Inheritance

So we've been talking about this theme called Church Central. Today we kind of

take a break from that. Instead we'll be talking about inheritance.

Inheritance, given the time of the year I usually do some version of this teaching

every year or every two years. And so if you want a title for today it will be

inheritance. And this applies both to you as an individual and to us as a church

and to the churches connected with us. And some of the things will be specific

to Acts 29. And sometimes if you're connected to Acts 29 it applies to you

also but God may have other things he wants to add to you. So we're going to

talk about inheritance. And given that it's 24 days from the end of the year

you've got enough time to work on this. By the way Jeevan will be heading to

India next Sunday. So he won't be here for four or five weeks. We'll try and see

if we can get him back earlier. And then after that Manoj will be heading to

India on the 20th. And so we are taking bets on who will come back married. So

please send your bets to Heidi. And the starting bids are at 20 bucks. And yeah

let's see who comes back alone, who comes back with someone. Right? Okay that's

on the side. Praful are you leaving too? No? Good. Derek what about... Derek people

come to him. He doesn't have to go anywhere. Okay so let's go back to

inheritance. Yeah guys inheritance if you want to define it, inheritance is

something that is assigned, acquired or possessed by virtue of position. This is

important eh? Inheritance is something that is assigned, acquired or possessed.

Inheritance is something that is assigned to you or it's acquired by you

or it's possessed by you simply because of the position you occupy. It's by

virtue of your position or your relational position that you have. That's

how you get inheritance. It's not because you work towards it. Work will

never get you an inheritance. You cannot you cannot work for it. Go ahead.

Manoj is just trying to make himself indispensable so we miss him when he

leaves. So you cannot work for your inheritance. You cannot work for your

inheritance. Cannot work for an inheritance. It is assigned to you, it is

acquired by you, it is possessed by you, surely by the virtue of your relational

position. So much so that when Israel came into the promised land they were

assigned their inheritance. Tribes and families were assigned in inheritance. If

you go to Galatians 3.29, Galatians 3.29, Galatians 3.29, it says there that if you

are Christ, you are if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's offspring as

according to a promise. So you get what is due you not because you work at it

but because you are supposed to get the inheritance because of your relationship

with the one who is giving it to you. And this is important guys because when I

talk about inheritance both as a church and as an individual I must realize that

there is someone who's interested in giving it to me and that it is mine to

receive because of my relationship with God. In the Old Testament God even put

in a provision whereby inheritance would be safeguarded from being passed off to

others and so in the year of Jubilee any land that had been given away

because of debts would be returned because the Old Testament had inheritance

laws to safeguard the land from being passed off to others and that's one of

the things that used to happen once every 50 years at the time of Jubilee.

That is how important it is for God that we both receive our inheritance because

of our relationship with him. That we then begin to work or landscape our life

according to the inheritance that he's giving to us and that he desires to give

it to us.

I want you to grasp how important it is to discover and walk in it. Your life

becomes very intentional and when your life becomes intentional you what

happens is you align yourself with an intentional God. God is not waking up

every morning like you and I think alright let's see how we can handle this

day. Fly by the seat of my pants. No! God's very intentional he had things

planned from the beginning. You see that in Psalm 139 where he says all the days

Jacob that were assigned to you I had already written down. He knows the next

page before I get there and he would like me to have a glimpse of the page so

that I can walk in the lines he has written for me. And if he is the author

and he is writing my story surely the author would like me to walk in the

story that he has crafted for me. This is why it's important to desire to

discover to think of this as important. Unfortunately for whatever reason we

Christians don't think it is important and churches don't think it is important.

Do you know that Acts 29 has an inheritance awaiting it in 2021 and that

if we were able to walk in that we will plow that land and come into alignment

with God's plans for us? Isn't that the only thing a church should desire? Every

tribe was allotted an inheritance. I mean what do you see when Moses

prophesies on the 12 tribes? What do you see when Jacob prophesies on the 12

tribes? What do you see there? He's bequeathing to them the inheritance

that they are supposed to handle for the rest of their lives. Asher this is who

you are. Dan this is who you are. Joseph this is who you are. Judah this is who

you are. And you think with Jacob having said that it is done with but then you

see Moses doing the same thing with each tribe in Deuteronomy. You see Jacob

doing it in Genesis. You see Moses doing it in Deuteronomy. Once again a lot

thing to people the next phase of the inheritance.

Because one of the things God does is he knows we won't be able to handle it if

he told us all these 720 pages that he has written for your life. So he gives a

chapter by chapter or two chapters at a time and then he sends another Moses or

another Jacob saying here this is the next phase and then he begins to have

you walk in it. So what I'm saying to you isn't some newfangled charismatic

idea it has been since the beginning right from Genesis onwards.

God wants you to have your inheritance not grudgingly or occasionally but

permanently through your life. God wants you to have your inheritance not

grudgingly he's not saying well I really don't want to give it to you but

since you have found out about the inheritance take it it's that's like a

parent who wants to die with their estate secure. Oh no no I don't have a

will no no no no God has a will for you and he wants you to have it. He doesn't

give it grudgingly he doesn't give it occasionally he wants you to walk on it

on a regular basis. I say to parents of young children please don't look at

what your child should be in terms of a lucrative career or financially secure

career look at the child in terms of the child's inheritance look at the child in

terms of what God has given you this child for and if a parent can see that

your child will be secure financially will have as lucrative vocation as you

can think of and will do phenomenally well but unfortunately parents are

putting pressure on them to make sure that the child has a stable secure life

and a stable secure life at what cost?

At the cost of the days that were written for you in the book by the author

and the creator of heaven and earth? What a what a lousy trade-off that's

porridge

and inheritance is put into effect by the testator not by you and inheritance

is put into the put into effect by the testator as in the one who is writing

the testament or writing the will the the inheritance is put into effect by

him it's not by you

it's yours by promise not by law it's yours by promise not by law if you go to

Galatians 318 Galatians 318 it says that for if the inheritance be of the law it

is no more of promise but God gave it to Abraham by promise let me read it from

the NIV if you belong to sorry Galatians 318 for if the inheritance depends on

the law then no longer then it no longer depends on the promise but God in his

grace gave it to Abraham through a promise the intent there being I am

the one who sets the terms and conditions of this inheritance that I

want to give you Jacob and you cannot earn it you cannot legally claim it it

is given to you by promise by my word that is how I give it to you and the

strange thing is there is not a person here on earth who does not have a book

written for them by God but there's definitely no believer and no community

of believers that should operate on earth without knowing what God is

allocating to them every couple of years

though your inheritance is predestined it does require activation though your

inheritance is predestined it does require activation and you activated by

fulfilling certain conditions that the testator puts in place you activated by

fulfilling certain conditions that the person who who wrote the will has put in

place

and strangely enough the only thing that God wants off me if the only the only

requirement God has for me to step into the inheritance he has for me is maturity

hey Jacob can you grow into maturity so I can release the next portion Galatians

Galatians 4:1

4 verse 1 and 2

says this what I'm saying is that as long as an heir is underage he is no

different from a slave although he owns the whole estate the heir is subject to

guardians and trustees until the time set by his father beautifully or from

passion translation in a similar way God has promised our ancestors something

better but as long as an heir is a minor he's really not much different

than a servant although he's master over them all for until the appoint until the

time appointed by the father when he comes of the age comes of age the child

is under domestic supervision of the guardians of the estate the point being

Jacob every year mature mature and maturity is visible guys it is visible

you see a child maturing you know the child is matured not because there's

more hair on the child's head but because there's a difference in the way

the child behaves from year to year to year maturity is visible and so one of

the ways to find out whether you're maturing besides going and asking God

and besides standing in the mirror of the word is to go and ask people around

you how do you think I'm doing in this area that's a frightening thing to do

a when you do it you get two answers from people that care for you but it's

a frightening thing to do

so though pre-addo inheritance is predestined it requires activation by

fulfilling conditions put in by the testator and the father really has a

vested interest in our maturity guess why because he says in Psalm 33 verse 12

Psalms 33:12

that we are his inheritance we keep up his inheritance and therefore he has a

vested interest in our growth and in handing to us what he has for us to do

in the year ahead he has a vested interest in it I've said this before to

you but my dad used to threaten me saying I've fed you so much that you

better be taller than me because he could see me going broader but he

couldn't see me increasing in height and he threatened me saying man I've fed you

too much you better grow taller than me and thank God at 16 or 17 I was taller

than him which can which kind of tells you how short he was but the point is

this that every father has a vested interest in his child maturing because

he wants to hand over what he is supposed to do to his children there is

much weight to that scripture in Luke 152 which says and Jesus grew in wisdom

in stature and in favor with God and with man that's not just a simple

statement on his growth that is a statement that says here was someone who

was in sync with what his father wanted

he's perhaps the only person on earth that walked the script written by God

and it wasn't automatic how does a boy who is 12 have the ability to go and

stand and debate with learned scholars in a very respectful way and then come

up with the brilliant line why were you looking for me didn't you know that I

would be in my father's house and who is he saying this to he's saying it to his

own biological father how does this boy know how to draw that line saying I know

I belong to you as my parents but I do have a calling on my life that comes

from another father and in his house you will find me how does he have the

wisdom to do that it didn't come down automatically he was a boy who at a young

age of 12 was already walking in ways that were in alignment with what God had

wanted to release to him do not wait for your children to turn 13 14 15 16 before

you get them born again you can't force them to get born again but my God you can

bring them to the brink and gently use your finger to push them over

Jesus had an ordinary normal below normal life it was quite poor

you must not think of your 12 year old as less than I know that's a frightening

thing to hear that your 12 year old has the same advantages of Jesus when he was

12 but it's true hey shell

here's the other thing guys only the father knows the extent of your

inheritance say only the father knows the extent of your inheritance it is

vast it's custom designed for each church each son only the father knows

the extent of your inheritance I mean I guess you would say the same thing if

someone told you that you would be doing or you would be where you're at right

now if someone told you that about ten years ago would you have believed him I

would not be able to believe it I would not be able to believe what I'm doing

right now because I could have never imagined the inheritance that my father

had for me I could have never believed that for acts 29 either so I was the one

who planted the church I would never have imagined this inheritance that acts

29 presently is walking in I could not have imagined it it's custom designed

for each son and each church and it is vast and only the father knows the

extent of that inheritance you think David knew it when he was with the sheep

you think Joseph knew it he did very early because he saw a dream

sometimes guys the things God did in your life and showed you 20 years ago

30 years ago don't throw them away because they haven't come to pass the

vision is for an appointed time I hold on to things preciously from 1988 from

1970

I'm talking about me I'm kind of old

I remember this man with a beard wearing a very simple white shirt and coming and

putting his hand on my head and saying this boy will become a man of God and he

will go around the world

that's more than 50 years ago man hold on to these things preciously treasure

them

the father knows the extent of your inheritance it is released to you on the

basis of his faithfulness it is released to you on the basis of his faithfulness

it is released to you on the basis of his faithfulness his sovereignty his

wisdom and his mercy and all four are very critical because if we don't

realize that it is released you on the basis of his faithfulness you may begin

to think that your faithfulness matters more and then you may think that our

shucks I can't walk in this because I haven't done well this year let God

rewrite your story every morning every morning gives you a new chance to

restart life

yeah when God releases to you an inheritance he does is on the basis of

his faithfulness as in I am faithful so much so that in Timothy he says even if

you are faithless I will be faithful when you look at some of the heroes from

the Bible you realize that God released to them things even when they were not

faithful he was still able to be faithful to them he does that based on

his sovereignty and why that is important is because sometimes you may

think that a person does not deserve to be where he's at given his pedigree given

