What Belongs to Us As Believers

The twenty minute long message I had selected began to play on my iPhone as I held the speaker side of my phone to my ear. Even with the volume turned all the way up, this was the only way to listen, as I began the three-hour drive to my mom’s house in Delaware this past Christmas day. All six children were settled in the Suburban and excited to visit Gramma for a few days! Ok, “settled” might not be the right word to use here.

Hence, the need for the phone to touch my ear. Even with a DVD movie playing, random conversations were happening between the three and five-year old girls, the eight-year old girl complaining about the seven-year old boy farting and the seven month-old baby making happy screeching sounds. Our oldest, newly turned thirteen year-old was my co-pilot, and with his amazing ability to focus on any media, seemed to be completely blocking out the other noises.

Every message that I hear blesses me, but this one had me hanging on every word and even replaying it two more times. Was it possible to find out everything that our Father has given us? I found myself saying out loud, “I wish there was a book out there listing out exactly what is available to us as believers.”

Right away in my spirit I heard God say, “Why don’t you write one?!” My immediate answer was, “Ok, I’ll do it!”

My excitement about this new assignment made the rest of the trip to Gramma’ house fly by. I knew this book was totally going to be God’s work, considering I had barely enough hours in each day to keep the laundry caught up! The commercial-sized washer and dryer we had just picked out for our new home would be a big help, but they still required me to do the loading and unloading!

We had just finished celebrating Christmas with Jonathan’s parents and brother, with multitudes of packed boxes accompanying us in our living room. Paper products had been stocked up to use in place of the dishes that were now all packed away, and Christmas break was well under way. This phase of our lives was truly a milestone for us, and would not be soon forgotten.

Even though we had spent the entire month of November packing to move into our first home on December 31st, this annual Christmas visit to my mom’s was a do not miss! With every fiber of my being I wanted our family to move out of the tiny 1,200 square foot townhome that we had been renting for the past five years. No amount of work (and preparation) or holiday craziness could stop me from beginning work to make this dream of a

heaven-sent book a reality!

CHAPTER 1

ENDLESS LOVE

John 16:15 was the verse that had caught my attention that day, during my drive to visit my mom in Delaware. Jesus said, “All things that the Father has is mine, therefore I take what’s mine and show it unto you.” Jesus said He would show us everything our Father has given us. What exactly does our inheritance entail?

A study into God’s Word will reveal everything the Father has that belongs to each of us—an heir. A joint heir. The first thing that comes to mind that the Father has and really is, is Love.

Everything else that we have hangs on love. We are told in 1 John 4:8 and 16 that God is love. God showed us how much He loved us by sending His only begotten son, Jesus, into our world, that we might live through Him (John 3:16), and that we might love through Him (1 John 4:9).

When we love, we look just like Jesus. Imagine that … our demeanor actually changes depending on how we act! We literally look different when we love someone as opposed to when we mistreat someone. God equipped us to love like Jesus when He shed His love abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us (Rom. 5:5). This allows us to walk in love at all times.