Tag: full inheritance
Fatal Breaches of Faith
Scripture reading for August 3: 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 “So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeing guidance. He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.”
Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
The old covenant of law brought a penalty of death for idolatry, sorcery, adultery and murder. Saul, the first king of Israel, knew God’s law but willfully disobeyed God. He continually sought to murder David, the covenant friend of his son Jonathan and His own personal musician. Towards the end of his life, he sought out a medium to give him direction instead of going to the Lord through a prophet. It is ironic that he had the medium call up Samuel the prophet and he told him he would die soon. The law can reveal sin and its penalty, but cannot fix a rebellious heart.
However, under the New Covenant of grace through faith, we are also encouraged to stay in the faith by walking in the Spirit of God Who indwells us. (Galatians 5:16, 25) We can resist the Holy Spirit, however, and set our minds on our flesh. The flesh produces works of its own that eventually block even believers from receiving their full inheritance in God’s kingdom. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to help us walk in His power to live a life of faithfulness through grace. Christ Jesus perfectly obeyed God and now has given us His righteousness and forgiveness when we accidentally fail.
If you find yourself living in the works of the flesh as a believer in Jesus Christ, run to the Lord in faith in His willingness to forgive you and empower you to walk in the newness of the Holy Spirit. As a child of God, healing and deliverance belong to you because of Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf.
Prayer: Father God, as I read about the works of the flesh, forgive me for those areas that are still not given over to the Holy Spirit’s control. By faith, I trust in Your promises of a full inheritance! Amen!
Just short of your full inheritance!
Scripture Reading for February 19: Numbers 31-33
As our last two adopted children were growing up, I had them write scriptures as a discipline for doing wrong. This helped them in several ways. They needed to learn to write English and they needed to learn the Word of God and build their faith. After writing the verse, I would ask them to explain what it meant to them. Some of the things they did were normal childish things, but some were willful. They obeyed to a point, but always looked for a way to get around true obedience. One of the scriptures that we used was this simple warning found in Numbers 32:23: “you can be sure your sin will find you out.” They wrote this verse dozens of times!
The context for this verse was a warning given by Moses to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. These tribes petitioned Moses to be able to stay on the east side of the Jordan River and not enter the promised land with the rest of the tribes. They were lured by the lush pastures and the potential to make money with their large flocks and herds of sheep and cattle. They were going to have a great life without their rightful inheritance promised by God. They were satisfied with what they could see–why take a chance on what they might get? They promised to fight and help their brothers take their inheritance, however. So Moses warned them against failing to fulfill their promise to fight. It would be a sin that would find them out!
There are lots of people today like these tribes of Israel. They experience the blessings of God’s deliverance from sin and see the miraculous daily supply of God. They agree that a full inheritance is fine for others, but they are satisfied with what they can have right now. They want the easy life and are not sure that what God promises is worth the chance or the effort. They choose to go part way with God’s people, but they fall short of their full inheritance!
These tribes were later unfaithful to God and prostituted themselves to other gods. God gave them over to their enemies and they went into captivity! Don’t let this happen to you! Take time today to be honest with God! Ask Him to help you to be faithful to keep His promises and take your full inheritance.
You can be sure. . .!
Scripture Reading for February 19: Numbers 31-33
As our last two adopted children were growing up, I had them write scriptures as a discipline for doing wrong. This helped them in several ways. They needed to learn to write English and it helped with that. They needed to learn the Word of God and build their faith. It helped with that. After writing the verse, they needed to explain what it meant to them. Some of the things they did were normal childish things, but some were willful. They obeyed to a point, but always looked for a way to get around true obedience by twisting our instructions or taking it out of context. One of the scriptures that we used was this simple warning found in Numbers 32:23: “you can be sure your sin will find you out.” They wrote this verse dozens of times!
In our reading today, the context for this verse was a warning given by Moses to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. These tribes petitioned Moses to be able to stay on the east side of the Jordan River and not enter the promised land with the rest of the tribes. They were lured by the lush pastures and the potential to make money with their large flocks and herds of sheep and cattle. They were going to have a great life without their rightful inheritance promised by God. They were satisfied with what they could see–why take a chance on what they might get? They promised to fight and help their brothers take their inheritance, however. So Moses warned them against failing to fulfill their promise to fight. It would be a sin that would find them out!
We have lots of people today like these tribes of Israel. They experience the blessings of God’s deliverance from sin and see the miraculous daily supply of God. They agree that a full inheritance is fine for others, but they are satisfied with what they can have right now. They want the easy life and are not sure that what God promises is worth the chance or the effort. They choose to go part way with God’s people, but want what they can see themselves, not what is promised!
The end of these tribes proves God’s Word is true again! (1 Chronicles 5:24-26) They were later unfaithful to God and prostituted themselves to other gods. God gave them over to their enemies and they went into captivity! They were faithful for a time, but in the end going just part way was not enough! They sinned against God and their sin found them out! God tried to warn them. In his love, he tried to help. But we often don’t learn from the warnings and have to be ‘found out”! Don’t let this happen to you! Take time today to be honest with God!