"John 1:29-51
The gift of your inheritance
Is there some area of your life where you are still not enjoying your inheritance in Christ?
The land was the inheritance of the people of God (17:4,7; 18:7,20,27). ‘Joshua addressed the People of Israel: “How long are you going to sit around on your hands, putting off taking possession of the land that God, the God of your ancestors, has given you?” ’ (18:3, MSG).
Here, once again, we see the great difference between ownership and possession and enjoyment of the land. Israel was given the ownership of the land before they took possession and enjoyment.
In the Christian life, the moment you come to Christ you receive forgiveness, justification, the righteousness of God and the Holy Spirit. You are given the right to become children of God. You have power over sin and access to God. You have victory over demonic powers. You have peace with God. You have authority over evil in your life and the lives of others. All the promises of God belong to you. This is your inheritance in Christ.
But you may not always, necessarily, take possession and fully enjoy the blessing of all these things in your life. Here God says, in effect, to his people: ‘Don’t you realise I have given all of this to you? What are you waiting for?’
You may have given your life to Jesus, but have you allowed him to possess every aspect of how you live – your finances, work, prayer life, friends and family. In my experience this is a lifetime task.
St Paul writes that you need to take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). In some areas the victory may be immediate. In others it may be more gradual. You have to drive out even the little pockets of resistance.
As Israel received the land as a gift from the Lord (Joshua 18:3), so you and I have received, in Jesus, every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). The question for us is, ‘How long will you wait before you begin to take possession’ of these gifts? (Joshua 18:3).
Lord, thank you that you have blessed me in Christ with every spiritual blessing. Thank you that you have given me the gift of righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Thank you that you have removed my sins and given me the Holy Spirit. Thank you that I have everything that I need to take possession of the land."
1. I remember myself having all these blessings but not doing anything about then, not even bringing people to the Lord. Thank You, Lord, for events in my life that changed all of these. I have become bolder now than before through my testimony. Praise God.
2. Thank You, for a wonderful dinner at a place called Secret Garden. Secret indeed because it is located in a some alley that does not look like a business area and we had to climb 4 floors to see it. Very nice place, good food, too!
3. Praise God for the exchange of experiences. I have learnt a lot from our discussions on history, government, and lifestyle in Slovakia.
