Fruitfulness: Receiving Your Inheritance
“Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace, you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.” (Isaiah 61:7)
I’ve never met a person who does not want a life of blessing and favor. However, when our lives are fraught with difficulty and challenge, we often think more about our survival rather than blessing. This mindset might keep us afloat, but it also causes us to focus on the worst that can happen. Our expectations become focused on receiving the minimum, rather than upon the abundant life we have been promised. A life of favor seems to be available only for a select few, and it remains a fantasy for everyone else.
A few years ago, I left a six-figure salary and, in faith, planted a church with my wife and another couple in our city. Overnight, our supply line went from plenty to zero. Through the years, my wife and I learned a spiritual principle that in the midst of financial challenges, rather than holding back, we should walk in the opposite of the fear of poverty and live generously. So we took the bonus that I had received from my previous job, and we sowed into a ministry that we believed in. Later that afternoon, as I was praying, the Lord spoke to me and asked, “Steve, do you want Me to meet your needs?”
“Of course!!” was my natural response.
Then I the LORD say so clearly, “I don’t want to!”
I was taken aback! In shock, I wondered how we were going to survive as a family and as a new church plant.
Then God added to his first statement: “Steve, I don’t want to meet your needs…I want to give you your inheritance!”
The orphan heart is always living from a place of survival. You believe that no one will care for you or provide for you unless you do something to earn their favor. With that mindset, you do not believe that you can freely receive blessing unless you deserve it on your own merits. And from that mindset, you will hoard any blessing you do receive because you fear that at some point, the worst will happen to you.
However, an inheritance can only be received through the mindset of sonship. You receive inheritance blessings not for what you do or how you perform. You receive inheritance blessings because of who you are – God’s child. And these blessings are abundant! The orphan mindset always looks at the circumstance, but the sonship mindset looks at the One who wants to bless us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm! In Hebrew culture, sons received the father’s inheritance, and the oldest son always received a double portion of the inheritance. Therefore, New Testament “sonship language” indicates the full blessing that we all receive, regardless of gender, when we come into the family of God as His children. God wants you to live in the fullness of your promised inheritance – even with a double portion!
Your promised inheritance is not just about money (although it is included in package). It is about favor and blessing for your marriage, family, relationships, work, service, ministry, ventures, and dreams. Receiving your inheritance is allowing God’s fullness to fill every aspect of your life in every way.
After the Lord had spoken this word about inheritance to me, I did a week of ministry on the east coast of the USA. By the last meeting, I had received enough income to cover the bills for that month. I was so happy, thankful, and relieved because God had met my needs. Then, as I was leaving the church where I had been ministering, a total stranger came up to me and put an envelope in my hand. I opened it when I returned to my hotel room and found a check for double what I had earned during the week of ministry! I was moved to tears, and then the LORD spoke clearly, “Steve, I said INHERITANCE!!”
Are you receiving your inheritance? Do you walk in a life of blessing, favor, and fruitfulness? To do so you cannot have an orphan mindset. You need to live, think and walk as a son of God. In the coming weeks, we will grow in an understanding of what it means to live, breathe and move in sonship. Walking in fruitfulness and seeing God’s blessing, favor and abundance overflowing from your life IS your inheritance!!
