by politicians. There are new strains of the virus invading the US. Science is unsure whether the vaccines will be effective against these new more contagious strains. Schools are trying to reopen in many places where they have been closed all year. People still are not back to work. The shine on the new year is dulling rapidly.

It would be nice to know what the future holds for the remainder of this year and for the next year and the next. Unfortunately, we do not have a crystal ball to read the future, but, then, I am not sure I want to know what the future holds. Living one day at a time is a much better option.

While we do not know the future here on earth, we do know who holds our future.  David reminds us of two important things in Psalm 16.

“Lord, You are my portion and my cup of blessing; You hold my future. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” [Psalm 16:5-6 HCSB]

We are reminded first that the LORD God Almighty is our portion and our cup of blessing. We may not have much here, but oh the glory that we have in knowing God!

Then David assures us that God holds our future, and that future is one of eternal beauty.  The “boundary lines” of our inheritance are eternally secure.

Peter, in his first letter further defines the “boundary lines” of our inheritance.

“Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” [1 Peter 1:3-4 HCSB]

Our inheritance is one of living hope. Imperishable. Uncorrupted. Unfading. Kept in Heaven just for us!  Glory!

 

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