Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy
has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does
not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God
through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1
Pet. 3-5).
Hopefully, through the years I have mellowed…at least
somewhat. Anyone who knows me knows that
I don’t bend when it comes to the truth, but, by the grace of God, I have
learned to temper truth and mercy better over time. Years ago, I was much less “pastorly” than I
am now.
Back in the late 80s, I planted
the first church I ever pastored, and it lasted all of 5 months! During that time, I was invited to a
dinner-reception by a local home fellowship in East Tennessee welcoming the man
and his family they had just asked to pastor their growing house church. I had several friends that were a part of
this group and I was glad that I could be there to rejoice with them.
Although a fairly young man, this incoming
pastor had already served in pastoral ministry for a number of years. As the
incoming pastor talked with me and a couple of the home fellowship’s leaders,
he asked me what my vision was for our church and ministry. I began sharing the vision of seeing the
manifest glory of the Lord restored, a generation walking in the fullness of
all the Lord intends before He returns, and the enemy made a footstool for His
feet. (Psalm 110:1.) The pastor-to-be
sarcastically laughed, looked at the other two leaders of the home fellowship
and said, “I remember when I was full of vision like that…he’ll get over it
before long!” I very undiplomatically
set down my soft drink, looked all three of them in the eye in turn, and told
them, “No I won’t. Just because you
might have become jaded and cynical because of what you have experienced, that
is one road that I don’t intend to travel.”
I then unceremoniously left.
Convicted by the Holy Spirit, I later called and apologized for my
abruptness, but not for what I said.
Through the years, even though the warfare has grown exponentially, the
Lord has been faithful. I, like
thousands of others, have gone through intense times of testing, grief, loss,
deprivation and fatigue. He has graciously held my hand and consistently
brought me back to His heart, vision and calling, keeping the fire burning in
my soul. It is easy to get swallowed up
in the busyness of the times and the religious system of the day, experiencing
burnout and wanting to stop pressing forward.
There have been many times when I have done just that…sat down and
wanted just to rest and be “normal.” But
like Jeremiah said: Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak
anymore in His name.’ But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up
in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not” (Jer. 20:9). Once you have seen and experienced the fruit
of the land of inheritance, nothing in this world, or in the lukewarm religious
world will satisfy!
There is an inheritance that has
been laid up for the body of Christ, reserved in a heavenly trust fund, that
God is waiting to be released to a generation who will trust, desire and obey
Him. We are living in the day when the
justice of God will be released on the earth and everything that has been
stolen, destroyed, perverted or squandered will be restored, and it will be
restored sevenfold. (Proverbs 6:30-31.)
But it will come to a people who meet the criteria for possessing this
inheritance. The first criterion for possessing the inheritance is desire,
and desire is first awakened through revelation (vision). Besides the facets of our natural inheritance
that encompass our ethnic, cultural and geographic heritages, there are
spiritual blessings laid up for us as joint-heirs with Christ. I believe that the foremost of these is beholding
and living in the manifest presence of the Lord.
At that time the
LORD separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD,
to stand before the LORD to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this
day. Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD
is his inheritance, just as the LORD your God promised him (Deut. 10:8-9).
The tribe of Levi, the priestly
tribe, was given no inheritance on earth because of the judgment that was
pronounced upon Levi by Jacob as a result of the vengeful spirit he and his
brother Simeon displayed. (See Gen. 34:13-31 and Gen. 49:5-7.) Simeon and Levi entered into a false covenant
with the men of Shechem to wreak revenge upon them for defiling their sister
Dinah. The man that seduced and raped
Dinah really loved and wanted to marry her.
Her brothers entered into a false covenant with the men of Shechem.
Simeon and Levi then took advantage of the men of Shechem whom they were hurt
and wounded because of their submitting to the rite of circumcision to seal the
covenant. One of the things that brings
the wrath of God is breaking covenants. (2 Sam. 21:1.) But, because of God’s mercy and faithfulness,
the descendants of Levi were chosen to be the tribe from which the priests, the
intercessors, the musicians and all of those who had the high calling to minister
to the Lord, would arise. Their
inheritance was the Lord Himself! Their
“job” and calling was to minister to the Lord in worship and intercession on
behalf of God’s people and the nations, and to teach them the ways of the Lord.
(Mal. 2:7.) What a horrible thing! Day-in and day-out, the Levites had only to
behold the beauty of the Lord, minister to Him, inquire in His sanctuary (Psalm
27:4) and study and teach the word of God…and get paid for it! By carrying out the 24/7 worship and
intercession in the Tabernacle of David, they eventually became the catalyst
for the fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham. The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us in
chapters seven through nine, that the Levitical priesthood has ceased and a
priesthood of a higher, New Covenant order has been established through the
true High Priest, the Lord Jesus. It is
now a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, and through this priesthood,
the kingship and kingdom of the Lord Jesus is to be expressed, released and expanded. All who are surrendered to the Lordship of
Christ, having been born again through His work on the cross, are now a
“kingdom of priests” (Rev.1:6; 5:10)…a “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9). As such, part of our inheritance is to live
in and continually experience the manifest presence of the Lord in unbroken
communion. Our inheritance is to have an
unbroken supply of love, peace, joy, power, anointing, wisdom, knowledge and
life flowing into and out of our lives to the world around us. We are living far below what the Lord has
secured for us! There is a generation
arising, touched by the “spirit of wisdom and revelation” in the true knowledge
of the Lord and His inheritance (Eph. 1:17-20), who are tired of sitting around
waiting for a rapture or something else to happen. They will not be bored and found captivated
through the counterfeits of Satan.
Having been awakened, they will not settle for less than what has been
promised. We have an excellent example
of this in scripture in the life of Jonathan, King Saul’s son.
(Continued next week)…
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