REPENT

You Are A Son And An Heir Of God

    6And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Galatians 4:6–7

Perhaps these questions have been popping into your head lately: “If You are a Christian, why are you sick? If your heavenly Father is so wonderful, why do you have so many problems? Doesn’t your God help you, His child?”

And if you have been tempted to ask, “God, I am Your child. Why is this happening to me?” know that Jesus knows exactly how you feel because 2,000 years ago, the devil played the same trick on Him — “If you are the Son of God…” (Matthew 4:3) You see, the devil’s intention was to make Jesus doubt His Sonship, and the devil wants to do the same thing to you today.

He wants to destroy the Spirit of sonship in you and in the body of believers. He knows that once you really believe that you are a son of God, something happens — you begin to live life as “an heir of God through Christ”.

As a son and an heir of God, you inherit all the blessings of God which Jesus died to give you, including salvation, healing, prosperity, wholeness, favor, intimacy with God and answered prayers. And Jesus rose from the dead to make sure that what He died to give you, you get. He is alive today to enforce this rich, blood-bought inheritance in your life!

My friend, you are an heir of God through Christ. This means that you are joint heirs with Jesus. (Romans 8:17) So His inheritance is your inheritance too!

What is prosperity when you are an heir of God? All the diamonds and gold came from Him. What is provision when you are an heir of God? He owns every beast in the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills. (Psalm 50:10) What is healing when you are an heir of God? He is your Creator and the very breath of your life.

Beloved, enjoy every bit of your inheritance in Christ, not because you deserve it, but because it was paid for by Jesus’ blood!

Thought For The Day
As joint heirs with Christ, His inheritance is your inheritance too!

CONSIDER THE LILIES

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. —Psalm 19:1

I enjoy nature and giving praise to its Creator, but I sometimes wrongly feel guilty for admiring it too much. Then I remember that Jesus used nature as a teaching tool. To encourage people not to worry, He used simple wildflowers as an example. “Consider the lilies,” He said, and then reminded people that even though flowers do no work at all, God dresses them in splendor. His conclusion? If God clothes something temporary in such glory, He surely will do much more for us (Matt. 6:28-34).

Other portions of Scripture indicate that creation is one of the ways God uses to tell us about Himself:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork,” wrote David. “Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge” (Ps. 19:1-2).
“Let the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge,” Asaph said (50:6).

And Paul wrote, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).
God so loves us and wants us to know Him that He put evidence of Himself everywhere we look.

Father, Your love is overwhelmingly evident, yet so often we miss it. Thank You for the unfailing reminders of Your grace, love, and mercy. Give
us eyes to see Your beauty in Your creation.

In God’s pattern book of nature we can trace many valuable lessons.

BETTER THINGS TO COME :

But [God's grace] is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel - 2 Timothy 1:10

Have you ever wondered what it will be like when your body dies and you go on to heaven? Well, according to the Word, when that time comes, this flesh and blood tent you live in will die, but you won't feel a thing. You'll just take off the cloak of your flesh, lay it down, and go to a better place.

Believers who have died and come back say that they have no sensation of loss--no sting. Their minds stay intact, and they even have arms and legs, but they are spirit and not flesh. One man said he couldn't even tell he wasn't in his body until he tried to grasp something. His hand would just go right through the material object. He was spirit and not flesh.

According to the Apostle Paul, to be absent from the body is to be present with God (2 Corinthians 5:1). So, when God calls you home, you'll just abandon your fleshly body and go to be with Him forever.

It's interesting though. God doesn't even refer to our old, abandoned bodies as being dead. He says they're just asleep. Why? Because He knows that just as sleep is temporary, so is the death of the body. He's planned a day when our sleeping bodies will be awakened and raised up in glory just like Jesus' was.

Hallelujah! There's coming a day when not only our spirits have victory over death, our physical bodies do too!

Death is not the end for you. It's only a change to a better place!

A THOUSAND TIMES MORE :

“May the Lord God of your fathers increase you a thousand times” - (Deuteronomy 1:11, NIV)

Can you imagine being a thousand times more blessed than you are? That might seem a little challenging to wrap your mind around. But that’s God’s dream for you — to increase you, promote you, and pour out His favor upon you. It doesn’t just mean material things — it means a thousand times more joy, a thousand times more peace, and a thousand times more wisdom.

The scripture talks about how you’ll live in houses that you didn’t build. You’ll reap from vineyards that you didn’t plant. What does that mean? You may have had people who have gone before you, your ancestors, who prayed and believed. They sowed so many good seeds, but the fact is they didn’t see the increase and the favor that you’re seeing today. What happened? They paid the price for you. They stayed faithful and now the Lord God of your fathers is increasing you. He is showing you unusual, extraordinary favor.

Today, keep your heart and mind open for what God wants to do in your life. He wants to bless you and increase you beyond what you could ever imagine. When you believe His Word, your faith in Him activates His promises. Receive His Word and tap in to the blessing He has for you!

ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST

What gospel did Peter preach to the masses on the Day of Pentecost? The Bible tells us that when the people heard the apostle testify, “They were pricked in their heart, and said . . . Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:37-38).

Peter did not tell these people just to “believe and be saved.” Nor did he ask them to merely make a decision, to cast a vote for Jesus. No, he told them to repent first, and then be baptized in obedience to Christ!

What gospel did Paul preach to the pagan Athenians on Mars Hill? He told them very directly, “God . . . now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).

These Greek intellectuals had no trouble believing in God. In fact, you could say their very pastime was “believing” in many gods—first this one, then that one. Whenever someone came along preaching a god persuasively, they believed in it. So, they believed—but they did it while living in sin. Simple belief was not enough!

Paul told these men, “No! No! Jesus cannot simply be added to your list of gods. You may believe in them all, but you can’t do that with Jesus. He has come to save you from your sins and He commands all His followers to repent and be cleansed!”

Later, Paul preached the same gospel of repentance to King Agrippa: “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: but shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (Acts 26:19-20).

Paul is saying, “Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve preached repentance. And genuine repentance proves itself by its actions!”

These passages make clear to us that the apostolic church preached unabashedly the same gospel John and Jesus preached: “Repent for the remission of your sins!”