his degrees given his past and yet he does it based on his sovereignty he does

it based on his wisdom

based on his wisdom very wise he sees the past he sees the future he knows how

to position you and then he does it out of his wisdom it goes back to what I

was talking about last week when we talked about decrees how you cannot make

a decree unless you know the whole story that God is unfolding decree is making

made in isolation do not capture what God has been doing and what God wants to

do he does it on the basis of his mercy if it wasn't for his mercy we would have

squandered our inheritance as long ago

that is why I said you get to rewrite your story every morning because his

mercies are new every morning come on guys take advantage of this God who can

be mush at times

because the inheritance is last it is released to you in parts because the

inheritance is vast it's released to you in parts you go to Exodus 23

Exodus 23 verse 29 when it came to allotting Israel land here's what God

Exodus 23:29

said I will not drive them out from before you in one year lest the land

become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you little by little

I'll drive them out before you until you have increased and possess the land

until you have increased there is a need for me to increase so I can possess

more and so because the inheritance is vast it is released to you in parts

the thing is the scope and the extent of your inheritance or a church's

inheritance is unattainable in the natural if what God is releasing to you

is attainable in the natural question whether it is an inheritance from God

you just have to look at the story of Israel and you see what are the chapters

that really gets me is you try me nine three you try me nine and here's how God

encourages them he's giving them their inheritance and here's how he does it

here oh Israel you're going to go across the Jordan today to go and dispossess

nations greater than you mightier than you cities great and fortified people

great and tall sons of the anachim whom you know and of whom you have heard who

can stand before them now that he's told them how he now says to them that is

your inheritance go take it so most of the time when an inheritance is allotted

to you there is a scary excitement about it because it is not attainable in

the natural what about Moses hey Moses I want you to go and deliver the people

out of Pharaoh's hands and by the way every time you go and say to Pharaoh let

my people go I'll go and whisper in Pharaoh's ear don't I'll harden his heart

I mean it's not like Moses needed that much help he was already going up

against the greatest nation on earth at that time and God is helping him by

saying don't worry every time you say let my people go I'll go whisper harden

your heart so it is unattainable in the natural which is why an inheritance

must be looked at with eyes of the spirit you must see with the eyes of the

spirit you must see with the eyes of the spirit so whenever you receive a

passage that God is saying here is an inheritance passage acts 29 that you

need to walk in I have to see it with eyes of the spirit guys we've been doing

this at acts 21 for years has been fascinating to see how God always brings

to pass what he has said I remember it was yeah I can go back a few years and

tell you different times when and I've been doing this for the last 20 years

that doesn't mean you need to do it it just means that I have to show you

biblically that it is something that was done in the Old Testament and the New so

that you can then copy not because Jacob does it but because there is biblical

precedent for it

and then if you want to do it because Jacob does it great because

yeah look at my life

yeah

what does Galatians 311 say

yeah don't worry about it the righteous shall live by faith I was just wondering

why I wrote that down guys inheritance should not become your master and

inheritance should not become your master very often what happens is that

we get so hung up with destiny and inheritance that it becomes your master

you your single-minded pursuit of it gets so overpowering that people are

left on the side even God becomes secondary to the destiny the inheritance

the target that you are pursuing and that should not happen that happened to

the prodigal the prodigal wanted in his inheritance before time and it became

his master so much so that he went and asked for it and in asking for it in a

way what he was saying was hey I know you're not dead but give me what is due

me as if you were dead so an inheritance must not become your master

but as you follow the master your inheritance is released to you one of

the classic examples of this is in second Kings 2 where it says that even

though there were 50 other prophets there was one who kept following his

master kept following him from the from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho to the

Jordan and did he get an inheritance absolutely but how did he pursue it but

pursuing the master

because it's in pursuing the master that maturity happens and when maturity

happens it is very natural for that which God had crafted for you the story

he had written for you is now released to you because you can handle it

it's been a while since I made this repeated the statement well why did

Jesus die at 33 besides the fact that he was crucified why did Jesus die at 33

why did his life end at 33 one of the reasons is there was nothing else left

to do he had finished everything he had finished everything that needed to be

done he would not die a day earlier he actually makes that statement that it

was not yet time for him and then when everything was finished one of the

things I hope I'll be able to do is catch up in terms of things that I've

been lagging in so that when I leave the earth that I finished everything that

Christ appointed me when he placed me on the earth wouldn't that be a great way

to leave but God says to you the night before you die hey Don looks like you

finished everything that's left to do don't worry about marriage let's go

that is funny okay let me change it from dawn to me hey Jacob there's nothing

left to do you finished everything let's go don't worry about marriage your

father I got no problems let's go that would that that would be the way to

leave the earth yeah sorry dawn if you sit in the front this might happen

don's gonna delayed finishing things on earth yeah guys an inheritance is not a

list of accomplishments it's not like a bucket list of accomplishments in fact

in an inheritance must be seen as a legacy that blesses others and

inheritance must be seen as what I'm going to do or what acts 29 is going to

do in 2021 is not be accomplished this this this and this as told by God no oh

God we're gonna walk in this so that others may benefit one of the coolest

stories that I never get tired of reading is in Ruth chapter 4 where in

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

Ruth 4 verse 5 and 6 Boaz goes up to Naomi's relative and says to Naomi's

Ruth 4:5

relative hey you realize that you are the closest kin to Naomi and that this

land is yours and so I just wanted to ask you if you want this land and by

the way I just wanted to tell you if you take this land you'll have to marry

Ruth and your inheritance is going to go to Ruth and her children Naomi and her

children and the kinsman redeemer says no no no no no thank you you can have

the land and then Boaz takes the land and the and the kinsman redeemer he

approaches actually says no no no no I don't want this land because in the

process I may endanger my estate because if you married the widow of your brother

you would not have an inheritance your inheritance would also go to your

brother's widows children and so he says no and Boaz does it but in the process

what happens is he now births a legacy out of which Jesus of Nazareth comes

so when you walk in your inheritance in 2021 walk in it with the expectation

that as I do others are going to benefit this is not a list of

accomplishments for me

carry your inheritance on your back don't let it be a carrot that hangs in

front that you're running after carry it on your back let others let others take

off it

once an inheritance is known it's your responsibility to either steward it or

squander it once an inheritance is known it's your responsibility to steward it

or to squander it this is why I've so often suggested that when God gives you

a promise or when God gives you something as simple as a rama or God

gives you an idea of what awaits you over a year or a month or a year or a

few months or a couple of years go over it again and again and again and again

because one of the ways to steward the things that God says because remember

guys anything that God asks you to do is beyond the understanding of your mind if

you think your mind can handle it then you already know it is not of God

I have never walked in my inheritance in my life

I have never walked nor has acts 29 till today walked in something that was

possible or that was comprehensible

comprehendible

it has always been beyond us

this is critical all your planning for 2021 must be around things that require

faith require God that will have you fall flat on your face if either or

those are missing

then you see God otherwise you see your boss or you see your parent or you see

the bank do it for you

I can steward it or I can squander it and part of the reason I say keep going

over it keep going over it is because the mind has to change the thinking has

to change so how do you squander or delay your inheritance you squander or

delay your inheritance by one exchanging it for porridge or for trinkets

exchanging it for porridge or for trinkets

exchanging it for porridge or for trinkets

porridge is an immediate need trinket is something that looks attractive that

will give you dignity and respect in the eyes of people but in the process you

will lose out on what could have been yours long term

you can delay or squander your inheritance by busying yourself with the

wrong priorities by busying yourself with the wrong priorities and so one of

the questions I asked people at the end of the year is what are you going to

throw overboard this year so that you aren't carrying that into 2021 either

because it has expired or there is a expiry date that's coming up shortly or

because it is no longer what you are supposed to do

because sometimes the demands placed on you aren't lifted off by people and so

you continue doing things because there is a demand placed on you not

necessarily because that is something allotted to you by God

that applies to things that even I ask you I might ask you something because

you do it well I might ask you something because I need you to do it and if those

are the reasons why I'm asking you to do something you have a right to say but

Jacob I sense that my reason for asking you to continue in something or do

something should solely be because at present this is what God has for you

because at present this is what God has for you and you can question me on that

because pastors can pigeonhole people into places and positions for long years

on end

don't worry it's none of you you guys are where you're supposed to be so don't

come to me after this kidding third reason you should delay you can't the

third way you can delay or squander your inheritance is by working in

someone else's land by working in someone else's land or working in

someone else's land as in you're like a partridge that sits on the eggs of some

other bird and then when they hatch they don't look like you and you wonder why

you're not getting any results there are some things that aren't yours to hatch

let go of those things

they're not yours

was that a question Derek okay Jacob worked in layman's land for 20 years

concealed

make sure that yeah and these things you can find out guys through a process of

father what is it that you want for 2021 and 22 sometimes God asks you to be in

a certain place for two years what is it that you want and then don't let hell or

