Assassins Among Us #22: The Riches of His Inheritance
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Yesterday we said the cloud and fire represented something greater than protection and guidance. They represented the treasure of God’s presence itself.
But that raises a question: Why did Israel follow?
THE QUESTION THAT REVEALS YOUR HEART
“Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” — Ephesians 1:18 (ESV)
Paul prays that believers would have enlightened eyes—eyes that see what’s actually valuable.
What are “the riches of his glorious inheritance”?
Most people read this and think: mansions in heaven. Streets of gold. Eternal rewards.
But look closer. Paul doesn’t say “the riches of YOUR inheritance.” He says “the riches of HIS inheritance IN THE SAINTS.”
God’s inheritance. In us.
The treasure isn’t what we GET from God. The treasure is what God GETS in us. And the only way He gets anything in us is through His presence dwelling within us by the Holy Spirit.
WHAT THE RICHES ACTUALLY ARE
The riches of His inheritance are not the Promised Land, not manna, not victory, not health, wealth, or comfort.
The riches are ACCESS TO HIM and INTIMACY WITH HIM.
The riches are not what He GIVES. The riches are WHO HE IS.
This is what counterfeit Christianity gets catastrophically wrong. It turns God into a means to an end. Follow God and get blessings. Obey God and get prosperity. Worship God and get your problems solved.
But what if God IS the blessing? What if HE is the prosperity? What if intimacy with Him is the solution to every problem that actually matters?
WHY DID THEY FOLLOW THE CLOUD?
Israel had two options every time the cloud moved.
They could follow the cloud because it’s leading to the Promised Land, and the Promised Land has milk and honey and rest from wandering.
Or they could follow the cloud because that’s where God is, and being with God is better than any land, any provision, any destination.
The first option treats God as a GPS system. The second option treats God as the destination.
Most of Israel chose option one. That’s why they complained constantly. The cloud was taking too long. The route was too hard. The wilderness was too uncomfortable. They wanted what God was leading them TO more than they wanted God Himself.
THE QUESTION YOU MUST ANSWER
Do you follow God’s timing because you want His gifts? Or because you want Him?
Be honest.
When you pray, are you mostly asking for things? Or are you seeking His face?
When you obey, is it because you expect a reward? Or because you love Him?
When the path gets hard and the blessings don’t come, do you keep following? Or do you start looking for an easier route?
“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” — Psalm 73:25-26 (ESV)
The psalmist got it. God wasn’t his means to something better. God WAS the something better. The inheritance wasn’t a place or a thing. The inheritance was a Person.
HIS PRESENCE IS THE PROVISION
Here’s what we’ve been building to through these posts on the Passover and the Cloud and Fire:
The blood brings you TO God, not just away from Egypt. The cloud and fire ARE God’s presence, not just navigation tools. The greatest provision isn’t what God gives. The greatest provision is that God gives HIMSELF.
When you understand this, everything changes.
You stop following God for what you can get. You start following God because He’s worth following.
You stop treating prayer as a vending machine. You start treating it as a conversation with Someone you love.
You stop measuring your spiritual life by circumstances. You start measuring it by intimacy.
The riches of His inheritance? They’re not waiting for you in heaven. They’re available right now. The Holy Spirit IN you. Access to the Father THROUGH the Son. Intimacy with the God of the universe.
That’s the treasure. Everything else burns.
COMING NEXT: FROM CLOUD AND FIRE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
Israel had the cloud and fire WITH them. We have something greater—the Spirit IN us.
Most ministries stay in the safe middle. We bring marginalized truth back to the center.
THE PROPHET’S MARGIN Truth From the Narrow Place
ONE TRUE LIGHT MINISTRIES Damascus Road Journey: STOP. LOOK. LISTEN. LIVE. www.onetrulight.org