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Claiming the Will - Part 4 - Individual Inheritance
by Jerry Ousley Earlier I said that I had never received an inheritance from a loved one who has passed away. In a sense this is true but in another sense it isn't. I mentioned that I had received teaching and a good Christian example from my grandmother. In a way that's an inheritance. When my Dad's mother (my other grandmother) passed on, I didn't receive a formal inheritance from her but I was allowed to get a couple of small items from her home. These were just simple items that remind me of her. I have them on my shelf in my office. These are items that really have no value but are just sentimental to me. God has given us a collective inheritance those things we talked about that each and every believer gets when they come to the Lord. If these were all we would receive they would be more than enough. But God has also given personal items to each of us. I realize that prosperity teachers would tell us about all the "things" God allows us to have when we come to Him. While I believe that this teaching, for the most part, causes believers to come to God for what they can get out of selfish desire and ambition, I will agree that there are blessings that are consequential to serving the Lord. I believe God heals but it is not for selfish motive. I believe God protects us, but there are also instances where Christians who love God have suffered greatly. I believe that God blesses us with the things our hearts desire, but I could also tell you of many instances where Christians have lived in utter poverty. While these things are good and often God chooses to bless us with them, they do not consummate the individual inheritance I'd like to discuss. Our individual inheritance comes in serving God. Now I know that sounds like work. But I'd like to submit to you that when we are doing what we were created to do, it is not work but a joy to be able to fulfill. First of all God gives each of us what the Bible calls a "measure of faith." Our personal measure of faith is unique because it grows with our experience. When we have stood for God in faith and seen His hand working it causes our faith to grow and we believe God in our own personal way. From our very beginning God has given us what the world calls our personality. It is made up of our own unique and individual traits that make us who we are. These are the seed of what God really wants us to do. We have preconceived ideas of what a person needs to do to serve God. But I believe that God thinks "outside of the box." He wants to free us from the ideal service to accomplish what He really made us to do. God has given special gifts to each of us that only we can do. These are what many call our talents. God wants to mold our gifts. He wants us to develop them in such a way that they can be used for Him. When we come to God through Jesus Christ then He begins to take those seeds that He has planted in our life and use them for His Kingdom. They are so numerous that I cannot possibly mention them all here. But know that these make up the individual inheritance from God. They are personal. They will fulfill us in ways we cannot imagine. When we are doing what God made us to do, using our personality and individual gifts despite wealth or lack of it, despite health or lack of it, and despite blessings or the lack of them, we can be happy. We possess joy that cannot be described and which the world cannot understand and it is full of glory! Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |