l The Inheritance In Christ Jesus i Omega Ministries
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5). or no matter how many promises God has made, they are “yes” in Christ. And so the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 1:20).
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God Almighty made many promises to Abraham, Moses, their children and Israel his chosen nation, and to those who were to come to Him through Christ the Messiah - that’s you! It can sometimes appear as if God did not keep His promises to His ancient people, but Paul declares ‘no matter how many promises’ they are now ‘yes’ through one person, our saviour Jesus Christ – the long awaited Messiah. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has omega-ministries.org
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Heb 1:1-2). It’s crucial to realise that Jesus Christ is the ‘heir’ of ALL things, that is the ‘inheritor’ of ALL the promises ever made to man by God the Father - physical and spiritual. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us bringing the revelation that the universe was made through HIM and for HIM, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end of ALL - even of time itself. God came to earth to announce what He was about to do and to fulfil His own Word to the world (Isa 55:11) the Son of Man. The Messiah (Jesus) is the fulfilment of everything God the Father ever intended for mankind, he is the ONE he is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE the last Adam. He cannot be improved upon because He is far above all things and now He has given the promises of His Father to you and me – by His faith. This is the good news of the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, the free gift of eternal life through faith in him and His work! This is also the message that Paul and the apostles preached: “We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” omega-ministries.org
The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words: “I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.” (Acts 13:34). Jesus all glorious fulfils every promise given by God in the Scriptures to Israel and the world, the key factor being that he was ‘raised’ to life from the dead (see also Matt 3:15). He inherited EVERYTHING from the Father as a son of man and He became the all in all! However, even more incredible is the truth that He did not do this for himself. Jesus was always God the son and was sent to take our guilt and sin away through a human death, so that we could ‘receive’ the blessings of the Kingdom here on earth today, plus a guarantee of eternal life to come. That’s incredibly good news! “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Eph 1:13-14). Jesus has ALL knowledge and ALL understanding – He knows what you need to know and He wants to reveal it to you. Knowing Jesus in the KEY to everything you need, for this life and the one to come. He truly is the saviour and the The King of Kings! “My purpose is that they may be encouraged o
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in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col 2:3) So says Paul an apostle who knew the risen Jesus through personal visitation, revelation by the Spirit and by visions. He was very experienced and full of wisdom, probably why so many of his writings are now inspired Scripture. He believed, as we should, that Jesus has ALL the treasures! In Galatians he draws his readers back to the amazing grace of Jesus, so that we are reassured of our status by faith, able to call God our Abba, Father. “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out,“Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” (Gal 4:6,7). As an heir along with Jesus (by the Spirit) you have inherited all these promises too! It means that you do not need to earn them by being good or doing things for God, you are grafted into the inheritance, adopted into the richest most powerful family ever. This fact of God’s own Word means you have the right to receive all that Jesus has paid for, an inheritance in the saints (Col 1:12). Unless of course we fail the test of faith! Do you have His Spirit in your heart that cries “Abba, Father”? 4 The Inheritance
Paul exhorts his flock with these sobering words: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corin 13:5). NB: If you are not sure whether you pass this test please continue reading even though it might not make sense at this time. Paul says that we must examine ourselves, but how do we do this? We must compare ourselves only to Christ and see if our life is like his. If we are not then we need to repent and cry out for his Spirit to change us, today! What’s in a promise? The word promise has been used and abused in human society. As a result we no longer take people at their ‘word’ when they say ‘I promise’. People often fail and break their promises, or plain lie about things. However, we must not let this earthly human experience deter us from trusting the eternal promises of God because “He is not a man that He should lie!” (Rom 3:4). We must settle in our hearts that God cannot and does not lie, His nature is holy and trustworthy. Why lie when you know all things and have all power over them? In him there is no sin. Satan is the father of lies turning truth into half truth and blinding minds from the gospel we are preaching.
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A promise by God or ‘covenant’ is a legal ‘agreement’ made by written law, and God has made these guarantees with his chosen people in the past. We need wisdom to know what these agreements were, plus knowledge of how we now benefit through Jesus Christ and the new ‘Law of the Spirit of life’. The manifestation of these promises in our new life depends on grace that only a true ‘son and heir’ can realise. When you are baptised by full emersion in faith you make this covenant with God and you release the Spirit of truth in fulness and power. This was foreshadowed by Abraham who was given circumcision as a sign, but also as a guarantee of future blessing and protection (Gen 17). His story reveals how faithful God is to His promises.
(2 Corin 1:20). Learning from Biblical history is crucial to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and so miss out on God’s blessings (1 Cor 10:11). Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt by the power of the Spirit with signs and wonders, God had ‘saved’ them from the slavery of Pharaoh in Egypt. They then saw this enemy defeated as they passed through the Red Sea, then the wall of (frozen) sea water returned and drowned Pharaoh and his armies. After the victory celebration they found themselves at Mount Sinai (in Midian, Arabia), the place where Moses originally heard God in a burning bush. It was here that God made a covenant of Law with the Israelites (because of their rebellious hearts) their reward for obedience to this written Law was a new life in the promised land Agreeing with God and experiencing of Canaan with Yahweh dwelling the benefits among them (this was God’s second This is all exciting news, but how do choice option! see Exod 32:10). So we access this guaranteed inheritance the Hebrew slaves became a people and what is it? How does this spiritual belonging to God through Moses truth become our real experience intercession, a new nation and with a here and now? How do the promises very solemn agreement or ‘covenant’ become reality in my life today? with God: If you’ve been saved a while many of “Then Moses went up to God, and the these promises are probably already LORD called to him from the mountain flowing in your life, the key is knowing and said,“This is what you are to say to the how to keep it moving forward. house of Jacob and what you are to tell the For no matter how many promises God has people of Israel:‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you made, they are “yes” in Christ. And so the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God” on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. omega-ministries.org
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Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak.The people all responded together, “We will do everything Yahweh has said.“So Moses brought their answer back to Yahweh.” (Exod 19:1-8) It was after this that God gave them the detail of the Tabernacle and priestly Laws He required to be kept. He led the whole assembly to respond with an “Amen” (i.e. we agree) (Deut 27:1526). Their word was literally their bond. Sacrifices were made in blood to seal the covenant agreement. This event changed the Hebrews and the history of the whole world forever! As a people they had been separated out from human control. There was no turning back without the agreed consequences of punishment or even death if they disobeyed Yahweh’s Laws of separation (holiness). Notice that the agreement was ‘spoken out’ by them in order to seal the deal. Their word was their bond, just as Yahweh’s Word was his bond, even though He knew the Israelites would fail His great wisdom allowed for a perfect one to arise among them ‘like 6 The Inheritance
Moses’, the promised seed or Messiah. The blessings of God upon them was ‘conditional’ on them keeping ALL the laws ALL the time. Not the gospel. This story illustrates how Yahweh dealt with His ancient people the rest, as they say, is history. From Law to Grace Becoming a disciple of Jesus is also about making a covenant, but not of obedience to the priestly Laws via Moses, but rather it is made by His ‘Grace’ through ‘Faith’ in the work and sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah (son of man, that is of Abraham), a circumcision of the heart (inner spirit) and a pledge of a clear conscience (mind). Our response to Yahweh (Father), as seen with the Hebrews, is to ‘agree’ or say the ‘Amen’ (Yes) to what Yahweh has declared as the conditions of the new covenant! Just as the Hebrew covenant changed history, so too Jesus and His work changed the way we approach Yahweh the Almighty. This NEW covenant was also sealed with a new sacrifice, but now once for all - His own perfect son’s death on the cross. This offering for the sin of Israel and the whole world was needed only once to open the way to the Father on our behalf, to redeem or separate us from the world system and for the Jew freedom from having to keep the Law. All this is a free gift for those who are prepared to turn away from evil and
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accept the redemptive work of the Messiah, and to overcome the desires of the flesh - i.e. to sin no more by following the Spirit of truth.(Gal 5:16) Understanding the nature of Grace (provision) is essential if we are to benefit from all that Jesus died to give us. We easily relate to the Law because it is written down, rules that need to be obeyed. However, in order to receive the benefits of Grace there is another WAY not by the Law because of sin and death, but rather the law of the Spirit of life (Rom 8:2). Following Jesus Christ to be a priest of Yahweh is not like the written Law which is about achieving outward perfection through a system of external laws and rules (do not touch or taste etc.), it is now about ‘accepting’ perfection through what Christ has done on our behalf (thereby agreeing to be blessed by Yahweh’s Spirit of divine life directly from heaven). The Law was ratified (guaranteed) by innocent animal sacrifice, but Grace was sealed (guaranteed) by Jesus with the offering of His own innocent blood on earth and in heaven! This means it’s continuous, forever and unchangeable, heavenly. In the first case obedience was required in keeping all the various laws that God gave them for the restraining and punishment of sin and to ‘earn’ forgiveness. In the second case we receive the blessing of Grace simply by obediently ‘agreeing’ with Yahweh’s omega-ministries.org
Kingdom message, saying ‘yes’ to Jesus and all he has done for us. To do less is to dishonour the Father himself! This is faith in its most potent form, as Jesus said: “believe in the one whom He has sent” (John 6:29). This sounds simple, but there are enemies that seek to rob these blessings of Yahweh from you and all mankind. It really is that simple but the devil makes things complicated! As the Israelites under the Law discovered, agreeing with Yahweh is not just ‘intellectual’ but also involves ‘practical action’. Their experience foreshadowed the greater gift of Grace to come. The Israelites followed Moses out of Egypt (Repentance), then through the Red Sea (Baptism), then they agreed to the ‘Law’ (Spirit of Truth). As well as this they eventually had to defeat the enemies (demons) in Canaan to inherit the Promised Land. This foreshadows the Christian experience through Christ. All through Scripture we read how Yahweh was with them and achieved these great things by His power, by His Spirit and even by angels! Similarly with the new covenant, as ‘sons’ we must cooperate with Yahweh and obey the command He gives us – the good news is that He has given us a helper in order to do this – the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We cannot and should not try to follow Christ by our own strength of will, we need the Spirit of Holiness in us like a wellspring of life,
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so that all the blessings promised to a disciple will flow freely.Yahweh’s will is that everyone who believes should have this free gift of His presence: “Peter replied,“Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39). Remember also that Moses would not do anything unless Yahweh’s presence went with them (Exod 33:15). By the miracle of His love we His people become earthen temples of His Spirit and it is this that makes the Christian experience unique and unites us to Jesus and the blessings of the new covenant (Rom 8:9).
sinful life for his will to be holy? Do I have the Holy Spirit dwelling in me like a fountain of life!? If the answer is ‘yes’, then you have a sure foundation upon which to build a life of faith, you are already a joint heir. If the answer is ‘no’, or ‘not sure’ to any of these questions then please ask someone who does to pray with you, for until you have been accepted as a son and heir you will never receive an inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Acts 15:8). NB. Obeying the Law without knowing Christ in you will no longer achieve favour with God. That old way has completely gone and Yahweh does not accept it anymore. Religious knowledge and external service alone will no longer justify you. (Heb 8:13).
What to do next? Before continuing with this series of teaching seriously ask yourself the question: Do I pass the test of faith? Do I believe what Jesus said and then did on the cross, dying for me? Have I turned away from the way of the world? (Turned away from sinful desires) Do I say YES to the free gifts of the Holy Spirit? Have I been water baptised into Christ with faith in His power? Have I died with Him and given up my
True Salvation Don’t waste time trying to be good or religious, it will not save you,Yahweh is not impressed with your own efforts to please Him, because Jesus has already done everything required. Just going to ‘church’ is not good enough either - we must be the church, His spiritual temple, a House of Prayer in whom Yahweh dwells by His Holy Spirit. The only answer is to give your whole life to him 100% and get his eternal life to you 100%! Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no’! “The man without the Spirit does not accept
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the things that come from the Spirit of Yahweh, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corin 2:14). Without the Holy Spirit in you you will never see the truth of the Scriptures - they will just be stories to you, rather than Yahweh’s love letter full of wonderful promises! Yahweh says to us: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46). A Prayer to agree with God and receive Christ I thank you Yahweh God that you gave your Son Jesus Christ to pay for my sins to buy me back from Satan’s kingdom. Forgive my sins now and enter my heart, I give you everything 100% for your 100% to me by the Holy Spirit. Thank you that Christ dwells in my heart by faith and not by my own efforts. I believe you have risen from the dead. To show my faith in you I will be obedient and give myself to be baptised in water (symbolising my death) and follow you all the days of my life as you see fit. Amen If this is the first time you have said a prayer like this please find another Christian and arrange your baptism asap, don’t wait time is of the essence! May Christ truly dwell in you by his Spirit.
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THE INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS IN 26 DAYS
part of the great cloud of witnesses (Heb 12). So what is it that you have received through Christ that they could This begins the teaching on the promises given to those who have the only see from afar? What are these great things promised? Holy Spirit of promise. It’s split into “These things happened to them as examples daily meditations or you can simply and were written down as warnings for us, read through as a study. on whom the fulfilment of the ages DAY 1. A New Creature has come.” (1 Corin 10:11). “Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a All the things that happened to the new creature; the old has gone, the new Prophets of old are examples to has come.” (2 Corin 5:17) help us, his saints in Christ! All the It was not God’s plan to patch you up promises given of old are fulfilled in and fix the old you, no! He decided to him (Jesus) and revealed through us start a new you, he made you a brand his body, the Bride. Jesus was raised to life, he defeated death and you now new creature - within. partake of this miracle, HIS DIVINE He has birthed in you a ‘new spirit’, NATURE and you can also attain to ‘a new inner identity’, a ‘new heart the resurrection of life everlasting! As a of flesh’, the real you that can now new creature you are no longer bound dwell in the Kingdom of Heaven and hear his glorious Word. Something has to the destiny of the old creation you have become part of Elohim’s new happened to you that the Prophets of old dreamed of, the thing they believed heaven and new earth to come and the old earth will soon pass away: for and looked for but never fully “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, received in their own generation: for the first heaven and the first earth had “All these people were still living by faith when they died.They did not receive the passed away, and there was no longer any things promised, they only saw them and sea.” (Rev 21:1). Jesus spoke of earth’s final destruction welcomed them from a distance.” through judgement when he said; (Heb 11:13). “Heaven and earthWILL pass away, but It’s incredible that the Prophets and myWords will NEVER pass away.” (Matt Patriarchs of such great faith, those 24:35). whom we admire ‘did not receive the Whatever scientists say and however things promised’. Of course there is no doubt that they now enjoy great peace they feel about this planet (and man’s with Yahweh in heaven’s glory, they are achievements on it), it makes little 10 The Inheritance
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difference because it is doomed to destruction by the judgement of God because of Satan, sin and rebellion! That’s how serious sin is, how polluting and how destructive. Creation itself was subjected to this condition to help us realise our sinful state. Just as the pre-flood civilisations perished in the time of Noah, when God judged them by the flood of water, so too our ‘last days’ civilisation (the global village), will soon go, but this time by fire and not water. To God this world has been utterly ruined by sin, by Satan and wicked evil men who cooperate with him. He will begin again with a new heaven and a new earth free of sin (i.e. no Satan or any works of man). Just as Noah and his family survived in the Ark, a remnant will be saved through being ‘in Christ’, the spiritual Ark, the greater salvation. Already the earth is groaning because of man’s polluting influences and the signs of the times are screaming out that the end is near. Our 21st century generation is likely to be the last before he returns and still the vast majority refuse to repent of their sin, in fact it increases! The world is as doomed as the Titanic ship that confidently sailed into the Atlantic, but there is an iceberg, a rock if you like, that is to strike the earth and bring its end! It’s time to wake up! This is guaranteed to come! Even the godless scientists of our age can see that our days are omega-ministries.org
numbered, though they can only see the visible signs. But the end will come quicker than even they think it will! Our physical flesh will perish, life is a short distance from birth to death, we scatch the surface of the earth for a very brief moment in time. So we must be sober and know the truth - face the truth - be in the truth. Let us who believe focus on the wonderful truth that we are NOW part of the new creation to come (1 John 3:2-3). If you have died to this corrupted life through baptism then Jesus has supernaturally recreated you from within, freeing you from the destiny of this dead earth, the evil world system and its final judgement of fire.You are now part of the new heavenly city ‘The New Jerusalem’ and his people who will one day descend to the new earth (Phil 3:20, Gal 4:26, Eph 5:3-7, Rev 11:18 & 21:1-3, 1 Thess 5:9). Heaven and earth will be unified in an awesome beauty not seen since before sin entered this old world. No longer of this world “But our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20) The only part of you that belongs to this earth is your old flesh (body), your inner spirit and soul (mind, will, emotions) are now free and part of heaven in Christ and the new creation to come! Both your spirit and soul can grow stronger and stronger here and
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now, but the body will eventually fade, and most of us will probably die before Christ returns. However, an important part of Jesus’ promise is that you will be resurrected with a new heavenly body, the heavenly mansion promised. (John 14:1-3; 11:25, Rom 6:5). This is your great hope. As your inner spirit is strengthened and burns stronger by the Word of Life, so this in turn strengthens your soul and body. The Word of God is real spiritual food or ‘manna’ for your spirit man who is in the likeness of Christ, even united to him! (1 Corin 6:17) Your new inner spirit must grow and release the benefits of his Word to your soul (and also to your body for a time). Your part as a priest is to ‘rise up and eat’ the sacred holy food of Christ’s body broken for you.You must feed on God’s spiritual milk and then progress to the solid meat of the revelation scrolls, only then will your spirit and soul mature. (Heb 5:13-14; 1 Pet 1:911, Rev 10:10). “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of 12 The Inheritance
Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” (1 Pet 1:9-12). The purpose of your faith is stated as: ‘the salvation of your soul’. By God’s grace you are saved and so you are also part of ‘the glories that would follow’. It is no small thing that you are also the ‘fulfilment of the ages’ as the prophets of old said. The fact that the gospel of the Kingdom of God has reached you in distant lands is evidence enough that God wants you to have all he plans for his people, the real ‘called out’ body his ‘ekklesia’.You have the KEY (Jesus) and the ABILITY (Holy Spirit) to receive POWER from God (Father), from heaven itself! Only you can stop this happening by not co-operating with them, by not ‘feeding’ on his Word and ‘drinking’ of his Spirit! “Then Jesus declared,“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”” (John 6:35). “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him
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were later to receive.” (John 7:37-38). This is the true communion with Jesus Christ as we feed by faith on his Words and receive the life giving Spirit from deep within. This will continue throughout eternity, but is gloriously available now to those who seek him wholeheartedly! (Rev 22:1-2).
as have ever lived and died before us throughout all human history! But is being physically alive the true indication of life? What is different between a man or a bacteria? This all depends on your perspective of what reality is, and for most of the millions of people on earth right now it will mean completely different Prayer of thanksgiving things. One truth, however, will always be true no matter who you are, death Thank you Jesus that you birthed me by the power of your Spirit as a NEW and decay comes to all. Millions today Creature and my destiny is now totally do not consider or ponder the fact that one day, before they reach many years, with you. Help me FEED on you the their human body will wear out and WORD, and help me DRINK of the water of life THE HOLY SPIRIT every perish. Most people go on day in and day out with little or no concept of single day, so that I might grow up in their true mortality or even that they my knowledge of you. are on a planet, floating in space! Why is this? DAY 2. Are You Dead or Alive? Mankind has a big problem, they are consumed with their own selfish “For you died, and your life is now world and what they care about most hidden with Christ in God. When themselves. God Almighty who created Christ, who is your life appears, then you all that exists has a different viewpoint also will appear with him in glory.” of our condition: (Col 1:3,4) “As for you, you were dead in your In order to answer the question ‘are you dead?’ you must first ask ourselves transgressions and sins, in which you the important question, ‘What is it to used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom be alive’? of the air, the spirit who is at work in How do you describe life, your those who are disobedient.” existence your consciousness? How (Eph 2:1,2) do you perceive reality and what you From God’s perspective (which is would call ‘your life’? eternal) what we call ‘life’ he calls It has been reported that there are as many people alive on earth right now ‘death’! He clearly states in many Scriptures that before we know Christ omega-ministries.org
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we are ‘dead in transgressions and sins’, without knowledge or experience of God. Paul states clearly that the world system and its selfish ways are controlled by an evil spirit of disobedience who is Satan, the fallen cherub. Because of our allegiance to this evil spirit God considers us as dead as Satan, because he is doomed to eternal judgement in the lake of fire. So in God’s sight all men are spiritually dead and they will not remain, they spring up for a while and die and stay dead! Spiritual death (second death) is the real enemy of mankind and is the result of being disconnected from God’s all powerful life giving Spirit. As long as man aligns himself to Satan and his ways he will suffer the same fate by default (see James 1:15). As an illustration consider a garden which has flowers growing in it. In Spring they grow up in the sun, you consider them, admire their beauty, but in the back of your mind you know that they are only here for a short time, you know that they will soon die away and be no more! Their life cycle from your viewpoint seems short and temporary. Now you begin to see from God’s viewpoint: “You turn men back to dust, saying “Return to dust, O sons of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep man away in the sleep of death; 14 The Inheritance
they are like the new grass of the morning – though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.” (Psa 90:3-6) This Psalm was written by Moses who new God on Mount Sinai, who entered the glory and came back alive! With this inevitable truth in mind Paul an apostle also writes: “What a wretched man I am!Who will save me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24). There is only the one man who lived free of spiritual sin and death who died innocent and who rose again from death to live eternally–the Son of God Jesus the Messiah! Hallelujah! He did it! He defeated death on your behalf! Now you are connected to him by the Spirit of faith. Overcoming death Let’s look at how he actually did it, and how we actually benefit from this miraculous achievement. Jesus showed that the only way to defeat death and be reconnected to God in heaven itself is in fact to die. To escape Satan and his destiny of death you must unite with Christ through grace and choose to die to sin (repentance) trusting in his forgiveness for past sins and iniquity committed in ignorance. You then demonstrate this faith by being baptised (buried) into his ‘name’ making a covenant of the heart
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(spirit) with him to be made new (resurrection). Then daily by faith in this work on your behalf to break free from obedience to sin and have obedience to the Spirit in us (holiness). This is what Jesus means when he says, ‘carry your cross daily’, it means that by obedience you crucify the desires of your natural flesh – turning to the Spirit instead. At the end of the natural flesh life when the body wears out (or other!) you will still be united with him and enter eternal life and at the end of time you will reap a supernatural body, like his, for all eternity (1 Corin 15:44). This is not science fiction it’s the truth as revealed by Christ himself–it’s the good news! Paul (apostle to the nations) knew about physical death, he had been close to it many times. Because of his belief in this gospel of life he was resisted with stoning, whipping, muggings, shipwrecks, lions and even poison. He knew that death was always close by. Very often in prison he was tortured for his faith in Jesus. However, as well as this he knew more, he had a revelation of how to be dead now and yet live! He knew that Christ is the life of heaven, because he lives forever. If our short existence here on earth is to be of any use to God we must enter fully the death of Christ. “Then he (Jesus) called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself omega-ministries.org
and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34:38). If you have believed and submitted to Christ as master and have been baptised then you have died and been buried with him as Paul says: “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised (immersed) into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death?We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Rom 6:4). Why is it so significant that we are baptised into His death, with him in physical death? This baptism is not the baptism of John which was for the repentance from personal sins (for the Jews only), no this is the baptism into Jesus’ death a far better baptism. So Paul is revealing to us that through baptism something real happens, that God the Father himself (and even Satan must recognise) that we are physically dead, as dead as Christ was when taken down from the cross! This is very important o
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because, as Paul points out, “anyone who has died has been freed from sin”! (v7) WOW! Freed from sin, can this be possible? But this is the Word of God, that yes we can be FREE INDEED. But more than this we become His body on earth, his temple - to reach others. Your new life with him is hidden in him, buried as deep as death itself and he said that there is only one way to find it and that is to follow him by denying yourself, by rejecting fleshly desires, taking up your cross (obedience) to DIE to your own life here and to take up his life of service through the Spirit of power, the Spirit of resurrection. This is the true gospel that Jesus and Paul preached, have you accepted it? Without it you will not see life, you will not have a resurrected body that will last forever! Don’t be like some of the disciples of old who gave up when it got hard “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6:66). Jesus has made full provision for you to reign in this life and overcome the world.You can now choose between life or death because you are free! Prayer of Thanksgiving Lord Jesus once again I truly thank you for dying in my place so that I can be free from the deceitfulness of sin. I thank you that I died with you through my baptism and I now count myself dead to self but alive to God by the Holy Spirit. 16 The Inheritance
DAY 3. The Righteousness Of God “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:17). We all want to have a good life, an abundant life here and now. However God sees eternally and is considering our life as a whole, this small part here in earth time and the much greater part in all of eternity. God’s first and foremost aim, as we have seen, is ‘the salvation of your soul’ for without this we have no future! To achieve this God has already given to us the most valuable thing He has – His own Son! “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8:31,32). The apostle makes it clear that Yahweh is not holding back, that the Father has poured out an abundance of provision - even his Son! It is only those who RECEIVE this provision who go on to reign in life. It comes back to the importance of ‘feeding’ on his every word which is the receiving of heavenly life. The physical body (flesh) demands our constant attention and affection
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and we gladly do our best to keep it happy. Once we are born of the Spirit however we must remember to daily feed and water our inner spirit man as a first priority over these demands of the flesh. Look how Jesus drew our attention to this process: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said,“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered,“It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matt 4:2-4). You must remove all blockages to the process of spiritual growth, unblock the wells, remove debris and stones and junk, so that the Spirit of life can refresh and the Word empower.You need to feed your inner spirit and soul, in order to reach maturity and self control – the more you feed the quicker you will grow. To reign in life you need to understand the ‘gift of RIGHTEOUSNESS’ “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace omega-ministries.org
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:31-33). Before Jesus Christ came the only way that any man could approach God in confidence of being heard was as a justified Jew. What I mean is that only the Jew could make atonement (sacrifice) for his sins through the Tabernacle/Temple priest services as provided through Moses and the Law. He was required to keep the ordinances of the Law in its entirety and make sacrifices for any sins committed or even accidental uncleaness. Hebrew ‘Tzedak’ or ‘righteousness’ was something that had to be earned. Then and only then could he expect to get any answer to his prayers. God’s forgiveness and therefore acceptance came at a price, the shed blood of animals covering sins, these had to be reared or paid for. By living holy and clean lives the Jews were able to be ‘right’ or ‘justified’ in the eyes of God by Law and accepted by Him. This was their earned ‘righteousness’ through the Law. Israel were God’s only unique holy and righteous people and their obedience brought social and material blessings in their land – it was conditional. However, this system relied very heavily upon the obedience of the people, and especially the Levite priests who served in the temple sacrifices. Sadly, human weakness very often took o
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them over and the Tabernacle system broke down more than once – lives were lost as they moved out of God’s protection. This displeased God who wants all men to be saved, especially his own. Despite the breakdown of this ‘legal’ system there were great promises of the Messiah, the Christ given by Abraham, the Prophets and Moses.Yahweh always planned to supersede the Levitical priesthood with one that would save all men by grace (and not through law for one nation), one that depended on Him and not us, one that would reach the whole earth and not just Israel. Such is the majestic mercy of the creator! Jesus the Messiah therefore became the ‘FINAL SACRIFICE’, the lamb, when he died on the cross ending the need for the old priesthood. Now a new and living way has been provided whereby ALL men could access Yahweh through faith (hearing) and be forgiven their sins (both Jews & Gentiles). This way is not dependent on what Laws we obey, but in ‘whom’ we believe. What I mean is this, ‘it’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know’! Jesus has quite literally done the work for us by fulfilling the WHOLE Law and the prophets on our behalf. If we are in Him then we have also fulfilled the Law and are by death (baptism) free from its potential curse - eternally. Jesus Christ is now the only WAY to salvation for Jew and Gentile. 18 The Inheritance
“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (1 Corin 1:30). “Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!” (2 Corin 3:7-11). “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corin 5:21) What does this all mean for us who do believe in the sacrifice of Jesus? Why is righteousness so important? Simply this; we must never forget that there is no good deed or service in the church that we could ever do which would earn us points with God, so that we could somehow persuade Him to be more loving toward us! God loves us as much today as He did before we were even saved and as much as He ever will, nothing we do can change this. What we are talking about is becoming ‘a son’ a ‘joint heir’
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with Christ and experiencing the inheritance of the Kingdom of Light paid for by Jesus’ blood. “All who rely on observing the law (any part) are under a curse, for it is written:‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ The law is not based on faith; on the contrary,‘The man who does these things will live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written:‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” (Gal 3:10-14). The whole reason for righteousness is that it qualifies you to receive the gift of the Spirit and He enables or releases the inheritance to you! Hallelujah! This is a huge paradigm shift in thinking which anyone under law cannot easily understand because it seems too easy, but isn’t this what Jesus himself said?: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:30) You are ALREADY fully accepted and the sign of his acceptance is HIS SPIRIT IN YOU the deposit guarantee! (2 Corin 1:21-22; Acts 15:8!). When you are accepted by God, that’s it you are in and you have access to the whole Kingdom, power and glory. If you’re omega-ministries.org
not accepted you’re out and have nothing, there is no middle ground! A Prayer to agree with God I thank you Lord that a righteousness from you has been revealed to me. Thank you that your Law and your Prophets testified to this righteousness that is by faith alone. I thank you that I have received righteousness through faith in your son, in whom I fully believe and trust. Thank you that I am NOW justified freely by your grace because of the blood of Jesus which I confess fully cleanses me from all sin known and unknown. Amen. Confession of faith I thank you God my Father that you made Jesus a sin offering for me, so that in Him I might become the righteousness of God and receive your Spirit into my heart. Fill me with your Spirit today! Resist the devil “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (Jam 4:6-7) Oh, Lord I humble myself before you and accept the truth of your word, that I am indeed the righteousness of God in Christ. I now resist the devil who seeks to rob me of my revelation. (speak out loud) ‘I now resist you Satan along with your lying and deceiving
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spirits. Be cast out of my life and the life of my family and church.You are a defeated foe of Jesus Christ who is my Rock and My Redeemer forever.You are sin, but now I am righteousness, so be gone in Jesus name!
DAY 4. The Gift Of Grace “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” (Rom 5:1,2). Stay Free from Sin Being a disciple is not about Contrary to what many churchmen ACHIEVING good works but about may preach the Apostle Paul, John and RECEIVING the free gifts of God and Peter exhort us in their epistles to live Paul tells us that by faith in Him we free from sin and it’s deceitfulness. We HAVE already gained access to GRACE do this in a number of ways. (unmerited provision). What is this Firstly, you must have died with Christ grace? How does it benefit your life through baptism since you believed in a real way? The apostle is talking in Jesus as your saviour. Any previous to those who do believe, who have baptism done to you has no power to committed themselves into Christ do this as baptism is a conscious act of through baptism and have received the obedience. See Romans 6:1-4 Holy Spirit. Secondly, we must put to death the “TheWord became flesh and made his evil deeds of the flesh that pollute our dwelling among us. We have seen his mind, body or soul. Paul says we must glory, the glory of the One and Only, who not let sin reign in our mortal flesh came from the Father, full of grace and and those who belong to him have truth.” (John 1:14). crucified the flesh with its affections The glory of God, His majesty and his and lusts. They also warn that if we do strength, was all seen in Jesus. That not do this we are in danger and will glory was expressed through grace and not inherit the kingdom of God at the truth. (see Acts 1:1) Grace is God’s judgement. This is because ‘he who sins character, it is His ability or action is a slave to sin’ and will share the same on behalf of others without cost to destiny as Satan when he is cast in the them, His free gift. Jesus is of course lake of fire - the second death. God’s free gift to mankind to enable Lastly, sinful living is not permitted in us to overcome sin and death and be the church body and must be severely reconnected to the Father. Father’s disciplined by all. This is for the ongoing grace is provided continually protection of all those disciples who through the gift of the Holy Spirit who are wholehearted towards God. dwells within us who believe. 20 The Inheritance
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Paul tells us that we HAVE this benefit now, not that we will get it, but that we must rather STAND in it. Let us not ‘plead’ with God for grace we have already gained from him – we just need to release its full potential in our experience. Today is the time for us to stand our ground and say, ‘I have received grace and it is sufficient for me to overcome all trials.’ This has nothing to do with our present circumstances or how we feel in the weakness of our flesh. Notice that grace and truth go together. We cannot stand in grace without living in truth and conversely we cannot walk in truth without the ability of His grace. God by the Spirit has given you the secret of the universe and He is inside you! The answer to your trial is not out there somewhere, but the Kingdom of God is within you! (Luke 17:21).You ARE a temple of His grace. We must agree with the truth to experience the grace in real ways. “But to each of us was given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (Eph 4:7). This reveals that the measurement of the grace given, i.e. how much grace we have received is none other than ‘Christ Jesus’. He is the gift we have received and He is FULL of grace. “to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One omega-ministries.org
he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Eph1:6-8). Do not think that you have a small ‘portion’ of His grace, no you have received grace equivalent to that which Jesus Himself revealed! FULL and total! The Father can’t give you any more than ALL of His grace! Release the power of his Grace into your life now by simply accepting and receiving this true fact by thanking Him for it. He has already lavished grace on you, you are in the promised land today! In doing this you acknowledge the truth and when grace and truth combine glorious things begin to take place in your life! A Prayer of thanksgiving to agree. Father I thank you with all my heart for giving your free gift of grace to me through your Son Jesus Christ. Forgive me if I have doubted your provision. Thank you that He dwells fully in my heart, thank you for your ability being released in my life right now in Jesus name, amen.
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DAY 5. The Gift Of Love “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Rom 5:5). The very fact that you have been given the Holy Spirit means God’s character of love HAS BEEN poured into your heart.You have received His love, He is in you. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). God’s love in Jesus is so great that you have now become accepted by the Father as his child, as precious to Him as Jesus himself. There is no inheritance outside of the Kingdom, it comes only by the Spirit in you: “You, however, are controlled not by the flesh but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.” (Rom 8:9-10). God’s love is not a fuzzy emotional feeling we get now and again, but much more, it is a spiritual attitude of selfless giving and of power towards others for their benefit, a choice to put others first even at your own harm. Jesus said that he came ‘not to be served, but to serve’ and ‘give his life a ransom 22 The Inheritance
for many’. He was able to lay down his powerful life because his life did not depend on external factors. His confidence and strength came from his unity with the Father in heaven. His strength came from within by the Holy Spirit, he had a source of love and grace that is eternal. This freed him from dependence on any man or system in the world and released him to be a servant seeking no reward for himself. His meat was to do the will of his Father and that was reward enough. As Christ is in you by his Holy Spirit you too have a source that comes from heaven and empowers you to live for others. When you look to your flesh and follow its demands you find that you are looking to be served rather than serve others. As the apostles reveal, you must die to self and allow God’s love in you to flow out, so that you gladly obey his new command; “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34) and then like him you will fulfill all the Law and Prophets. Your source of security and strength must be the ‘water of life’ flowing from within you just as it was for Jesus as a man. Without him you are not living according to his will indeed you cannot walk in his ways without this experience. Many try, but prove that it is burdensome, a tiresome way which leads to stress and illness of body or mind. No, do not do it, first drink from the Spirit and be refreshed with
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the life of the Father, his love never ends! Then you will find that despite any circumstances you may be in that ‘His yoke is easy and His burden is light’ (Matt 11:30). God’s love for you is such that he wants you to be at peace not stress! Let your life and work be done by his strength alone for that which is not of faith in sin, and so worthless! The more we know his love the more we will know him and the more we will be like him. It comes as our mind ‘grasps’ how great is this love he has lavished on us. “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:17-19). Receiving by faith is all about ‘accepting’ or ‘agreeing’, saying the ‘Amen’ (2 Corin 1:20). Thank and praise God today that he has indeed given you ALL His love through Christ and a continual supply by the Holy Spirit. Nothing you can do will motivate God to love you any more than He did when you were still His enemy! He has laid down everything precious to him for you, how great is his love. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or omega-ministries.org
persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:35-39). Prayer of Thanksgiving Father I thank you that you have poured your love in my heart and in all my life. I praise you that your love is never ending and ever increasing. I thank you that nothing can separate me from your love that is in Jesus - forever. Hallelujah, Amen!
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DAY 6. The Gift Of Mercy “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pet 2:10). The secret to receiving from God the Father is not ACHIEVING but as we are seeing it is about ACCEPTING and we do this by ‘AGREEING’ with God’s Word. For ALL the promises of God are ‘YES’ and ‘AMEN’ in Christ. We now know that when God gave us His Spirit He gave us everything that we need in one person, and as we see in the above text we have received mercy. This mercy has made us who we are in His sight, the people of God. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Pet 2:3-4). God’s will is that we participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world around us. It is his mercy that enables us to do this as we walk by the Spirit and uncover these great and precious promises. Satan’s will and purpose is to prevent us from accepting these truths and all the benefits of the Kingdom of Heaven! The demons of hell scheme and plot 24 The Inheritance
against us to ‘blind our minds’ from the knowledge of God. But God’s mercy has been shown to us and as with his love nothing can change this fact. Satan will tell us that ‘you’re not worthy’ and remind you of our life in his kingdom of darkness and what ‘a sinner’ we are. However, it’s Christ’s sacrifice that brings us the forgiveness of the Father and if we remain in fellowship with him and the brethren we are continually cleansed by his blood (1 John 1:9). This is mercy, we do not receive the justice we deserve for our sin, instead the Father has placed the guilt onto his Son, so that we are free to benefit from all the promises! When we have received his Spirit into our hearts we can no longer say, “well, I am only human” and so yield to the flesh! This is no longer acceptable for he has made it possible for us to ‘partake of the divine nature’ which has power over evil and sin through his Spirit in us. Sin shall not be your master. His mercy toward us has instantly raised us to the level of his Son Jesus. As we see this mercy flow let us thankfully rejoice and be filled with the hope of the truth and then be merciful to others. God’s mercy means that anyone can be saved, and there is a living hope for those who believe: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord
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Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Pet 1:3-4). How often do we feel that God is against us? How often does Satan whisper in our ear ‘it’s true for others but not you’. What lies! What deception! Realise today that his Spirit in you means he HAS had mercy upon you. Do not listen to the ‘compromiser’ Satan who wants to deceive you into accepting something less profitable. With Satan it is always ‘tomorrow’, but with God it is ‘now’ and ‘today’! We have received and as we AGREE with God our Father (Yahweh) we will reap the benefits of his mercy towards us. Let your confession reflect the truth of the Word and not the limitations of the flesh. His promises are like the aspects of a precious jewel, each facet revealing a glorious part of the whole. We do not have to wait for them in the future, the Spirit declares that we have them NOW in Him. Mercy is the currency of the Kingdom and we must spend it as much as we can! “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom (law of the Spirit), because judgment without mercy omega-ministries.org
will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (Jas 2:12) Prayer of Thanksgiving Thank you that you are a merciful Father and that you have had mercy on me and will forever do so! Help me to show mercy to all those around me, reflecting your divine nature, so that they too can experience your saving mercy in Christ, Amen.
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DAY 7. A Slave Of Christ “Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to everincreasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 2:19-23). Today slavery is a foreign, even ancient concept, something abolished centuries ago. Sadly, despite the law, slavery continues in the modern world and men, women and children are still sold as slaves on the black market! In ancient times it was common place and open practise for people in their poverty found no other way to survive, there was no welfare state to fall back on. The apostle uses the bondage of slavery as a metaphor of our relationship with Satan and sin before we know Christ, but also how dedicated we become to Christ. What is a slave? A slave has no physical freedom and no life of his/her own and is owned by another as property. Slaves cannot just go as they please or even say what they please. The slave is dependent on his 26 The Inheritance
master for all his needs, not by choice but by ownership. The slave must serve his master (willing or unwillingly) if he is to live. Of course it depends on the type of master as to the quality of life the slave experiences. Masters can be cruel or generous depending on their faith in God! Forced enslavement by kidnapping is possibly one of the greatest injustices perpetrated in the earth against mankind. There is still a huge problem in the world today especially in the sex industry. Slavery is still with us. Paul tells us that as believers ‘we have become slaves to God’ and so we must somehow understand how this is a blessing to us? We are all slaves to someone at any given time in life as Paul explains: “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Rom 6:16) As we have given our life to Christ in obedience we have broken free from the Kingdom of darkness and it’s curses. We once obeyed sin (satan) in our flesh and mind (we were dead to God), thinking we were free - only to find that we were hooked like a fish unable to escape! Of course if a slave tries to run away from his master he is pursued and when caught disciplined, punished or even killed. When we turn
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our back on Satan he is not pleased and of course he wants us back under his dominion (control). His schemes and temptations are designed to draw us back to his ways of the flesh and to keep our mind off the things of the Spirit and of the Kingdom of Heaven. However, he no longer has the authority to do this because he is no longer the rightful owner! But now ‘we have become slaves to God’ and he will protect his own, he will reward our obedience and do us good. Obedience is not about trying not to be bad, it is about living in the power of the good! It is about receiving his power to walk like him. Jesus gave us a clear pattern to follow, that’s why he said’ “follow me”. Paul said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Corin 11:1). Satan will try to draw us back by making many false promises of wealth and power! He will offer us the world without the pain – yeah sure! The truth is this, you gave your soul to God as a slave to righteousness and you will NEVER succeed in life or death without Jesus and his Word, we are slaves, but to a new master the King of love! We are in a new Kingdom that functions under new laws and new blessings for our greatest good. The ways of the world will no longer work for us and it never really did! “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can omega-ministries.org
do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:5-8). We have lost a life of sin, gloom and death and have been given the promises of God through His Spirit – WOW! Being a willing slave to God means that we receive incredible riches beyond the bounds of knowledge! We are discovering the incredible inheritance of the saints in Christ that lasts into eternity. “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 3:3). Don’t waste time thinking about the temporal things of earth, there is so much more to be discovered in the heavens! Our life is hidden in Christ, untouchable by the thief! It is safe with him and he is eager for us to receive it and be empowered by it. We are slaves to the glories of heaven, hallelujah! Our city is Zion our New Jerusalem and the new creation our destiny. There is nowhere else for us to go, God the father is determined to bless us, he is determined that we become holy and so access these benefits stored in heaven. We must give ourselves o
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each day to him as a slave of obedience knowing that it will bring us blessing and not curse. (Rom 6:19).
DAY 8. Free From Sin! “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He Prayer of Thanksgiving who does what is sinful is of the devil, I thank you Lord Almighty that I am no because the devil has been sinning from longer a slave to sin or satan’s world of the beginning.The reason the Son of God corruption, but I am now your willing appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No slave to righteousness which leads to one who is born of God will continue eternal life. Thank you that by your to sin, because God’s seed remains Spirit within me I can be holy and in him; he cannot go on sinning, blameless in your sight through Jesus because he has been born of God. the messiah of Israel. Amen This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” (1 John 1:7-10) God the Father has put His ‘seed’ into you, Jesus the Word, the Spirit, so that you will not continue to sin. It is His will that you do not yield to sin (for your sake), therefore He has given you every provision to overcome the deceitfulness of sin (demonic lies). “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psa 119:11) “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 6:8-11) 28 The Inheritance
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But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Rom 6:17-18) When you became a slave to righteousness, by obedience to the standard of teaching of the apostles, only then will you be able to be set free from sin. This means that you can then agree with God’s word and say that, ‘I have been set free’ not by looking at your feelings, for as Paul states, ‘we live by faith and not by sight’. Just as you thank Him for being righteous by faith through Christ, so too thank Him for being free from sin and the author of it, Satan.You have been born of God, you have become a new creature, a child of God and no longer counted among the sinners under wrath, you are saved by Grace. However, this does not mean you do nothing, rather God’s love and mercy should inspire you to hide his Word in your heart that you might not sin against him.
(the wages of sin is death) and the weaknesses of the body (flesh) to do works of evil. Without a living inner spirit men and women are slaves to the world the flesh and its god and the spirit of darkness. Dead in sin means unconscious of who God is and how Jesus can open your mind to understand the Scriptures - objects of wrath and slaves to Satan. To break free from sin (demonic rebellion) one must break free from the control of the body (or flesh) which is part of the corruption of the fall, the first creation! The only way to do this is to die! “What a wretched man I am!Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God -- through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24-25) When you received this work of Christ you effectively crucified your old self or ‘flesh’ by faith (without actually dying physically). The Father accepts your faith purely on the basis of Jesus His Son and it is effective in your life when you entered the Kingdom through baptism (burial). This is what Paul means when he says: “Or don’t you know that all of us Sin shall not be master over you who were baptised into Christ Jesus How can it be that you are free from were baptised into his death? We were sin? How did God break you away from therefore buried with him through the inherited curse of Adam and Eve baptism into death in order that, just even your own fathers? as Christ was raised from the dead through Here is the great mystery revealed, the glory of the Father, we too may live a sin’s power is the death of the soul new life. omega-ministries.org
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If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” (Rom 6:1-7) DON’T YOU KNOW this vital truth that as a baptised believer you have died as far as God the Father is concerned (without baptism you cannot claim this). The vital thing is of course that this also renders sin powerless over you when you know how to approach it! Be convinced in your mind (in faith) that you are indeed DEAD through your baptism and therefore free from sin (demonic accusation of law breaking). This is why baptism is an essential part of obedience. “Since then we have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For YOU DIED, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 3:1-4). Focus on the amazing fact that in God’s sight you are dead, just like Abraham your body is as good as dead! This means that sin has no right to bother you! You now have the right to cast it out just as Jesus did. Agree with God and tell the devil that you are indeed dead to him, and sin has no power over 30 The Inheritance
you. Take authority over sin and focus your mind on the treasures you have in heaven. “In the same way, count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its evil desires.” (Rom 6:10-12). Once sin was your ‘nature’ that is, it was inside you by birth due to a dead spirit and your flesh was a temple of Satan and his demon spirits. Now sin (demon error) is something ‘outside’ of you that wants to get back in! By God’s grace you have the ability to face this attack and so do God’s will instead. John tells us that as you focus on the light and remain in fellowship with the brothers the blood of Jesus continually purifies you from all sin (demons). If you do make a mistake and yield to a tempting denomic sin you must repent to your brothers and ask God’s forgiveness for being doubleminded. Establish in your mind today that you cannot go on sinning because you are born of God. It is a conscious decision you must make based on the Word and faith in Christ’s atonement. It IS possible to live free from sin and live and walk in purity before God as you stand your ground. “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” (Rom 6:14)
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Prayer for resisting evil temptation Father God I thank you that when I believed and was baptised my flesh died. I now count myself dead to sin and I do not let sin reign in my mortal flesh. I now repent of all known obedience to sin (demons) that I have allowed into my life and I command those evil spirits that brought it to leave - I resist the devil and he must flee in the name of Jesus Christ. I claim the precious blood of the lamb to cleanse my spirit, soul and body from all influences of the lies of sin and Satan and thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corin 5:21).
the result of a promise made to him by God 12 years before he eventually appeared: “and Abram said,“You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” Then the word of the Lord came to him:“This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” (Gen 15:3-4). Notice that is was the ‘word of the Lord’ that Abram heard, and faith comes by hearing. This event is very important for us who have received this inheritance from God, because as Paul points out that ‘like Isaac’ we are also children of promise. Abram did not argue with God when he spoke, no he AGREED to His word. He did not say, ‘oh no not me Lord, can you not see how old I am and Sarah too, that’s impossible’. Instead it says that ‘Abram believed the Lord and He (God) credited it to him DAY 9. Children Of Promise as righteousness.’ Abram knew from “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are experience that God cannot lie and children of promise.” (Gal 4:28) so it must somehow come to pass by We have seen that God’s promises are the Spirit. The physical circumstances ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ in Christ for those seemed to be saying ‘no way’, but even who are born of the Holy Spirit. We so he accepted what God said to him. have received from Him an inheritance Importantly though he did not deny stored up in heaven, but only accessible the fact that he was old in body, he did by this same Holy Spirit dwelling in us. not live in a denial of the circumstance. As we agree with God and His Word He believed that God would work these promises are released to us by supernaturally to overcome what he this grace and not by our own efforts saw in the natural sense. otherwise it would not be grace! “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed Now Abraham’s son Isaac was born as and so became the father of many nations, omega-ministries.org
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just as it had been said to him,‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’ The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” (Rom 4:19-21). Isaac (from whom descended the physical nation Israel) was born as a result of God’s promise, not because Abraham or Sarah could make it happen. Isaac came from their own flesh which God had restored by His Spirit for the purpose of bringing life. He was a child of faith, a child of promise - something impossible. Just as Abram believed in the promise of God (a son) we too also believe in the promise of a son (God’s Son) and we become righteous by this same faith, that is, we are fully persuaded that God has power to do what he has promised. Abram became Abraham, the father of many nations, his faith led to great blessing in the world. So too, as we believe in God’s ability and accept His promises (fulfilled in Christ!) we too 32 The Inheritance
will experience a greater blessing. “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the PROMISE of THE SPIRIT.” (Gal 3:14). The process is this; God can only pour out His Spirit of power into a human life if it is ‘righteous’ this was the ‘blessing’ given to Abram because of his belief in what God said (despite circumstances). This ‘blessing’ or ‘credit of righteousness’ is more valuable than any credit at the bank! It means that God can release His Spirit bringing ‘supernatural’ change for our good and others, both now and into eternity. So think about this, Abraham had one promise fulfilled and it says that in Jesus we have ALL the promises of God! This is so much greater, so much more glorious than before, we must not waste so great a gift from God. Now that we have received His Spirit we have received the FULL inheritance of God and this is the privilege of being His child and a joint heir. After all, if you are an heir you get everything belonging to the father! This is why Jesus said: “(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow
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shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matt 6:32-34). Isaac began the lineage of the people of God by natural descent up to the point when Christ came, from then onwards the only way to become a child of promise is by faith in the Messiah, the reality. “So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” (Gal 4:7). It’s time to stop trying to get stuff and to be blessed and realise that if Christ is in you, you already have all things from the Father, you have received the whole purpose of Christ - The Holy Spirit in you! Prayer of thanksgiving I thank you Father that through Jesus Christ you have made a way for me to receive all the promises to Abraham and your people Israel by faith in your power, the Holy Spirit. Thank you that I am no longer a slave but a son and a joint heir with Him! Hallelujah!
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DAY 10. The Eternal Inheritance “What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (Gal 4:1-5). Everything that Jesus has done, all he suffered and achieved was in order that you might RECEIVE the full rights of a son of the kingdom. How wonderful it is to cease from your striving, to stop trying to ‘earn’ God’s approval, whether by serving, praying harder or longer or by doing good deeds.Your qualification to receive from God is not based on what you can do for Him, but by His glorious grace towards you - He has done it all on your behalf! This righteousness has been credited to you who believe in His great work. We have been translated from darkness to light and not just a small portion of it, according to the Word of God we have ‘FULL rights as sons’. When Jesus poured His Spirit into your heart He gave you everything, all of Him who helps us, the person of the Holy Spirit, the comforter.You could not receive ‘part’ of a person, you received all of the Spirit, the full promise and so it follows you now have o
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the full rights as a son. “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.” (John 3:34). Jesus was God’s son on earth and as such the Father gave Him the Spirit without limit. As incredible as it seems we have been made equal sons, coheirs with Christ, who have the same access to the power of the Spirit. But how you might ask? Good question! First you must cease from our own ‘works’, that is, from doing things ‘for God’ or ‘for Jesus’. Jesus came to complete ALL God’s work (John 4:34) then He cried out on the cross “it is finished” (John 19:30). So then, what do you do to do the works of God? What does the Father want us to do? Then they asked him,“What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered,“The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29). The Father has just one thing for you to do, believe in His Son, believe that He has both laboured and completed the work of salvation and more can supply EVERY need today. It seems perplexing, simple, but the Father wants you to be his vessel, a living stone, as temple of His Spirit, that He may be glorified. He is not looking for you to put on a good performance 34 The Inheritance
that you may somehow qualify for His approval (that’s earthly thinking). He has never held back any blessing from you, it is your own willfulness which leads us astray from faith and grace. You must understand that you have no power of your own to impress Him, none! “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corin 4:5-10). What God has given to you is not of this world, the Kingdom is of Heaven not earth (at this point). No earthly riches or even earth itself has any value in God’s sight, it is all destined for the bonfire of judgement because it was ruined by sin! (2 Pet 3:7) If we think that all the church buildings and cathedrals or any earthly riches will count for something then we truly are fools. “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Gal 5:6).
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Prayer of Thanksgiving Father I thank you that you have made me a joint heir with the full rights to the Kingdom of Heaven, I am not a slave of sin, but a son of heaven. Help me Lord to claim these rights based on the work of your perfect son Jesus Christ who was God in the flesh and equal in every way to you.
in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:6-7) Paul is telling you that this is a fact. This is what HAS happened to you in your inner man and means that you are in two places at once! Your body is on earth while your spirit is connected to heaven itself, by the Holy Spirit. You were not able to raise yourself up to this place because you do not have the power to do this. Jesus had to do it on your behalf. It’s a bit like flying in an aeroplane. The complex plane DAY 11. Seated In Heaven is designed and built by engineers “Since, then, you have been raised with and you get in it trusting in their Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right knowledge and skills. We all put our faith (and life) into their hands and hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Col 3:1-2). believe it will succeed. So with a great deal of power it lifts us into the clouds Be encouraged today because there are numerous things above! Praise the where we can now look out and see the Lord there are things in heaven worth world below from a new perspective. This is what Christ has done for us far more than anything on this earth. who believe in His resurrection and These things are what Paul tells you ascension. When we now trust in him, to set your heart on, to concentrate abide in him and His Word we begin your attention on! How can you do this when you are on earth? Put simply, to rise above the world, we become overcomers with a new heavenly according to Paul you have already been raised up with Christ, by faith in perspective - God’s perspective! He His work, into this holy heavenly place. has things in heaven that he wants to show you, he wants you to think about You do not have to try and ascend to this place, simply believe that you are them because they will last forever. This is your future, your destiny! where He says you are: As you begin to understand that you “And God raised us up with Christ and are raised up with Christ now, today, seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming you will be able to rest and let go of ages he might show the incomparable riches the transient and temporary things of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us of this fallen corrupt world. This is what Jesus wants for you, for all His omega-ministries.org
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disciples, that you might be with him where he is - in the glory: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” (John 17:24). As a believer you are now above this world, you have authority over this world even as Christ the King does. Not because of you, but because you are in him. He has flown you right into the throne of God’s dwelling.You cannot get any higher than you are now - no amount of good works or effort will gain promotion - you are at the top! Relax and begin thanking the Almighty that you are so grateful to be in this place and he will open your mind to the things of heaven. “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:9-11). Prayer of Thanksgiving Father I thank you that Jesus has raised me up with him to the highest place in the heavens. By faith I accept and receive this truth and thank you that you will reveal to me the things in heaven, so that I can think on such things day and night. Amen. 36 The Inheritance
DAY 12. A Royal Priesthood “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Pet 2:9). In Hebrews chapter seven the writer reveals that Jesus established a new kind of priesthood, not of the Levites, but in the order of Melchizedek. This priesthood is significantly different to that of the Tabernacle priesthood officiated by the Levites in a major respect – this new one lasts forever! “but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood” (Heb 7:24) The first priesthood was completely dependent on the Tabernacle and later the Temple systems - old school Law. The building and the priesthood were synonymous and one could not exist without the other, no priests = no sacrifices, no temple = no services which meant no forgiveness of sins for the whole nation! After the destruction of the last temple by the Romans in around AD 70 (as Jesus prophesied and warned) the ability to offer ritual sacrifice in the way God had previously ordained came to an end (as also confirmed in Hebrews 8:13). The old priesthood had finally ended, never to return because God himself (Jesus) had come down and changed it. God made sure that
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this old way could never be revived again, because He had set up a NEW priesthood through Jesus the only WAY into heavens glory. Even to this day there is conflict over the old temple mount, but be assured I guarantee it is His doing and the abomination on it will never go away until He returns. Jesus himself declared himself to be the third and final temple and there is no forth. (John 2:21). The Levitical priesthood was an incredible blessing to Israel and defined them as a nation, but it was only a ‘shadow’ of the reality and was one day to be superseded by the reality, who is Christ in the order of Melchizedek, which is a supernatural priesthood open to everyone who believes. The Tabernacle was only for the Israelites under Law. As followers of Jesus we are now His chosen people - by faith - and as such we automatically become ‘royal priests’ in the new order of the Holy Spirit (everlasting). The Levites were given work to do, offerings to make, sacrifices to perform etc. to enable His blessing to flow to the people. These were all outward ceremonies determined by the written code of the Law which had incorporated and superseded all previous Laws (because God came down). These were all appropriate and God’s will at that time for His people to be purified and acceptable before him. Since Pentecost omega-ministries.org
however the nature of the priesthood has completely changed. This is undeniable. “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen” (Rev 1:5-6). YOU ARE A PRIEST (after Melkizedek) Our role as priests is no longer about ‘outward’ purity of the flesh through ceremony and ritual, but ‘inward’ purity by the work of the Holy Spirit (which leads to outward holiness of flesh as well). We do not serve in a physical temple building, but rather we have become a temple, or more accurately we are grafted into Christ’s raised body THE Temple! “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.” (Eph 5:30) The old offerings and sacrifices of innocent animals are now transformed into our willing gifts of praise, thanksgiving, worship and works (miracles) and services to the poor (good deeds), all done through faith, love and power! We have become like Jesus a kind of portable tabernacle tent that can take His presence to wherever He wants to go. We are His body today as a testimony until he returns. “ And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,‘After this I will return, and o
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will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down (Davids body!); and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.” (Acts 15:15-17) As with the old priesthood we see that our new priesthood also has various practices which enable us to ‘draw near’ to God. Some insight into this is provided by David who new the Tabernacle tent very well, and also had a personal relationship with the Father. “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.” (Psa 114:2). Notice how David reveals the Levitical practice alongside the heavenly interpretation. Incense now represents prayer and the evening sacrifice becomes the lifting of the hands. We see this interpretation confirmed in Revelation 5:8, 1 Titus 2:8. We see Paul refer to himself as a ‘drink offering’ poured out in service to the Body of Christ (Phil 2:17) one of the first to do so. He refers to gifts given to support His work in the mission field as ‘fragrant offering’ and a ‘sacrifice’ in the same epistle (Phil 4:18). In Hebrews we again see this new understanding of priestly service to God: “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here 38 The Inheritance
have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (Heb 13:11-16 see also Col 4:6). We begin to see that the way to be a Royal Priest before the Lord (our High Priest) is to express ourselves through praise, good deeds, sharing resources, and thanksgiving (2 Corin 9:11). This obedience to the Spirit is evidence that we have given our whole self over to God, that our spirit, soul and body are dedicated to His spiritual service. We are called to be ‘living sacrifices’ who are dead to self, but alive to God! (Rom 12:1). What a great privilege to be numbered among His new priests and offer the pure sacrifices that reach to heaven itself! “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 2:4-5). Keeping any old religious ritual of Law is now totally unnecessary in God’s sight. Paul also preached this to be true calling all such things what they truly are, worldly principles of bondage (Gal 4:3; 5:1). We now worship in Spirit and Truth as Jesus said we would
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once he had been sacrificed (John 4).
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.” Prayer of Thanksgiving (Jas 2:19). Thank you Father that I am now a Knowing the facts about Jesus from an Royal Priest before you by the work intellectual or historical perspective of the Holy Spirit and able to offer however is not enough to constitute sacrifices of praise, worship and service genuine Christian faith. The demons that bring you pleasure. know about Jesus, but they do not put their trust ‘in Christ’, conversely they I lift my hands to you in a sacrifice of oppose Him and his servants! Until praise an offering acceptable to you. we put our whole ‘trust’ in Christ and personally relate to Him (by the Spirit) and His Word (Scripture) we do not DAY 13. The Measure Of Faith have real faith and cannot know the “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died Father. for our sins according to the scriptures; And ‘What is it to believe?’ It is to have that he was buried, and that he rose again such confidence in what the Lord has the third day according to the scriptures:” (1 done for you on the cross that we take him at His word, simply because he Corin 15:3-4). said it! Paramount to this is that we The uniqueness of our faith is the historical fact of the death, burial and actually ‘hear’ what He is saying to us on an individual basis so that we resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. If these events did not happen it is highly obey life instruction from heaven itself confirming his written word to us. unlikely that Christianity would have had such a significant impact in world “Jesus answered,“I did tell you, but you do not believe.The miracles I do in my Father’s history. Jesus’ tomb is empty, there was never any body recovered, because name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep He was transformed by the power of listen to my voice; I know them, and they the Holy Spirit and forty days later follow me. I give them eternal life, and they ascended to heaven. shall never perish; no one can snatch them This is the message of the ‘passion’ out of my hand. My Father, who has given of Christ who endured the cross because of the joy set before him (Heb them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and 12:2). His life and death have opened the Father are one.” (John 10:25-30). a doorway to heaven and a direct Jesus clearly states that those who are relationship with God the Father. His sheep listen to His voice. Think of omega-ministries.org
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it this way. In the early church when the disciples were waiting for the Spirit of power to come, they were simply obeying Jesus last words to them, ‘wait’. If nothing would have happened then they would have waited for the rest of their life! However, as we know, during Pentecost the Spirit did come in power and a remarkable thing happened, they stopped waiting and then obeyed the voice of the Holy Spirit. This was the fulfillment of many prophetic Scriptures. They knew that this was Jesus speaking to them again and so they obeyed the Spirit. They did all this without having a Bible to follow! They did not have the New Testament words that we benefit from today, they followed the Spirit just as they had followed Jesus, and their obedience made history and then they wrote the story as Scripture! Faith or belief does not come by knowing facts alone, we must enter a relationship, by the Spirit, and listen then obey. Faith comes by hearing the message (words of Christ) and continues to come as we hear His Word by the Holy Spirit: “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26). Hearing God, and hearing Jesus is actually hearing His Spirit in us. This is how He determined we would follow 40 The Inheritance
Him in His physical absence. If the Spirit is in us then the Word is in us and faith is in us because the Lord is ONE Lord. “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom 10:8-10). The Word of God must be active in two places in your life, your MOUTH and HEART. If you believe the Word of God then it must be evidenced by what you speak.You must agree with the Word of God both written and Spirit inspired. This is your first ‘act’ of faith and requires that your mouth speaks the truth experienced in the heart. When the heart and mouth agree the power of the Spirit is released and salvation in Christ comes to you. Faith is not about following a written code of practice like the Law, it is about obeying the Holy Spirit and living in the power of love for Him and one another with a clear conscience. “Then Jesus said,“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” ” “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought
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to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Rom 12:3-8).
DAY 14. The Gift Of Hope “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” (Rom 8:22-25). Jesus told His disciples,“I am he resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies..” (John 11:25). The foundations of our are faith are the The Prayer of Faith Heavenly Father I thank you that your ‘death’, ‘burial’ and ‘resurrection’ of Jesus the Messiah. Because He is alive Word is true and I believe in all you we are saved into a living hope and we have said. Speak to my heart by the Holy Spirit that I may understand you can be confident that He will fulfill His and then speak out in faith. Forgive my promise to us ‘I will raise him up on the last day’! Jesus said that even if we die unbelief and the wrong words I have spoken that contradict your holy truth. before his return it will make no odds, Help me to change my mind and fully we will be resurrected by the same power of the Spirit that raised Him agree with your Word - Jesus Christ. from the grave. Whether that grave Thank you for the measure of faith is on land, sea or in a crematorium you have portioned to me so that I can by His power he will supernaturally achieve your will in this life. resurrect us all. Make no mistake He will do it, He cannot lie it is a sure hope. We do not have it yet, but our faith in His Word means we will receive it. So hope and patience work together to encourage us to trust in His sure promise to us. omega-ministries.org
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“which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Heb 6:19). The purpose of our faith is the salvation (restoration) of our soul and this sure hope of redemption acts as an anchor. This anchor holds us steady so that we do not drift off after false doctrine or the lusts of the world. This anchor holds the soul steady when trouble comes to rob us of our peace. This anchor is not connected down into the seabed but upwards into heaven itself with the cord of faith. “For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. (1 Thess 5:7-11). Hope is an essential part of our protective spiritual armour that protects our mind from Satan’s fiery darts! When our mind is focused on our hope the things of the world become less important to us, we know that Jesus will meet all our needs. Along with faith and love, hope will remain with us into eternity (1 Corin 13:13). 42 The Inheritance
The risen Christ is not only a guarantee to us that we will be raised on the last day, but He is also a guarantee to us for all God’s promises (1 Corin 1:20) and this resurrection will be the climax of all He has achieved for us: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Heb 9:28). This sure hope is vital for releasing our spiritual inheritance through Christ as it acts like a springboard for faith and love (Col 1:4-5). So we see that without this hope as an anchor for our soul and a helmet for our mind our faith will drift and our love and belief dwindle. Hope is the springboard out of which comes assured faith and the daily motivation we need to express His love in every circumstance of our life. “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him”. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb 10:38-11:1) Let us therefore focus our thoughts on these heavenly promises, so that we will not draw back into the negativity
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and death that is in the world and perdition. The Holy Spirit in us is our sure guarantee that our hope will one day be realized in full! Prayer of Thanksgiving Father I thank you that you have given me a new hope, the hope of resurrection on the last day and eternity with you. I thank you that I can be certain of this hope because of the witness of your Spirit in my inner most being your guarantee of what is to come. DAY 15. Redeemed From The Curse Of The Law “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Gal 3:13). By offering himself up as the final sacrifice for our sins Jesus was and is able to ‘buy back’ or redeem all those from the world who put their faith in Him.You have been bought at a high price, because in God’s sight you are his treasure, he was prepared to become a curse on your behalf and die as payment for your soul. Having been ‘purchased back’ from Satan you are now ‘owned’ by Him. omega-ministries.org
“You are not your own, you were bought at a price” (1 Corin 6:19). As we have already seen the blessing given to Abraham was ‘righteousness’ which was credited to him for his faith in God’s promise of a son. This is the whole purpose of our redemption as it opens the door for the Holy Spirit to work in our life. Before Christ opened up this new way only those who fully obeyed the Law of Moses could experience the blessings of God that come from being righteous. Some Jews did achieve this and are mentioned in the Scriptures as righteous men made perfect (Heb 12:23). If the Law was not obeyed to the letter (and the priesthood failed) there were many ‘curses’ that were visited upon those under the Mosaic covenant of the Law. This does not mean that the Law is bad, by no means, it is perfect and expresses the Holiness and purity of God (Rom 7:12). However, The Law was given to the Israelites because they were stubborn and by nature disobedient in the flesh. God knew they would have simply perished in no time at all if left to their own devices. God gave them the Law and Tabernacle as a means for Him to bless them despite their sin and unbelief, but this was all conditional on their submission to which they all agreed. In this way this mercy foreshadowed the time when Christ (Messiah) would come and enable all men to come to o
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God directly. Jesus fulfilled the whole Law on our behalf and sent His Spirit as a free gift to enable us to walk in his love, so that we too would live holy before him. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matt 5:17). Everything regarding keeping the Law was accomplished by Jesus when He died on the Cross and He cried “It is finished”. He did not say, “It’s mostly done” or “That’s some of it fulfilled”, no the champion of our souls did the most incredible thing of all time and became Lord over all even death! He was exalted far above all rule, authority or power! Even more incredible is that just as Jesus met the full requirements of the Law, we do the same through the Holy Spirit in us simply by our obedience to Jesus and the Father dwelling with us (John 14). “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin 44 The Inheritance
in the flesh:That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Rom 8:1-4). We must not try to ‘obey the law’ rather we should be focusing on ‘living in the Spirit’ by fully accepting what Jesus has done for us. This is what the apostles taught Jews and Greeks alike; “For when we were in the flesh (law), the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” (Rom 7:5-6). “And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” (2 Cor 3:4-6). “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” (Gal 5:15-18).
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Prayer of Thanksgiving Thank you Lord that I am redeemed from all curses because Jesus became a curse in my place and so I now live by the Spirit and not by the letter of the Law. Fill me Lord to overflowing with your glorious presence. Amen
from this sentence, it will be carried out by the authorities and the people all agree that ‘justice has been done’. All seems lost for you until just before the punishment is due a man steps forward and says, “Stop! I will take his place and pay this punishment instead.” Justice demands that a price must be paid, but now another steps forward to take it on your behalf, so that you can DAY 16. Justified By Faith go free. What if that person was the “He was delivered over to death for judge himself! When this happens, and our sins and was raised to life for our you accept it, you are free to go, you justification.” (Rom 4:25). ‘have been justified’. Now the court “Therefore, since we have been cannot then come to you and say, “you justified through faith, we have must pay for the crime”, because it’s peace with God through our Lord Jesus been paid. In a true justice system of Christ” (Rom 5:1). law you cannot be tried for the same Once again we see that we have been crime twice (double jeopardy). given something very precious by the In a similar way Jesus has become Father through Jesus our Messiah, we the substitution for ALL your crimes ‘have been justified’. But what does against God himself, he has taken the this actually mean? punishment and so justified you and us Justice is a word that we do not before the Almighty Judge. It means use much these days, but it has a we get off free from our past sins! very important meaning and can be When we accept Jesus by faith that translated like this: “criminals get the he died in our place we are released punishment they deserve”. Justice is from the punishment of death and seen to be given when the ‘punishment judgement because he took our place. fits the crime”. So what does this mean This means that right now, if you have with regard to the Christian, what does repented of known sin, and have a clear it mean to be justified by faith. conscience, there is no penalty for you to pay, no judgement hanging over you. Imagine if you will, that you are a murderer and have been found guilty “The death he died, he died to sin once for and the law of the land judges that you all.. (Rom 6:10 see Also 1John 4:10). should pay with your life - the penalty Jesus Christ lived the perfect life under is death. For you there is no escape the Law because he was without sin (he omega-ministries.org
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fully obeyed), but he chose to take the sin (Guilt) of mankind upon himself and sacrifice his body to pay for the judgement assigned to it by the Father. Can you see it? Sin is punishable by death, Jesus took this upon himself as an act of pure love for us and because of this the Father accepted it as FULL payment. The requirements of the law were FULLY met. Jesus sowed his body into death by faith that the Father by the Spirit would receive his offering and raise him up to eternal priesthood! For all those who put their faith in this work of grace ‘justice’ has been done and there is no more penalty! All this means that if you do believe in Jesus and his atoning work you no longer ‘pay’ for your sins, so if you stumble, make a mistake sin shall not be your master because you can get up and deal with it! “So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” (Rom 7:4). The whole purpose of this sacrifice is that we might bear fruit to God. When we fully comprehend God’s goodness to us and receive this blessing our response is to love Him back through empowered obedience to his commands by the Spirit. The Father now looks at us as if we are His Son’s own physical body! He sees the sacrifice and fully accepts those who 46 The Inheritance
are in Christ by faith. We must also learn to see ourselves in this way. Paul says, ‘we have been justified’. God is not against us! He is not trying to catch us out or punish us because His precious Son has already paid in full, why would he punish us again? That’s not justice. His dicipline will come if we start to turn away from him, because he loves us. All this fulfilled the prophecies given by Isaiah the prophet: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa 53:5). “After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” (Isa 53:11). When Jesus rose from the grave through the power of the Holy Spirit he went into the third heaven itself and offered his blood to the Father as an eternal atonement for our sins, past, present and future. He now lives to intercede for us as high priest before the throne in heaven to bear our mistakes (iniquities). The Adamic sin of rebellion against God’s Word and grace, that we are all born into, is
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now no more! You have freedom NOW to come to God without any fear of punishment, you can see God and not die, you can hear his voice and not flee. Sin no longer has the right to control you, you can be free in this flesh, this mortal tent, as you focus your thoughts on Jesus and are led by the Spirit.You are justified before a holy God and he will never give up on you. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb 4:14-15).
DAY 17. Your Adoption Rights “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. and because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” (Gal 4:4-5). As a Spirit filled believer you have been adopted into the household of faith and as such given the full rights of a son. He has translated you from the kingdom of darkness where you were in bondage under the elements of the world with no rights, into His Kingdom of light ruled in a different way by a merciful king who gives you full rights of sonship! You became a son when you received Prayer of Thanksgiving His Spirit the promised inheritance Father Almighty I can never praise from the Father. Like a seed this and thank you enough that you have promise contains everything needed justified me before you through your for transformation. Just as part of a precious Son Jesus. Help me now seed will fail how can you receive only to truly believe and accept that this part of a person? You were given ALL is how you see me, this is my true of him, the full promise and so you de identity before you. I come boldly to facto have the full rights of his child. your throne to receive your mercy and John the immerser (baptist) said of grace. Jesus: “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.” (John 3:34) As you are transformed in your omega-ministries.org
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thinking about the truth of the Kingdom promises for you, it will become apparent that it is not God who is holding back because He has given everything in His Spirit by the Son. Every promise ever given in scripture is now your right, paid for by Jesus sacrifice on the cross. He paid the highest price for you to receive the glory of God into your spirit, soul and body and to know His Father and your Father, the Almighty. Now Satan will try to rob you of this inheritance he will tell you, ‘you haven’t got it yet, because you are not good enough’, and ‘perhaps one day you’ll earn it’. But these and other such lies are from the pit of hell! You have been redeemed from the restrictions of the Law and now able to access the throne of grace in time of need (Heb 4:16). This is the throne in heaven not any here on earth, not the copy given under Law but the reality in the spiritual dimension. To access this grace is purely by faith expressed by your heartfelt confession of the truth. “And the law is not of faith: but,The man that doeth them shall live in them Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Gal 3:13-14) “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was 48 The Inheritance
preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yes and no, but in him was yes. For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” (2 Corin 1:19-20) Can you simply agree with God? Can you say Amen (I agree) that ALL the promises are yes and not no! No buts or exclusions simply the glorious gospel of God’s Kingdom to mankind, why would we settle for less! Why would we turn to other ways and other gods who are not gods but liars! Jesus warned us many times that there was teaching that would try to rob us of the Kingdom promises, he called it the ‘leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees’. This is the hypocritical teaching of those who make up their own rules and use the Word of God for their own benefit, even with a mask of kindness or an appearance of wisdom. However the truth is that they do not ‘know Christ’ in their experience, but only the Law and rules of men. “Then Jesus said unto them,Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven
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loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” (Matt 16:6-12).(for more info on these Jewish sects see: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Pharisees) Essentially these two sects controlled the religious and political structures of the society under the oppression of the Roman superpower during the time of the Second Temple until the destruction of that temple and Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. These sects believed a number of erroneous philosophical ideas not written in the Scriptures the most important divisions among different Jewish sects had to do with debates over three areas of law: marriage, Sabbath and religious festivals, the Temple and purity. Debates over these and other matters of law continue to define Judaism more than any particular dogma or creed. Even today in many Christian circles we find that these debates continue to sidetrack God’s people away from the truth of the Promise by faith alone. “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, omega-ministries.org
and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many resound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corin 4:13-18) Prayer of Thanksgiving Father Almighty I thank you that you have given me ALL things through Christ and that as your adopted Son I have been given the full inheritance of your Kingdom. I choose to today to confess this truth taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. I agree that every promise is now for me and I release my faith toward you not relying on anything of myself, but I give you all the glory and praise for the wonderful work of the cross. Amen
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DAY 18. Everything We Need “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (1 Pet 1:3) When God called you into His Kingdom He was fully aware of your needs both now and for the future. He didn’t call you into His Kingdom to leave you empty handed and powerless. Sometimes we can feel powerless and empty and be very aware of our human frailty, however this does not mean that we are these things. God made you a new creature and this means you are discovering what God has already given you by the Spirit. Feelings of the flesh can be very deceptive and must be brought into subjection to the truth of God’s Word. “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Heb 2:18) Jesus suffered when he was tested (tempted) by demons and Satan, not just on the cross, but throughout his whole life experience. He was bombarded by Satan and evil spirit’s continually just as we are - yet he was without sin - not even a bad word! Resisting temptations from Satan can be painful and cause mental anguish. He lies to us trying to convince us that there is no hope and that we will fail. He sets traps for us to cause us to sin against God and to follow ways that oppose Christ as King. However 50 The Inheritance
because Jesus lived as a man he now fully understands us and is able to help when we are tempted to disobey the Word of the Father! As the Scripture from Peter tells us, he made provision so that we would have everything we need for a godly life and it comes to us through our knowledge of him. Knowing Jesus for yourself is the most important thing you are called to do. Knowledge of him and the Holy Spirit’s teaching about him as the glorious risen saviour is the provision that has been made available to us to overcome the wiles of Satan and demons. As Jesus said, “I am the way to the Father” and when you know the Father and his ways you can overcome the enemy. It is not enough to know ‘about’ him you need to actually ‘know him’ who lives forever and intercedes for you. Anyone who is seeking God’s kingdom with all their heart and soul will be opposed by the enemy Satan. He will use every possible method in his arsenal of spiritual weapons to prevent one thing - the knowledge of God! God has now given you the ability to retain the wisdom and knowledge of him, not the worldly knowledge, but heavenly knowledge. However your brain has to be retrained to tune into what the Spirit is saying to your inner man, your inner spirit. This is why Paul says that we are transformed by the renewing of our mind (thoughts) (Rom
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12:3) Consider the book of Proverbs from Solomon who had been granted this wisdom from the Father. “Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother. Then he taught me, and he said to me, “Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” (Prov 4:1-7) The rest of this chapter clearly shows how to attain to God’s wisdom and knowledge and like Jesus said, the kingdom of God is like a man who sold everything he had to obtain the field that had this buried treasure in it! “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” (Matt 13:44-46). In order to obtain wisdom from God omega-ministries.org
you will need to humble yourself and lose your life in this world for his sake. Maybe you have been or are a wealthy person who has never been in need, you’ve had anything you ever wanted. Maybe you have been poor and lived by shrewdness and dependency on others or the government, whatever your starting position God requires of us the same approach before him to discover what treasure he has given us. Jesus said: “You MUST deny yourself and carry your cross” (Matt 16:24) This is what Jesus means when he also said “you MUST lose your life to find it”. (Matt 10:39) There is no other way to see God, to hear his voice and understand him and his ways. Jesus was the Godhead in human flesh and he showed us how to humble ourselves as men by denying the carnal desires of the flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit within. The first thing that the Spirit did was to take Jesus into the wilderness to FAST and PRAY. This is how we show that we are serious in our heart to meet God and how we humble ourselves before him.Your inner spirit must have self control over your flesh and its desires. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” (Rom 8:13-14) o
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The next point Jesus gave us is ‘carry your cross’ and contrary to popular belief that this means ‘continuing in our suffering’, it actually means that we must be OBEDIENT to His Word, that is to JESUS commands and his DAILY guidance - just as he obeyed His Father - even to death. If Christ is alive then He can speak to you! “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Phil 2:8) Your cross is the impossible pathway that God has ordained for you to follow in order to serve him without expecting any reward other than what God supplies. So often we are putting confidence in our own flesh, our own abilities and not admitting that without him we can do nothing supernatural that is acceptable to the Father. “For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence.” (Phil 3:3-4) Like Paul we must admit that all our own human efforts, human skills, plans and intentions are of no value to God’s purposes - even if we follow the Law or do good things. If God has not told us to do these things then it is not of faith i.e. hearing his daily command and obeying. That which is not of faith is sin and sin leads to death (Rom 14:23). 52 The Inheritance
Learn to deny the flesh and its desires and thoughts of self centredness, focus instead on heavenly realities. This is tough and a trial at first when you are surrounded by those who are always giving in to their lust for more. But God has not left us on our own with no power, rather he has equipped us as soldiers of Christ, so that we can work out our salvation with fear and trembling as we see this reality. His divine power HAS GIVEN US EVERYTHING WE NEED for life and godliness. This divine power is the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent in to the world to help us. Paul advises each one of us to test ourselves to see if Christ by the Holy Spirit truly dwells in our heart, because if he does not then you are not of Christ and cannot gain victory over Satan! (2 Corin 13:5). The true follower of Christ has received the Spirit of God and knows it. This is God’s ‘glory’ and ‘goodness’ towards us and a sign of his full acceptance, a seal of approval. (Eph 1:13). Without the Holy Spirit it is not possible to deny the flesh as Jesus did in the wilderness and certainly not possible to hear from heaven by revelation each day, hour and minute. The Holy Spirit coming to earth at Pentecost was the fulfillment of all the ages. This is why Paul writes so confidently that YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN ALL YOU NEED. We have this treasure in jars of clay, we have
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him, the Holy Spirit and Jesus and the Father - three in one! Now we must train our minds to receive this truth and patiently overcome the minor trials that life places before us, because we are participating in the divine nature of God and so we obtain the promises by faith. “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (1 Pet 1:4) If we can know him by His Spirit and agree with His Word by accepting the promises we will escape the corruption in the world and be the light to those still perishing. However, as we have been seeing, it will not just happen, you’ll need to work with Christ to take hold of them. Joshua still had to march into the promised land as God instructed him even though the things God told him seemed strange at the time! Drying up the Jordan during flood season, marching 7 times around a castle city. In the same way to defeat your enemies God will show you specifically what to do and he will fight Satan and give the victory - your part is to obey his voice! “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (Jas omega-ministries.org
1:2-4) God’s will for you is to be ‘mature’ not ‘lacking anything’ both spiritually and physically, this takes perseverance - day after day after day. There is no other way. As we imitate Jesus, Peter, Paul, John and all the apostles we are on the true foundation. We join with them and the whole host of heaven itself in proclaiming His Kingdom and will will be rewarded if we do not give up. “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” (Heb 6:10-12) Prayer of Thanksgiving Almighty Lord I can see that you have provided absolutely everything I need for life and godliness in your Spirit what a miracle! I thank and praise you for your mercy and free gift, dwell in me and through me so that this gift is released at this time. Amen
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DAY 19. Members Of Christ “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.” (1 Corin 6:15). One of the most incredible mysteries of the Scriptures is the truth that God, by His Spirit, chooses to dwell in us who believe! Just as the Father dwelt in Jesus body, the apostles teach us that by faith in him and His cleansing blood the Godhead can inhabit our very flesh (Col 1:27). In fact this is the evidence of genuine conversion and entrance into the Kingdom of God - without it you are excluded from the household of God: “Jesus answered,Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2 Corin 13:5) Designed by God to reflect His image (Gen 1:27), we are spirit, soul and body. As a three part being we are restored to God in spirit and soul, however our body (flesh) is confined to the earthly realm until the resurrection by the Spirit. Each human being is a composite of three parts which ideally working together in harmony. 54 The Inheritance
What does Jesus mean when he says, ‘born of WATER and of the SPIRIT’? As he was talking to a living man already born in the earth he was not referring to natural birth. The water he speaks of is the waters of baptism by full immersion which is given by God as a way to separate us from the curse of the world through sin by connecting us to his death and resurrection. It is not simply a symbol of our faith as many would suppose, but works in a similar way that ‘circumcision’ did for the Jewish people. Just as they entered into an agreement with God (covenant) via Abram and Moses we too enter an agreement by faith through Jesus. However rather than a promise to God to keep the Law, by faith we offer to God a clear conscience no longer desiring to sin but rather to be a slave to righteousness through love. “Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written,‘for this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name’ and again he saith, ‘Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people’. And again,‘Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people’. And again, Esaias saith,‘There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust’.” (Rom 15:812) “And herein do I exercise myself, to have
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always a conscience void to offence toward God, and toward men.” (Acts 24:16) “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb 9:14) “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 3:21) Without the death of baptism and faith in the resurrection we cannot be counted as the holy dwelling place of God’s Spirit because we have not been fully cut off from sin (this was foreshadowed in circumcision with the cutting away of the foreskin in men) in this case it is the circumcision of the heart and specifically the WILL. Baptism/immersion is counted as an essential foundation and an elementary teaching of Christ (Heb 6:2) “Know ye not, that so many of us as were immersed into Jesus Christ were immersed into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by immersion into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is omega-ministries.org
freed from sin.” (Rom 6:3-7). In this way we glorify God’s own being and he is able to dwell in us to bring His Kingdom to the earth by grace through love. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corin 6:20). Christ has purchased your body through His sacrifice! It is literally ‘Christ’s body’. How often we call ourselves the body of Christ not realising how true this really is. Therefore if we abuse or misuse this body as a believer we are offending Christ himself.Your body is now sacred, holy, a temple belonging to God. This is how God views us: “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (1 Corin 3:17). Under the old covenant God chose to temporarily dwell in a tabernacle and a temple built by human hands to make a nation great, but in this new promise God has made it possible for Him to dwell permanently in our body by the Spirit. As living stones we form the new temple a part of the New Jerusalem (Heb 12:22). Once purified the Spirit of God can dwell continually with us - bringing life and health in this age with the desire to serve others. We are free to choose to serve the Spirit or to serve the lust of the flesh this latter bringing death - who wants to do that! o
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Prayer of Thanksgiving Lord I thank you that through baptism I have died with Christ and have cut off the power of sin and can be a living sacrifice having become your dwelling place. I now accept that I am your temple and ask that you fully dwell in every part of my flesh. Grant me grace to have a clear conscience before you as I focus on your Spirit within me transforming me into your image, Amen.
Bible who lived longest were those closest to the beginning of creation before it was corrupted by Satan, sin and pollution. The man who lived the longest in those days was not Adam as would be presumed, but was in fact Methuselah who lived 969 years. When Methuselah was 369 years old his son Lamech gave birth to a son called Noah who was 600 years old when the flood came (Gen 5:27; 7:6). He lived a further 350 years and most probably had other children and saw the dividing of the nations at Babel. Methuselah’s father was Enoch of whom it was said DAY 20. Eternal Life “And this is the testimony: God has given us ‘God took him’ because he walked with God. This leads us to the spiritual eternal life, and this life is in his son” truth of eternal life as given by Jesus (1 John 5:11) himself: Continuing with our understanding of “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, what God ‘has given’ us John reveals that he should give eternal life to as many the good news that those who truly as thou hast given him. And this is life know Jesus, or rather are known by eternal, that they might know thee the only him, have already received eternal life. true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast But what does this really mean? What sent.” (John 17:2-3). is eternal life and how do we know we In his final prayer to the Father before have it in Christ? his death through the cross Jesus From a human earthly perspective reveals that eternal life is not a place there is no life after physical death and but a relationship with the creator. so mankind works hard to find the Adam and the human race could secret to living forever in this human have lived with God in the garden realm. Scientists scramble to find the of Eden and the earth for eternity secret to keeping the body of flesh alive but because of sin entering the earth in this world - but with limited success. eternal physical life was halted and Those who have lived longest in this death entered. The earth became so world have often had no intervention infested with sin that God decided to from scientists. Those recorded in the start afresh and so we see that he chose 56 The Inheritance
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Noah and his family to restart what he had made, bringing judgement by water. This cleansing process was a foreshadow of the baptism by faith into Christ’s death and resurrection (1 Pet 3:19-21). This reveals the great mission of Christ and of God to save those who want to have a true relationship with Him and dwell with Him for eternity whether on earth or in heaven. God’s great plan is clearly revealed in the Scriptures when He will create a new heaven and new earth and those who know Him now will know Him then through resurrection life (Rev 21:1). “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40) The resurrection body will not be made of this created order, but as we understand it now it will be a ‘spiritual’ body, resembling us in form but not in matter, containing our spirit and soul for eternity. Paul the apostle explains this: “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It (body) is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” (1 Corin 15:42-44). omega-ministries.org
The point of the new spiritual body is that we can continue our relationship with the Father even through the final judgement and into the new earth. So, like Noah and his family in Christ we pass through the consuming fire of the final judgement and into the eternal presence of God Almighty and shall see Him face to face! Glory to God! Through Jesus you have been given eternal life and so you would be wise to not invest our time, thoughts and energy in this earths desires and goals, but rather as living sacrifices work with Him to rescue others from a world on the edge of destruction.You do not want to be like the foolish virgins who were not ready for their masters return and so missed out on the promise because they had no oil in their lamps. Be free from sin and holy as he is holy (separate): “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” (Rom 6:22). “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb 12:14). You must be conscious that you have this eternal relationship with Him now before the he comes to the world as judge. The last day is approaching, Noah waited 100 years before the flood came upon the whole earth, and by the grace of God we have had 2000 years of warning, but the time is soon up!
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“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.This is the true God, and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20). It is God’s will for you to have an understanding that He dwells in and through you, being your holiness, righteousness and redemption by the Spirit. As Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees knowing about God in the Scriptures is not the same as actually knowing Him in person: “And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:38-40). Prayer of Thanksgiving Lord Jesus I praise and thank you that by believing in you with all my heart I have received eternal life and you will raise me up at the last day with a new spiritual body that can live in the new creation. Help me to know you personally and not just by the Scriptures only.
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DAY 21. Authority In Christ “Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 3v1). As we enter into the subject of authority, remember we are looking at what God has already given to us by the Holy Spirit of promise. We see that he has given us eternal life, grace, hope, faith and more as our rightful inheritance in Christ. The only opposition Satan can set against you is to lie to you, to bluff you into taking wrong actions, even as when he deceived Eve in the garden. He wants to steal what God has given you by blinding your mind. Satan has no power over you or me unless it has been given to him. How do we give it to him? “The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Prov 18:21). God has sovereignly ordained that the power of the universe is His Word spoken from His mouth. Jesus is the ‘Living Word’ the Word of God made flesh. All the authority or power of God is expressed to us by His Words to us. After Jesus had been resurrected, he gave the early disciples this commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has
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been given to me.Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matt 28:18-19). God the Father gave Jesus Christ the man ALL authority in heaven and on earth. What did He do with it? Answer - He gave it to His apostles! Notice that the pre-condition to the commission of the apostles was that He had ALL authority. “Therefore” He said, “Go and make...”. This authority enables US his body to make something, yes, to make disciples or to make ‘disciplined ones’. This authority is to enable us to follow the lifestyle pattern that Jesus showed us to imitate him and teach others to follow our example. If we are not following correctly He will gently correct us and tap us to bring us back to Him: “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Prov 3:11-12). Authority is useless, however, unless there is power to support it. God Almighty has the authority because He has the power! He made the earth and all that we are and have. He can destroy it at any time, He can change it at any time. Jesus was given this authority, the power to even change the forces of nature. Remember the story of Jesus calming the storm in Matt 8:23-27, the disciples conclude the story by saying, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Jesus’ faith in His Father was total omega-ministries.org
and never wavered, He had total confidence in receiving answers to his prayers. “So they took away the stone.Then Jesus looked up and said,“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” (Jn 11:41-42). Immediately after this revealing prayer, Jesus exercised the authority He KNEW He had: “When He had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice,“Lazarus, come out!”The dead man came out....” v43 Jesus makes the point that He has authority even over death itself! Now we are the body of Christ, we are His disciples and that very same authority HAS BEEN given to us. It is the authority to do what Jesus did, and more abundantly. It is power to destroy the work of satan, even death. The apostle Paul prayed daily for those he trained in the secrets of the Kingdom to receive the revelation of this great power and authority that we now have: “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.That power is like the working of his mighty power, which He exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand
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in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come.” (Eph 1:18-21). You need to be ‘enlightened’ in order to know His INCOMPARABLY GREAT POWER, it is for YOU, He has given it to you, it is available today! Now! It is the life giving creative resurrection power of Jesus! The so called ‘leaders’ of this world (non believers) do not have all authority, NO NOT ONE! Only Jesus the King of Kings has ALL authority. Leaders, kings, emperors, pharaohs, popes, presidents or prime ministers will rise and fall in the earth, they will contest for the ‘top position’ seeking to have authority and power. But any authority they have is only there because the Father allows it for a season. Throughout history God has raised leaders to achieve His purpose and then deposed leaders who are unjust and misuse their authority. God gives authority and removes it according to His purposes either for blessing or for judgement. “Do you refuse to speak to me? Pilate said, “Don’t you realise I have the power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above..” (John 19:1011). The authority Jesus has is based on His POSITION with God the Father. 60 The Inheritance
In Ephesians Paul told us that Jesus was ‘seated at His right hand in the heavenly realms, FAR ABOVE all rule and authority’. Notice he said FAR ABOVE, not just above, but FAR above. That means there’s not comparison or competition between them! Jesus is at the right hand of the Father and as Paul also points out we are in Him! As believers this is where our authority flows from, the very throne of God himself. It is not earthly power or strength from man, no it is FAR ABOVE that, it is SPIRITUAL authority over ALL things made, because all things were made by the SPIRIT of GOD! “And God raised us up with Christ (Spirit) and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”. (Eph 2v6). As we begin to recognise, accept and believe the revelation that WE HAVE AUTHORITY we must begin to exercise it. We must SPEAK with boldness and confidence over the circumstances (storms) of life here on earth commanding the demonic powers that attempt to condemn us and ruin us. We are to have DOMINION or as Paul says to REIGN as kings. Jesus wants us to plunder the kingdoms of satan just as Christ himself did when He was here as man in humility.YOU can do it, believe it, accept it and speak it today!
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Prayer of Thanksgiving Lord Jesus I thank you that I am seated with you as a King because you dwell in me and I in you which means I can speak your Word of Power over every situation. I thank you that it is not by might but by your Spirit and so I speak out today with confidence and reign over life. DAY 22. Healed Today “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Pet 2:24) Since Adam and Eve abdicated their authority over the earth’s management to Satan the earth and world has been increasingly suffering from sickness, disease and ultimately physical death. Creation distorted, corrupted and developed over time adapting to accommodate the destructive effect of sin, so that cycles of life (seasons) and death keep life sustained. This seeding, planting, life and death reveal to us the solution to the problem, the Gospel itself. This should signify to mankind the essence of his error - listening to Satan (Sin) relying on the physical world for his knowledge. Jesus came into the world to reveal the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven, the unseen realm, where sin does not reign and where life is abundant and unhindered by death. In that place omega-ministries.org
there are no cycles of life and death, but only abundant everlasting life, real life. Jesus and the apostles were quite clear about sickness and disease being an enemy and the consequence of sin’s corruption: “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8) Why would Jesus come to destroy these things if they were his will? No they are not his will, his will is that of heaven. When God comes into the earth mercy and healing results. As long as mankind cooperates with the teaching (knowledge) of demons (sin) - suffering, sickness and death will be in the earth as a consequence (Prov 1:31). Most if not all sickness is simply a consequence of turning away from God and knowingly or ignorantly choosing other gods (idols) and worldliness (materialism). On top of all this the creation now struggles to provide quality food that the human body requires and it is further attacked by pestilences (viruses, bacteria, hunger, famine etc.), plus mankind generates huge levels of pollution in the air and water! As stated above, Jesus (God in the flesh) came into the earth to destroy the devil’s work to demonstrate the Kingdom of Heaven - and how to enter it - today. Jesus showed that God’s will is for you to o
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be completely healed and living in an abundant life now and into eternity. This is the good news! “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.” (Matt 4:23-24). “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” (Matt 8:16-17) These two accounts show how Jesus destroyed the devil’s work - he healed all those who came to him for help! This was all happening before the crucifixion when he died to free us from our sinful flesh under Law enabling us to become like him living by the spirit within. As Peter demonstrated after His transformation at Pentecost, we too can be partakers of the ‘divine nature’ (2 Peter 1:4) and be like Jesus (see also Acts 5:15). Jesus elsewhere states that ‘if you’ve 62 The Inheritance
seen me, you’ve seen the Father’ (John 14:9). So we must therefore conclude that the Father’s will is indeed to destroy sickness in our life, family, city and the whole world to reveal that the Kingdom of God is now, today, accessible through Christ. Satan needs a legal right (Law) over a life in order to inflict his sorrow and pain. Sin and iniquity (Law of sin and death) that allows demons into our heart and mind must be dethroned and driven out. Jesus drove out demons and this brought healing to the people, some were simply inflicted from birth by physical defects that had entered due to corruption and generational sin. However, all this traces back to the original influence of death (also a demon) which is in the earth. “Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said,This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your
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judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.” (Matt 12:22-28). Jesus was the first prophet in Israel (and history) to cast out demons, and this was done by the Spirit of God coming from within him. As a believer you have received His Spirit in your heart and His desire is to destroy the devil’s work in your life and free you to reveal the Kingdom to others. As you agree with Jesus, the Father and the Spirit that healing IS His will for you (and all men) then faith can be released upon you to cast out sickness from your mortal body every day. This is a sign that the Kingdom has come upon you.Your mortal flesh may well corrupt and fail one day as you age, however this still must be challenged as many of God’s servants have died healthy when finally called home! God’s ultimate plan is to start again with a new creation, bringing a new heaven and a new earth. The demonstration of healing today is to help others ‘see’ the future Kingdom and to enter it before the final day of this earth comes. The time for the final judgement is almost upon us and we have this great hope. “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from omega-ministries.org
the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Rom 8:10-11). The Holy Spirit in you gives life to your mortal body. It’s sometimes said that if Jesus had not been crucified he would probably have lived forever on earth, however from the very beginning it was stated that he was ‘the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. If sin is taken away then all that remains will be good, as first deigned by him. Continuous healing comes from the inside out as we allow the Spirit to reign in our very body His temple. Jesus revealed this truth when answering the woman at the well: “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14). Paul explains that we cannot be passive expecting God to do more for us than he already has, but rather we can now take positive action to overcome Satan and his lies. “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members o
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as instruments of righteousness unto God.” (Rom 6:11-13). It’s time to rise up and attack the kingdom of darkness with the weapons of our warfare, not as the world does from the outside, but by pulling down the strongholds from within!
flesh everyone could see that he had peace with the Father and he preached about the Kingdom of Heaven and how to enter into it by faith in him. He came that we might have this heavenly Life and have it abundantly, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit dwelling in us. When we have been given His Spirit we enter Prayer of thanksgiving His rest and no longer have to work Father in heaven I thank you that for our salvation - he has done it all on your will is that I live in health and abundance. I thank you that you dwell our behalf through love. This is why he said: in me as your temple through faith in Jesus Christ. I pray that your kingdom “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but would come up from within me like a spring to destroy the works of Satan the Father; neither knoweth any man the which are seen in sickness, disease and Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all demonic deception, Amen. ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in DAY 23. At Rest in Him “And to whom sware he that they should not heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. enter into his rest, but to them that believed For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” not? So we see that they could not enter in (Matt 11:27-30) because of unbelief. Let us therefore fear, lest, Jesus has literally been given ALL a promise being left us of entering into his THINGS by the Father and he has then given them to us who believe in his rest, any of you should seem to come short work through his life and death and of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached resurrection - that’s why his yoke is easy for us. Notice that he promises us did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” (Heb 3:18-4) rest for our ‘souls’, but not necessarily “For he that is entered into his rest, he also for our flesh. Think of Paul and the hath ceased from his own works, as God did apostles and many martyrs even to this day who have suffered in the from his. Let us labour therefore to enter body for the sake of Christ. However, into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” (Heb 4:10-11) through this all they have peace and like Stephen, the first martyr, they see When Jesus walked the earth in human 64 The Inheritance
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heaven open to welcome them home to where we all belong - the City of God. Rest in God is something that is inside of you by the Spirit, it gives you the ability to live at peace in any circumstances because you know that Christ is with you in it and is teaching you through it (Heb 12:6). To know this peace we must put Him and His Kingdom first in our daily life - this is heavenly wisdom. We must not put our trust in the things in this material world but rather focus on the world to come where Jesus dwells with the Father in glory. This is the good news that Jesus has brought to us and which causes us to have joy in His presence both now and forevermore.