high water your parents or some prince charming move you from what is allotted

to you

or Princess charming

an inheritance sustains you in hard times an inheritance sustains you in

hard times sometimes when nothing else is going

for you the only thing that keeps you alive and have you get up every morning

is you said you said you said you said you said you said you said you said you

said man what do you think sustained Joseph you said in party first prison you

said when the Baker forgot you said when the brothers sold me you said

and if we don't have an inheritance during hard times Babylon citizens

will tread over you because it says in that prodigal son story Luke 15 verse

Luke 15:15

15 that when his inheritance ran out the citizens of the city began to hire him

to do their work because now you don't have a dream to live for

and inheritance requires inner cleanness and inheritance requires inner

cleanness it's the only problem with Christianity you can be successful with

Christian principles as a Hindu Muslim atheist agnostic but if you're a

Christian and you practice Christian principles it is also required of you

that there be inner cleanness second Timothy 221 from the message puts it

this way

second Timothy 221 become the kind of container God can use to present any and

every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing become the kind of

container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for

their blessing run away from infantile indulgence run after mature righteousness

inheritance requires faith and endurance inheritance requires faith and

endurance faith to see what is impossible endurance to finish what is

endurance to finish what is impossible and it requires the ability to run with

the horses

Jeremiah 12 5 if you are tired with the work you do you will not be able to

Jeremiah 12 5 if you are tired running with footmen how are you going to run

with the horses guys we're not being called to run with how well the earth

can do we're called to run I mean I love what CS Lewis says God isn't give God

isn't someone who's using a whip on a horse he's made your horse with wings

that is the idea that listen Jacob run with the horses doing as well as some of

the best in the world ain't good enough you have to see with eyes of faith and

you have to have the endurance so that you finish the work I've given you in

the time frame that I've allotted to you and if you don't sure we'll talk about

it but aim towards it acts 29 must

inheritance requires that I have no plan B inheritance requires that I have no

plan B I must burn my plow and my oxen like Elisha did there is no plan B when

it comes to this is a story I want you to walk in acts 29 this is the story I

want you to walk in Roslyn and please don't think that an inheritance is cut

off once you retire or once you turn 65 not true

but what if what if everyone over 70 rediscovered what was allotted to them

in the year ahead you know what that would do to your life you would move

from being Anna in the Bible who spent many years praying because what happens

to most women more to women than men and thank God for that is that most women

after 75 or 80 think that all they're supposed to do is pray for their

grandchildren and their children that's what pastors tell you to oh don't worry

sister you pray for your grandchildren they will become giants on earth come on

man there's more to it than that it is a very important thing please don't think

I'm dissing that but surely there is more

discover it

and they always tell you to pray for your grandchildren because your

children won't listen

all these things I say you can ignore like in the last sentence the rest of it

is very good so one can know what God is saying and yet to refuse it so you can

have God say hey walk in this and yet you can refuse it but whenever you

re-engineer or despise your inheritance it usually has serious generational

consequences and I say serious generational consequences because we

don't realize how much of our inheritance has an effect on those that

are coming up after us you think that if God says hey Jacob this is what acts

29 needs to walk in in 21 and 22 and what if I began to think no it's time

for acts 29 to become a really big church we got to do things differently

sure we might become famous but here's the catch guys for another couple of

generations I've screwed up what could have been good why because you trust me

enough now to follow but I am leading you in a way that God hasn't prescribed

whenever you re-engineer or despise an inheritance that has been allotted to you

it usually has serious generational consequences and churches go through 30

or 40 years of it because now it is set and once it is set there is no man that

can come and change it because now you're battling a system that has the

ability to swallow up leaders year after year after year I've been in churches

like that man and the same happens to our individual lives

you know in in in Genesis 11 after Noah had done with the flood and now you've

come out of the flood earth has restarted again and God says listen I

don't want you to gather together I want you to scatter I want you to I want you

to go across the earth because right from Genesis 128 there was a decree

given go forth multiply replenish subdue and what does Nimrod do Nimrod

decides that he is going to gather everybody together around that tower and

in Deuteronomy 32 there's a strange scripture in verse 8 which says

that God decided in Deuteronomy 32 that okay if this is how you want to go if

you want to despise what I have decreed to you then I'm going to disinherit you

and now the nation spread throughout the earth and the Bible says in Deuteronomy

that they became the inheritance of lesser gods that's literally what it

says that when God allotted the nations he appointed to them divine guardians and

