Sacred Ancestry: What Kind Of Inheritance Might You Be Leaving On The Table?

It’s little wonder why ancestry.com is a booming business.

They are on track to do one billion in sales annually! And it’s because we all want to know more about where we’ve come from.

More importantly, we all crave more information on whom we’ve derived from.

Deep down inside we wonder if our heritage will lead us to an inheritance.

Why leave ANY inheritance unclaimed?

Since 1943 New York’s City Department of Finance has assumed $12 BILLION in unclaimed inheritance funds!

You may be thinking, "Josh, there is no way that I have some massive inheritance waiting to be claimed!" Maybe not. But I do know that every single Christ-follower has a spiritual inheritance waiting to be claimed. And far too many of us do not even know where to begin.

There are so many, FAR too many, Kingdom family promises that have been tragically left on the table. 

I've been thinking and writing quite a bit about the life of Abraham. In fact, I'm planning on releasing a book or ebook in the not too distant future on this topic, but I'd like to share with you some of the content first.

Preachers, feel free to "borrow" this six part blog series for a sermon or message series outline. Seriously, it's all yours. This study has radically touched me in a profound way.

Just think about my man Abraham for a second.

Muslims, Jews and Christians alike all look to Abraham as a spiritual father. This one man was entrusted with such huge promises and such vast blessings that his life and his family changed the face of the earth. Don't ever underestimate the obedience of one. 

God blessed Abraham so greatly that he became a blessing to nations and generations-to each of us. 

Did you realize that if you are a Christ-follower, you also inherit the blessings of Abraham?

Galatians 3:9 NLT So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

Every believer in Jesus is a spiritual grandchild of Abraham. We might not have made the "begat so and so" lists recorded in Scripture- nevertheless, we are his spiritual heirs.

We are targeted for favor and blessing based on our spiritual birth.

The primary, and by far greatest blessing, we receive from our spiritual father Abraham, is the example of righteous standing with God, coming by way of our faith and not our works. Nothing will ever compare with that eternal inheritance.

Yet, when you study the life of our spiritual father there are SO many other blessings we can access by faith. They are actually our inheritance.

Out of all the ways to experience increase in the Kingdom of God, inheritance has to be one of the best.  

All of them are good, but inheritance carries with it such an amazing picture of GRACE:

• Stewardship: You are never stuck with what you start with.
• Sowing & Reaping: God always multiplies what leaves my hand.
• Warfare: Great victories never come at bargain prices. -Dwight Eisenhower
• Impartation: The best way to grow what you have is to give away what you've got.
• Inheritance: Your spiritual birth scheduled you for an unexpected and undeserved blessing!

[Tweet "“Your spiritual heritage can lead you to your unclaimed inheritance.”"]

Abraham, our spiritual forefather, left each of us with a pattern of prayer and blueprint of blessing.

Since my own father suddenly and quite unexpectedly passed away this July, I have been claiming these blessings for my family in a very intentional way. I actually created a daily declaration I've been speaking over our little tribe most mornings.

Blessing #1: Prosperity (Genesis 12:2-3)

“I will make you into a great nation,and I will bless you;I will make your name great,and you will be a blessing.I will bless those who bless you,and whoever curses you I will curse;and all peoples on earthwill be blessed through you.”

“Enough” is not God’s way, more than enough is.

God loves to bless His kids. Every good thing we have comes from His hand. In fact...

In fact..."God disciplines us so that His blessings don't kill us." -Bill Johnson

Blessings can come with their own set of burdens and responsibility. Proverbs teaches us that God will not add any trouble to our blessing but that does not mean that they do not carry weight.

God uses life trials to prepare us to live up under the weight of His goodness that is poured out in our lives.

I know that many people have greatly abused and misused teaching on blessings-especially financial increase. Yet, I still plan to live my life with God's favor and blessing!

And "blessing" is far from limited to just money, but it certainly includes it.

3 John 2 (NKJV) Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

We all need provision for every vision God gives us.

Abraham was probably the second or third richest man in the Bible (next to His great grandsons David & Solomon). Historical documents comment on how generous Abraham was with his wealth. He was especially generous to foreigners. He knew what it was like to be traveling through an unfamiliar place and have his life dependent on the kindness of strangers. At his death, people from all over the world kept coming for months to pay their respects to our generous patriarch.

Afterall, I was taught that money doesn't change a person. It only magnifies who they already are!

Until we become comfortable with abundance, we may not be comfortable with God.

[Tweet "It's difficult to live out God-sized dreams walking in measure instead of abundance. "]

This doesn’t mean that we just sit back and wait for resources to fall into our lap. That's not faith. That's just laziness.

[Tweet "Provision meets you where you step out in obedience, not where you stand back in fear."]

True Kingdom prosperity is having more than enough to fulfill your God-given assignment so that you can also generously help others with theirs.

• Do you need to contend for more breakthrough in an area of prosperity in your life?
• Is there some inheritance you've left on the table as one of Abraham's spiritual grandkids and you didn't even know it?
• Is the Holy Spirit leading you to be more generous with the increase that has come to your life?
• What would it look like for you to take the next 30 days and prayer through and declare over your life these Kingdom family promises? (I imagine the dividends would be worth whatever trade-off you need to make!)

Here's a sneak peak at my upcoming posts along this same topic of our sacred ancestry & inheritance:

Part Two: Platform / Part Three: Protection / Part Four: People / Part Five: Place / Part Six:  Presence

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*image credits: ancestry.com, WTOP.com