Word for the Day: INHERITANCE

Is an inheritance something we can expect from our parents? Is it something that can be relied on? Inheritance may include financial provision, but it may not, depending on means and societal stability.

Inheritance goes far beyond monetary value

Definition of Inheritance (Merriam-Webster Dictionary):

the reception of genetic qualities by transmission from parent to offspring

Synonyms for Inheritance (Merriam-Webster Thesaurus):

Legacy, Heritage, Birthright

Ephesians 1:5 (NLV)

God already planned to have us as His own children. This was done by Jesus Christ. In His plan God wanted this done.

Because God is my Father, I am His inheritance. I carry His name, a birthright. I carry His legacy, His mission, His life’s work. I carry His heritage, His culture, His values.

If I choose not to carry these things, I choose to disown His inheritance

Psalm 94:14 (NIV)

For the LORD will not reject his people; He will never forsake his inheritance.

He does not disown me. He says I’m worth inheriting. He so delights in me that He wants me as His inheritance.

Isaiah 43:7 (NCV)

Bring to me all the people who are mine, whom I made for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

I am His creation, and it is because of what He has done for me that He desires to provide for me, sanctify me, and give me an eternal birthright.

John 14:16-17a, 18, 20 (NIV)

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth…. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you…. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

I have a place. A place of belonging. A place to lay ownership to. A place to ground myself in. A place to build from. I have an inheritance because I have been taken into His heart; His inheritance.

God has delivered me from evil, from shame, from the slavery of sin – such biblical terms need meditating on, so the meaning of His beautiful gathering into His family is to be fully understood. He is all-together lovely and beautiful – but this isn’t a whimsical beauty or an ethereal loveliness. This is strong and enduring; a fortification of battlements. It is a vindication of my belonging. He is all-together powerful and mighty because of His holiness. His holiness is lovely. His holiness is a strong-tower. His banner over me is love.

Love is not a feeling but a substance that is as unyielding as the grave. And He has overcome the grave. Death has no sting of fear. Love endures forever. And He is love.

Song of Solomon 2:4 (ESV)

He brought me to the banqueting house, [b Hebrew the house of wine] and his banner over me was love.

He is mine and I am His.

As I am His inheritance, I am crowned with all that He is

All that He has, He gifts me. While it is a free gift, it is not given with unworn hands, but with scars of endurance and tenacious resolve. When I take that gift, I receive the scars, the beauty of belonging to His suffering for me. He draws me into His lap of forgiveness, like a mother draws her child into her lap. But He gives me even more. As a mother surrounds her child with protection, nurture, love, and support, He also draws me into His place of safety, guidance and provision, as a Father, and that is where He says I can dwell.

I can live, surrounded by His walls of mercy and strength forever

Psalm 92:12-15 (NIV)

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

This is my inheritance as a child of God.

Psalm 16:5-6 (Names of God Bible)

Yahweh is my inheritance and my cup. You are the one who determines my destiny. Your boundary lines mark out pleasant places for me. Indeed, my inheritance is something beautiful.