he was not talking about divine guardians that were heavenly

whenever we deliberately re-engineer or despise the inheritance that has been

given to us know that lesser gods hijack and ravage an institution a

church a family for generations

Satan used that as bait in Luke chapter 4 verse 6 when he says listen all the

Luke 4:6

kingdoms have been given to me do you want a bow I can give you all this

Jesus but knew what was written in Psalm 2 verse 8 where it says hey ask of me

Psalms 2:8

and I will give you the nations as your inheritance in Matthew 28 18 to 20 Jesus

says all right now that they have been given to me let me commission you church

you go and you tease the nations to observe what I have commanded in

revelations 1115 you see it all coming to consummation when he says the

kingdoms of the earth have become the kingdom of our God and King

so let's bring it to Acts 29 and how we need to now go about this I said earlier

that inheritance is released in part we saw what God did in 2020 Zechariah 8 was

given to us that's a scripture that I explained and Emily had read and it was

the year of the Holy Spirit we saw what God had given to us and we saw what God

did with this church in terms of multiplication growth mission and

maturity despite it being the kind of year it was there's a best year in our

history what about 2021 so here's something you need to do over the next

24 days ask God for decrees over your life ask God to release to you an

inheritance passage that you can live by or you can landscape your life with

here's the thing guys to begin with I love Ecclesiastes 8 for from the New King

James it says where the word of a king is there is power where the word of a

king is there is power where the word of a king is there is power the New King

James version puts it that way so when it comes to inheritance passages

an inheritance passage is a passage that is a passage that God landscapes our

lives with the passage that God landscapes our lives with it's a passage

lives with it's a passage that God landscapes our lives with according to

his plan

Karen I hope the writing is good enough for you to read I saw that comment and

inheritance passage is something he uses to set us up something he uses to set us

up to discover

to set us up to discover the journey of faith that awaits us

in 21 22 could be two years could be one

what will our journey of faith look like not saying journey I'm saying journey

of faith look like

guys Jesus after 40 days in the wilderness comes into the synagogue in

Luke chapter 4 and goes and opens a scroll and reads out a passage from

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Isaiah 61 that becomes his inheritance and that he lives the rest of his life

by the next three and a half years I lived according to Isaiah 61 1 to 5 he

opens it he reads it and then he makes an amazing statement in Luke 4 21 today

this passage has been fulfilled and then he begins to step out from that day on

and what begins to happen the good news is preached to the poor the blind see

prison doors are open the deaf hear captives are set free oaks of righteousness

are raised spirit of heaviness moves away and the spirit of praise comes in

beauty for ashes gladness for mourning

if for no other reason do this for the sake of your master because he did this

to

go and ask God for this remember I said the reason I took so

much time to describe and define what inheritance looks like means is so that

you understand that God wants you to have your inheritance not grudgingly not

occasionally but permanently hey guys you think I don't want it for you I mean

for those of you who have been involved in house churches and are leading and

were L2s and L3s and so on what is my intent that do you realize guys that my

intent is can I run out run myself out of everything I'm doing so that I will

have to find new things to do

why because it is my desire to see you step into a place that you haven't

stepped into before till the person ahead of you has to find something else

to do

something else more challenging something else requiring more faith

wave after wave generation after generation maturing stepping into their

inheritance to create pathways for the next generation to grab theirs so that

you can move off into your journey of faith where you discover what else God

has for you and the extent of it is vast

when you have nothing left to do there's two ways to leave the earth you finished