DAY 24. Clothed with Christ “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.” (Gal 3:26-27) Listed among the foundational and elementary truths of the teachings of Christ in Hebrews 6 we find that it mentions the third foundation as ‘baptisms’. Baptism or Greek ‘BaptisO’ when translated means ‘to dip under’ or ‘to immerse’, in this case into river water, and is used to indicate a significant change in the life of an individual or a nation. Baptism has always represented the death of the old and of cleansing from evil ever since Noah and the great flood which destroyed God’s enemies completely Prayer of Thanksgiving (1 Pet 3:20-21) which destroyed all O Lord I thank you that you have given but eight people. As we will see Christ me rest by your holy Spirit dwelling in was baptised in humanity’s sins from me by faith in your magnificent work the beginning and took the punishment on the cross. I cease from my own for them on the cross. His victory in works which pale into insignificance rising from the grave means that if we compared to your majesty and take are covered or clothed in him, by faith your yoke of grace upon myself, we too can rise to new life here and hallelujah! now and in the life to come. Immersion into Christ was more than just a symbolic act of an inner faith. Paul reveals to us that our decision to be immersed in water into Christ Jesus by faith does more than symbolise the new birth which has taken place in the spirit, it actually ‘clothes us with Christ’ or covers us with Him. What can this mean and how important is it? omega-ministries.org
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“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 2:5) “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Pet 2:9) “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” (Rev 1:6) In the three scriptures above (written to all believers both Jew and gentile) we see the clear message that we are a ‘nation of priests’. Each of us who are disciples of Christ, born of the Spirit and immersed into him have become priests with Christ who is called the High Priest of Heaven (Heb 4:14). However, we are not priests of this earth, we are not called to serve as priests in an earthly tabernacle as were Aaron and the Levites. We are called to serve the Father through Christ who has risen and entered the true spiritual or heavenly tabernacle. This is again confirmed to us by the writer to the Hebrews: “But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are to come, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this 66 The Inheritance
creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” (Heb 9:11-12) Jesus Christ became the High Priest of the New Creation to come, the heaven that is above the known heavens not part of this first corrupted creation. As stated by Peter and John we are made to be priests with him and more than that ‘a kingdom of priests’. This is very significant because it means that we are no longer a part of this created order (in God’s sight) which is subject to corruption, decay and will one day be burned and replaced. As beautiful as it seems to us, it is still just a weak reflection of the true glory of God’s new creation where heaven and earth are connected in unity without sin. We see that the Covenant through Moses was provided to cleanse the people of their corruption and sin etc. by means of a priesthood offering sacrifices by the death of innocent ones - animals. The writer to the Hebrews makes it clear that these were a copy or reflection of the true Tabernacle in the highest heaven of God’s presence. We see that these earthly priests had to be clothed and purified in a special way in order to be acceptable to God to meet with Him and then to serve the people’s need of cleansing and forgiveness. “Have Aaron your brother brought to you
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from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests. Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor.Tell all the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest.” (Exodus 28:1-3) “Aaron’s sacred garments will belong to his descendants so that they can be anointed and ordained in them.The son who succeeds him as priest and comes to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place is to wear them seven days.” (Exodus 29:2930) Aaron’s garments were sacred and were appointed so that he would have dignity and honour and that he and his sons could be anointed and ordained for the ministry. But this priesthood (earthly, outward) was just a shadow or reflection of the reality that was to be restored back to us by the Messiah. “These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Col 2:17) The reality now is that those who were baptised into Christ have clothed themselves with Christ. This means that we have a spiritual garment that enables us to minister with Christ before God as priests here and now and in the new creation. The sacrifices we offer are now spiritual not the flesh of animals: omega-ministries.org
“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (Heb 13:15-16) With this truth we must come to realise and accept that our bodies are no longer our property, Christ has purchased them with his blood. This is why Paul advises us in the letter to the Romans: “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship” (Rom 12:1 NIV) The kind of worship that God requires from us is not just singing or praise alone but first and foremost it is our very selves your body in service as a priest and vessel of the Spirit! Jesus said this in several ways. “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” (Luke 17:33) The Father himself is seeking to dwell with His priests of the new covenant! “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” (John 4:23) King David also reveals the heart of worship towards the Father: “Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor o
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me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.” (Psalm 50:23) “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, O God, will not despise.” (Psa 51:17) “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.” (Psa 141:2) This incredible passage from the prophet Micah really reveals God’s heart for us and how he wants us to be in service to Him as priests: “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Mic 6:6-8)
rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.” (Isa 61:10-11)
A new identity A seen previously we are a spirit (born from above) who has a soul (mind, will & emotions) and that currently lives in a body of flesh (a tent of the first creation). By willingly baptising our body into Christ (his work for us) we become a true son of the Father and can walk in this life just as Jesus did. We can see the Father save other souls (currently enslaved by Satan) and enable Jesus to destroy Satan’s work to the ends of the earth. This is the good news that we as priests bring to a dying corrupted world before the renewal of all things which will The New Priesthood replaces old involve the wasting of the whole earth as a sacrifice to God. We are clothed if As mentioned earlier as priests to our God and Father we are not of this you like in a ‘fire suit’ so that we can creation only and we have been clothed stand in the flames just like Shadrach, with the garments of Christ, the robe Meschach and Abednego with the of righteousness, so that the sacrifices Son of God and so be completely untouched! (Dan 3). of our body, prayer and praise that we offer are acceptable to God in the Finally, as slaves of Christ, his servants, heaven above the heavens! we must realise daily that we ARE priests and we must approach him “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul 68 The Inheritance
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correctly - the old way of external earthly priesthood has been ended by Jesus (God) - the only priesthood now is that of the highest heaven. Unfortunately church history took a few wrong turns because Satan knows these things and so used the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees to deceive many (which Jesus warned against). This turns minds away from the heavenly reality and focuses it back to earthly rituals and performances that are made up by certain men who want to be in control of others for their own benefit. These last days deceptions can be so deep and cultured that religious people think they are serving God by opposing Christ’s work through us. (see Luke 12:1-7; 20:46, Matt 16:6; 11-12, 1 Corin 5:6-8) e.g. Islam, RC, CofE. All change! “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (outward) —and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood — why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar (earthly Tabernacle). For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah (praise), and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing omega-ministries.org
about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind:‘You are a priest forever.’” Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.” (Heb 7:1122) Do not be deceived the old covenant of law as a means to justification has been totally completed by Jesus and done away with as a means to salvation. The only way to now to serve God the Father is through faith in the work of Jesus Christ and to walk in relationship with him our Great High Priest in heaven by the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are his sons just as Aarons sons were made priests in the earthly Tabernacle - we are the reality and priests with Jesus to reveal the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Fix your thoughts on things o
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above, ask Jesus to show you the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven and your priestly service to him. The last word for this I must give to Paul (the apostle to the nations) because he, along with Barnabas and Apollos, spent their life explaining these things to us who were outside the promises of God to Israel and ignorant in such things. “Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh (Jews). For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness 70 The Inheritance
that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3) Prayer of Thanksgiving Thank you Father that through Christ I have entered the glorious rest of your Kingdom because you have made me a priest by clothing me with Christ. Praise you that you have anointed me to serve you with acceptable sacrifices from the heart.
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DAY 25. Suffering Servant “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him” (Phil 1:29) No-one likes to suffer pain whether physical, mental or spiritual. It’s a normal human response to withdraw from all forms of suffering wherever possible. We design our human lifestyle and environments to try and prevent suffering and pain, we create a host of medications to relieve pain. Suffering and pain also have a guiding effect on how we live and is often used as punishment, correction and guidance because we hate it so much. It communicates to us that something is wrong and not working properly, it makes us sit up and take notice. Suffering is a sensitive subject (no pun intended) because many people in our modern world are suffering with physical ailments that cause pain and misery. History is littered with horror stories of violence and suffering. The news is full of agony and torture stories from just about every nation. What is going on? The scriptures teach that pain and suffering are not His will (unless by punishment) and reveal to us the effects of sin on God’s creation. To prevent sin having an unchecked advance through time God had to take some actions to hinder it’s domination. The first instance of this is in Genesis 3 where God reveals the first omega-ministries.org
consequence of sin, our beginnings: To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children.” (Gen 3:16) From the very start of our physical life we are born through pain as a reminder of the consequences of listening to sin, of choosing Satan’s words over God’s commands. Only now in these ‘last days’ has man found a way to bypass pain by Caesarean section (aptly named) although not always without consequences or even pain. We cannot go into detail here about why God chose this as the first consequence, suffice to say that pain marks every life born along with the shedding of female blood. For the man of the species the consequence meant a different kind of pain: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Gen 3:17-19) Man is in a continual struggle against the natural elements in order to survive and live safely. If he pauses for a while the weeds take over and he o
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comes to poverty. It’s all about hard work and trying to be something or somebody in the world, and at the end of it what reward, we die!? Our bodies creak and crack as we age and working becomes harder and more painful, the things we make all wear out and many of them cause pain to others or the earth, it’s a painful existence! We even have a sporting phrase; ‘no pain, no gain’ which highlights our dilemma. The consequence of sin is burden and pain and these are no respecter of persons it affects the rich and the poor alike no-one is exempt. We often blame God, the devil and others for these consequences but fail to see the log in our own eye (Matt 7:4). So who will save us from this painful body of sin? As Paul the apostle also cried out: “What a wretched man I am!Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my flesh a slave to the law of sin.” (Rom 7:24-25). The more our inner man is renewed in it’s knowledge and experience of the Father the more we realise how damaged and corrupted both we and the world are by sin, that is the law of sin, that is obedience to lies, that is listening to evil rather than to God and his Son. Our refusal to take time to listen and then obey His Word is 72 The Inheritance
our downfall, we follow what the flesh wants and listen to Satan’s tempting alternatives. The flesh wants an easy, pain free, entertaining, well fed, pleasurable and proud existence for as long as possible. It competes, grabs, keeps, destroys and murders to get what it wants. “Then he said to them,“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15) Although Jesus said this do we really believe or do what he said?! Greed in all it’s forms is the octopus demon that has tentacles feeding on man’s utter ignorance of the truth. But thanks be to God he does not leave us in the sorry state he finds us but provides the WAY out. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Heb 2:14-18)
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The suffering Jesus experienced was not only physical but mental as well - he had to deny his flesh all the pleasures of this world. Jesus existed before time, before creation, through him nothing was made that has been made. It therefore is right that he knew how to fix the broken universe, but as we know this was not easy, but it was always and could only be the way from the foundation of the earth till the very end of time. He would pay the price and suffer on our behalf and rebuild. “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God the Father exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:5-11) Jesus was and is not just a good man, He is God in the flesh redeeming us from the pain and torture we would otherwise suffer for eternity with Satan. He is the gate into glory, the door into heaven, the way to the Father’s presence! omega-ministries.org
One apostle who witnessed Jesus life first hand and saw how he was tempted, opposed, persecuted, slandered, abused, betrayed, tortured, tormented, attacked, beaten, wounded and murdered was Simon Peter: “Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,”but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Pet 2:18-25). Although, just before the crucifixion, Peter denied three times that he even knew Christ, after the resurrection he did not do so again. Peter, just as Jesus told him in John 21:18-19, was crucified by Roman executioners o
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because he could not deny his master again. According to Eusebius, he thought himself unworthy to be crucified as his Master, and, therefore, he asked to be crucified “head downward.” Date of Martyrdom: 64 A.D. All the apostles, save maybe John, were martyred late in life - paying the ultimate for their faith in the man they followed and worshipped. They were prepared to suffer for His sake and so we too must follow their example and suffer for the sake of Jesus and His will. Prayer of Thanksgiving Thank you Jesus that you have disciplined me all my life in order to draw me closer to you. Help me Lord to lay down my life for you not counting my life even unto death if necessary. Amen
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DAY 26. Heavenly Realms “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (Eph 1:3-6) As we have seen in all previous teaching we HAVE received the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit dwelling in our redeemed flesh. We therefore can know the reality of this because of His manifest work in us changing our character from glory to glory forming Christ in us - fruit of the true vine. On top of this we also experience the power of the gifts which express themselves through us to bless those in need and to edify our brothers and sisters in the body. Yet we are also aware of His invisible qualities, invisible that is to the eye of the flesh which can never look upon God and live. Spiritual things, things of heaven, remain invisible to the naked eye because they are not made of this earth, but nonetheless they are real. In fact they are more real than this creation which, by all accounts, is mostly clear space and spinning electrons (according to science).
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We have been blessed, says Paul, with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ. This means that you have something which is both invisible and not in this realm! If you are truly in Christ and believe in His Kingdom then you have this treasure made available to you even in this life - what’s even more incredible you may even add to your treasure in heaven! We must learn to use our newly opened spiritual eyes which Paul calls ‘the eyes of our understanding’ to see the things of the heavenly Kingdom where Christ dwells because it is so very opposite to this world which is soaked in sin and deceit. (Eph 1:15) “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corin 4:18) Is Paul here asking us to do the impossible? How can we see the unseen? As a simile consider our common experience of the radio. We know that radio waves of many kinds are traversing through our atmosphere at incredible speed, yet we see nothing, we feel nothing all is invisible to the eye. So why is it that we believe that they exist? Simply because we have been given the receiver and know what frequency to tune into to hear the sender! With this understanding we are then able to hear or see the messages being broadcast - the next challenge is omega-ministries.org
then to discern good from evil! The very same is true of the spiritual realms. Generally speaking people know that there are such realms but only occasionally bump into them by accident and pick up fuzzy noise. However, some have tried to connect with this realm by there own means and have tuned into forces of darkness rather than light supposing that these are the truth. This is why Christ came to mankind to free us from this bad reception and bondage to the god of this world who is broadcasting his evil desires. As born again believers we have been equipped to receive directly from Christ by the Spirit from the Father. Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” (John 10:1-5) To make it easy for us to enter into this ability to ‘know God’ personally Jesus came as a perfect man, a tabernacle of the Father’s presence demonstrating the power of the Spirit over the creation. He came with the good
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news that He would open the door to heaven for all mankind by removing the blinding problem of sin once for all. Once sin is out of the way the Holy Spirit (receiver) can dwell in us and connect us to the living Word of God who is in heaven! Hallelujah! This explains why it is that Paul states in Galatians 5 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”. The key to being connected is the Spirit in us and so we must focus our thoughts and tune in to Him and fix our thoughts on Jesus who is the life giving Spirit. This is also why Paul states: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” and also “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Rom 8). As we have seen previously our new identity is as a ‘new creature’ in Christ Jesus and so without this you can not get the correct ‘reception’ and will hear the wrong message which will also point to the earth and not to heaven and the unseen glorious of the Kingdom of God. On rare occasions however the Lord does permit us to see the unseen by taking us fully into the spirit and our spiritual eye becomes like our natural eye whereby we only see but the realms of heaven, a revealing of the truth. These are truly 76 The Inheritance
blessed times which are determined by the Father to achieve His purposes in the earth. Many have seen angels, heavenly visits and even Jesus himself and these are great testimony and edification to faith. This also occurred in the ancient times as recorded in the Scriptures and so we know what is in heaven through them. The message given by both John the immerser (baptist) and Jesus was that of the Kingdom of God, this invisible kingdom that rules over the earthly realm, demonstrated this by signs and wonders, healing and deliverances from evil spirits. Without Christ there is no defense against the powers of Satan and of death which is why we must be born again. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt 6:33) Prayer of thanksgiving I praise and thank you Father that Jesus Christ has opened the door to heaven by his sacrifice and suffering on the cross, help me to pay the price and crucify my flesh and make it obedient to you. Amen
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Further Reading This short encouragement is brought to you completely free of charge, because it was received by grace. if it has blessed you, helped you and inspired you please pass it on to a brother, sister or friend. On the website you will find other free material to build you up in the powerful faith of Jesus Christ. www.omega-ministries.org. We pray that these teachings will inspire you to know Jesus personally through prayer and ever increasing meditation on his Word revealed in scripture and the prophetic writings of the apostles. We also recommend other writers in our links section who have inspired and encouraged us in being obedient to wisdom and to the ways of the Lord, some of these may not be free. Omega Ministries is led by the Holy Spirit and financed by him. We do not need any money from you! However we do ask that you pray and consider donating to one of the areas of great need highlighted on the website. God loves a cheerful, generous giver from the heart and not under any compulsion, so that it is your free will choice, bless you. When you give we echo Paul’s great prayer for your life (Phil 4:19). The secret to success is found in knowing the person of Jesus Christ and not in any material thing, may his life giving Spirit fill you and anoint you for the work he has called you to.
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Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. ISAIAH 40:28-31
Omega Ministries The publications and website provide free access to the knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven. They are designed to encourage and empower you to fulfil your destiny in Christ Jesus. All materials are provided free of charge if downloaded in digital format. Feel free to print out send to friends, duplicate, but please no reselling or relabelling. Please donate. All donations go to special causes to feed the hungry, homeless and others in need. If we have blessed you please bless them! Give online. www.omega-ministries.org email: info@omega-ministries.org Based in Eastbourne UK. Š2014 All rights reserved