Being grateful: the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” This is God’s supernatural equipping and enabling us to have the power to receive and the power to serve Him, to perform the duties that He has called us to. He has called us as those who are in the inheritance of the saints, by the working of the Holy Spirit. We have been allotted certain things. Receive the allotment that God has given us, with thanksgiving.
In the second half of the book of Joshua, the word inheritance comes up approximately 50 times. The inheritance is what He has allotted to the people, the people that have crossed over the Jordan River. This is symbolic for being filled with the Spirit, and moving into the promised land. They are blessed, and they are inheritors of the promises of God. Even then, they have to have faith in God to move forward and to take all that was given to them.
We are always challenged each and every day to receive the things that God has given to us and to move forward by God’s Spirit to the inheritance of the saints in light. That light would mean the insight given to us - God’s truth. We are children of light because God reveals himself through our lives – we reflect that.
Being partakers: Paul writes in the second letter to Timothy, 2:6-7 “The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.” This reflects us back to Colossians 1:9 where Paul talks about spiritual understanding. The farmer has to first receive, to be partaker of the fruits. Otherwise he can’t be a hardworking farmer.
We try, we work hard. How long do we work without eating? If we’re not first partaking, then we can’t work. It’s the idea that we can’t serve the Lord with the power of the Spirit unless we’re first partaking of that, because it’s Him who enables us. So this is the prayer that Paul is praying for the Colossians.
In Colossians 1:13-14 Paul is using the past tense. “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin.” This is important to know so that we are not second-guessing, we’re not insecure, and we’re not always trying to gain the favor of God. No, we’ve been given that promise.
We are to finish our race. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” It’s a done deal. That’s to all of us. He is already looking to the reward. It’s already his and he knows it so he’s living with that hope, with that promise, already looking ahead for that future reward, because he trusted the promise of God.
That’s what makes the difference between victory and defeat in this life. So we rejoice in our salvation. Why? Because it’s a done deal. We’re not trying earn acceptance. We’re not trying to earn forgiveness. We’re not trying to earn favor. It’s a done deal - that’s given to us.
Paul writes in Philippians 2:12-13 as an example, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” So work out your own salvation. This speaks of the salvation that is already yours. Now work in that salvation – work through it. Work the works that have been given you by the Lord. Be sure you diligently respond by following the Lord. Do not squander what Jesus died to give us.
He is with us, and His promise to us is that He will never leave us or forsake us. As we grow in the Lord, we may not always feel the way we want to feel, but that doesn’t matter because it’s our feelings that we’re not to focus on; but focus on God’s promise and the faith that He has given to us. We need to trust Him in all situations. We’ve got to depend on truth and then act accordingly, to be faithful and responsible to the Lord who then blesses us with those things that we enjoy so much. God does it. It’s Him who works in us.