everything so there's nothing left to do to you never had anything to do because

you never spent time discovering your inheritance and now you're better off

with God than here

don't worry don't I won't go down that route with you

ask God because he wants you to have this inheritance not grudgingly not

occasionally ask God because it's something that he loves assigning that

he loves you to possess that he wants you to acquire by virtue of your

position you heard him sing over you the last song I've made you a vessel I've

made you an offering that I want to pour out I've made you whatever I wanted you

to be you came to me with nothing but my inheritance all that you have is the

inheritance that I'm giving you I will make new wine out of you

you

once you receive this from God read it reread it and after rereading it reread

it again study it research it let God illuminate it go over it again and again

I think I've told you of a man who said how God gave him Psalm 91 as an

inheritance and told him to read Psalm 91 for six months I told him you need to

read only Psalm 91 for six months and every day he would read Psalm 91 for

180 days can you imagine what that would have done to his life can you

imagine you being so confident of Psalm 91 can you imagine what can that can do

to your life he that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide

in the shadow of the Almighty and I will say of the Lord he's my refuge and my

strength and my fortress there's no pestilence that flies by the day no arrow

that flies by the night no plague that comes near your tent no evil that will

angels will uphold you because you have set your love on me because you hate

what I hate and love what I love I will keep you can you imagine reading that

for 180 days two or three times a day can you imagine what that does to your

head and your heart can you ever be afraid again

you

so 2021 acts 29

you

our theme we said was church central based out of Ephesians 1 23 from the

it says the church is not peripheral to the world but the world is peripheral to

the church why because Jesus Christ fills the church with his presence speaks

through the church acts through the church reigns through the church and is

the head of the church for her sake

that's our theme what is the passage that we need to discover just like we

did Zechariah 8 last year this year here are the scriptures that we will look at

over and over and over again we'll teach on it we'll study on it and at the end

of next year I pray God that we'll have stories that show how faithful God was

so here are the scriptures and we'll read only one of them today second Kings

2 and I'll talk more about this perhaps in the new year second Kings 6 1 to 23

and second Kings 13

14 to 21 these are the passages that will these passages are like a field

that we will plow and find nuggets in it find nuggets that will be used to do

whatever God wants to do across the earth and I say to the churches that are

connected to acts 29 I believe that this is something that is yours also there

might be additions to it but whether you're in Vernon whether you're in

Bahrain whether you're in Sydney whether you're in wherever you are know that

these scriptures apply to you too because of how connected you are whether

you are in Brazil whether you're in Lithuania and God may add more to it if

there's one word I could use for all these passages if I could call them

something I would call them Elisha because it's basically the story

different stories from the life of Elisha and I'm so looking forward to it

I'm already excited about second Kings 13 14 to 21 and what is going to happen

guys sometimes you know I've actually learned a little bit of patience I don't

I don't say stuff before I'm supposed to say it but my god I'm so looking forward

to what's gonna happen yeah so I'm gonna ask Emily to come and read second Kings

2 and then we'll see how we lend yeah

open the second Kings 2 this is your first read may you read it many times

I've already read and heard it four or five times between day before yesterday

and today okay

second Kings 2 when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind

Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal Elijah said to Elisha stay here

the Lord has sent me to Bethel but Elisha said as surely as the Lord lives

and as you live I will not leave you so they went down to Bethel the company of

the prophets of Bethel came out to Elisha and asked do you know that the Lord is

going to take you from your master today or take your master from you today

yes I know Elisha replied so be quiet then Elijah said to him stay here Elisha

the Lord has sent me to Jericho and he replied as surely as the Lord lives and

as you live I will not leave you so they went to Jericho the company of the

prophets of Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him do you know that the Lord

is going to take your master from you today yes I know he replied so be quiet

then Elijah said to him stay here the Lord has sent me to the Jordan and he

replied as surely as the Lord lives and as you live I will not leave you so the

two of them walked on 50 men from the company of the prophets went and stood

at a distance facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the

Jordan Elijah took his cloak rolled it up and struck the water with it the

water divided to the right and to the left and the two of them crossed over on

dry ground when they had crossed Elijah said to Elisha tell me what can I do for

you before I am taken from you let me inherit a double portion of your spirit

Elisha replied you have asked a difficult thing Elijah said yet if you

see me when I am taken from you it will be yours otherwise it will not as they

were walking along and talking together suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of

fire appeared and separated the two of them and Elijah went up to heaven in a

whirlwind Elisha saw this and cried out my father my father the chariots and

horsemen of Israel and Elisha saw him no more then he took hold of his garment

and tore it in two Elisha then picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him

and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan he took the cloak that had

fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it where now is the Lord the God of

Elijah he asked when he struck the water it divided to the right and to the left

and he crossed over the company of the prophets from Jericho who were watching

said the spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha and they went to meet him and

bowed to the ground before him look they said we your servants have 50 able men

let them go and look for your master perhaps the spirit of the Lord has

picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley no Elisha

replied do not send them but they persisted until he was too embarrassed

to refuse so he said send them and they sent 50 men who searched for three days

but did not find him when they returned to Elisha who was staying in Jericho he

said to them didn't I tell you not to go the people of the city said to Elisha

look our Lord this town is well situated but as you can see as you can see but

the water is bad and the land is unproductive bring me a new bowl he

said and put some salt in it so they brought it to him then he went out to

the spring and threw the salt into it saying this is what the Lord says I have

healed this water never again will it cause death or make the land

unproductive and the water has remained pure to this day according to the word

Elisha had spoken from there Elisha went up to Bethel as he was walking along the

road some boys came out of the town and jeered at him get out of here Baldy they

said to get out of there Baldy he turned around looked at them and called down a

curse on them in the name of the Lord then two bears came out of the woods and

mauled 42 of the boys and he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to

Samaria