Inheritance

God’s Home

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 
Lamentations 3:22-24 ESV

When my father passed away, and I sadly began putting his financial affairs in order, I was surprised to discover that he had already put my name on the title to his home. Without my ever knowing it, dad left to me the most valuable thing that he owned. Now my ad was an amazing man, but what he did gives us just a little glimpse of what today’s verse means when it says, “The Lord is my portion.” Because when Jesus gave His life on the cross, God put our name on the title to His home.

When the prophet Jeremiah wrote today’s passage, many of God’s people had rejected Him and as a result were being led into exile as captives. But even at their lowest point, God was already planning for blessings and the return of their grandchildren. In the same way, when we have failed God, we can know that in spite of our sins, Jesus has a plan to lead us back to Him. When we repent and ask His forgiveness, God is faithful to forgive us and to restore to us a priceless inheritance beyond anything we could ever imagine. Then one day we will discover that because of His great and amazing faithfulness, God has become our eternal inheritance and our portion forever!

God’s Building Plans

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13A-14 NIV

First I want to give a big thank you to Alan of Devotional Treasures for inspiring me to get out of my funk. We’ve been dealing with a lot of serious health issues here with our two daughter-in-laws as some of you know. The one who was in the hospital with Covid is now home and gradually improving. The other is about to begin chemo for the same ovarian cancer that my wife battled through three years ago. Thanks for those of you who have prayed. I thought I would share today the encouragement God gave me while I was out for my walk yesterday.

Our lives seemed like a construction project that was being completed right on time; when these unexpected difficulties came and slapped a stop work order on our door. The inability to do a thing has been frustrating because it made me realize that in reality I am not in charge at all. It is easy to just blame the devil as some sort of evil building inspector, but God reminded me that His Holy Spirit in my heart is His guarantee that no matter how things look, everything is under His control. His guarantee is not really a down payment as a few translations render the word- because God has the resources to pay off our mortgage in full. Instead the Holy Spirit’s presence is like the deposit which we make on a home we wish to buy. That small amount of our money is our promise to the seller that we will pay their entire asking price once the lender runs our credit and sees that our finances are in order. The good news for us is that God is the buyer with the highest credit rating in the universe!

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Now, think of your darkest moment. At the time when nothing has worked out, your plans have been frustrated and your world turned upside-down, God guarantees that we are still His. He has bought us, by paying the full price of our sins with the precious blood of Jesus. Now the title to our hearts belongs to Him. Though we face very real troubles in this life, God’s Holy Spirit has not nor will He ever abandon us. That tiny spark of His life in us is – that guarantee of our inheritance – is like the Spirit of God that overshadowed Mary. So be patient because just as Mary carried that spark for nine months inside her, trusting that God’s promise was true, so we can trust Him to keep His promise to us. He has promised that we are His and that He will finish the building project of our souls right on time and precisely according to His plan!