Search This Blog

Monday, August 25, 2008

The Inheritance

The message that the Lord delivered to us through Beth Moore this weekend was about inheritance. Our inheritance as children of God and co-heirs with Christ.

This is a term that I have heard all my adult life. However, I never gave a lot of thought to it. Probably because I never truly understood it. Beth Moore is so gifted in digging down and getting to the root of the principle she is teaching about so that it really starts to make sense. And much like the message at Living Proof Live in Baltimore, MD in 2004 on Jealousy (Godly jealousy vs. human jealousy), inheritance has become a concept, no, a precept, that I am beginning to grasp.

We, as women, are heiresses.

At one point she quoted Paris Hilton, our most famous heiress here in the USA. “There is no sin worse in life that being boring...” from her book Confessions of an Heiress (2004).

We all had to repeat, I think several times, “I am an heiress, and I am NOT a bore.”

We looked at Psalm 16, specifically verses 5-6 in the English Standard Version (ESV):
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

She gave us 8 basic points:
1. I am an heir of God. My life is not left to chance.
2. I am an heir of God. I am inheriting a kingdom.
3. I am an heir of God. He is my portion…. And I am His.
4. I am an heir of God. The down-payment has been made.
5. I am an heir of God. My boundary lines form a pleasing place.
6. I am an heir of God. The will has been activated.
7. I am an heir of God. I can be secure.
8. I am an heir of God. I have a beautiful inheritance.

We worked hard during these 3 sessions. She kept coming across scripture after scripture and we turned literally from Genesis to Revelation and just about everywhere in between.

In fact, I was standing next to a lady in the concession line on Saturday morning, while trying to get some caffeine since the Starbucks line at the hotel was reeeediculous. This poor woman said, “Whew, I am out of practice. Last night was hard.” I just had to snicker to myself and thought, “Doesn’t she realize I am totally going to blog about this conversation?” (You know, I had my Siesta Fiesta t-shirt on and everything.)

Anyways, Beth would come to one scripture reference after another and say, “Oh, we’re not going to go there because we just don’t have time. Oh… yes, we have to. I’ll just read it to you.” And just about every time what does she say, “Oh, I’m just going to have to back up to verse .” You could just feel the energy and excitement from her. It was contagious.

So, the things that really spoke to me? All of it. But let’s see if I can boil it down a little.

My life is not left to chance. Although I have always known this and believed it to an extent, I have lately been realizing that I struggle with trusting God’s purposes. Out of bad stuff that has happened in my life, I tend to ask, “Why?” A natural reaction, to be sure, but I am finally beginning to understand (years and years later) that I will likely never understand and I just need to trust that He is in control and does not act except in His perfect character of goodness, love, grace and mercy.

I am inheriting a Kingdom. One of the things that I so often miss is that the kingdom is NOW. Yes, in the future, we will eventually be in it and take possession of it in a physical sense in heaven. But I need to take possession of it now in a spiritual sense. Although we are not in the Kingdom right now, it is IN US.

He is my portion…. And I am His. Of course the “He is my portion” statement refers back to the Levites who had no inheritance (portion of land) in the Promised Land. God told them He was their inheritance and portion. They were consecrated by God and given back as a gift to the people and lived among all the peoples of Israel. But then she brought in Ephesians 1:18 and pointed out the phrase, “the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.” His inheritance is us. Is me. His child. His treasured possession is people. That was just so convicting to me because I tend to put so little value on other people comparatively.

The down-payment has been made. Beth talked about Ephesians 1:11-14 and the deposit of the holy spirit guaranteeing our inheritance. Her quotes that stuck with me here were: “The deposit of the holy Spirit trumps anything earthly that we’ve inherited.” and, “Stop trying to be someone else. Be full on in the Holy Ghost and you will not be able to miss your calling.” She threatened, “Don’t make me start Holy Ghost talkin’!” Maybe you had to be there… it was funny.

My boundary lines form a pleasing place. She gave us this diagram and it really spoke to me about my territory. My intimacy with God sets the highest boundary. I can’t go any further than my intimacy with Him. My past is behind me and is unchangeable. My life experiences may be good, bad, or ugly (I’ve had them all) but they are mine. I need to own them for what they are.


The will has been activated. Someone has to die for there to be an inheritance. Enter Jesus Christ. See Hebrews 9:15-17 and Galatians 3:29-4:7. She also brought out that part of our inheritance includes His presence. The only way there can be an inheritance with that person’s presence is for there to be a death and resurrection. Hallelujah!

I can be secure. If we can get our identity in Christ, we will not seek approval/affirmation from others. She talked about how our young girls are taking on behaviors that previous generations of sexually abused girls would exhibit, even the ones who have never been physically abused. They are seeking affirmation and identity dependent on their sensuality and making choice after choice based upon that view of themselves. Her point was that we have been sexually mauled by our culture. So true. So true. This reality just makes me more vigilant about how I raise my own daughter.

I have a beautiful inheritance. 2 Timothy 4:6. Beth Moore's quote, “We have a beautiful inheritance in heaven before God, but until then, we have a beautiful fight.”

A beautiful inheritance… and until then, a beautiful fight. And I pray for the strength to give this beautiful fight my all. I will look in the mirror each morning and say,

“I am an heiress. A little rough around the edges. But I am an heiress, and I have a beautiful inheritance.”

4 Comments:

Brittany said...

My favorite part of what you posted was "My life is not left to chance." So true, Sister. Everything you posted was great. I can even hear her saying the stuff about skipping the verses and then deciding to go back and read them. I'm glad you're sharing what you learned. It's good stuff. I'm so very thankful for my heavenly inheritance. What great reminders too.

Stayingstrong said...

Awesome recap! Thank you for sharing your notes. I missed being there so much.

twinkle said...

Loved your notes and I enjoyed meeting you at the event. Honestly, I can't remember where or when but I know we talked! And GeorgiaJan and I were in the Rivercenter, room 2922! You could have stayed with us if we had only known...dear siesta!

twinkle said...

I decided to do a favorite recaps post on my blog and this post of yours made my list. I just loved your notes! Thanks for sharing them...