The Loss of Inheritance

On return, it finds the person swept and dusted, but vacant. Luk 11:25

This verse talks about the fait of a person that – after being set free from a demon – did not invite the Holy Spirit to take up the space. That is what Jesus talks about, and that is what we normally understand.

As with many things that Jesus taught, this is only to be an example. Let me show you the principle: when the bible tells wheat farmers to leave some crop at the edges of the fields for the poor – does that let the owner of a vineyard off the hook? By no means. He has to extrapolate what the principle does mean in his case. Which is easy enough.

But what other situations could we extrapolate the above principle to? What if it does not only hold for a single person, but also for communities of any size? Families, churches, nations?

Let’s say that a revival swept through a church. There is a generation that went through this revival. The revival dealt with some issues in that church and area, but soon died off. The next generation was not keeping it alive.

Sounds like the Isaelites in the book of Judges. We just learned that whe should keep our testimonies. If we don’t, our expectation becomes less, God’s inroad to do his work becomes less, and we have less to talk about. Just like the generation after a judge had been given to set Israel free forgot, and they were back in trouble. Big time.

Let’s not point to one generation here. It is both the older not letting the younger take over, and the younger thinking they know better.

But actually, something totally different is happening.

The generation that experiences the revival is a fatherless generation. They never learned how to bring up sons. They only learned how to do things themselves – the hard way. That left the younger generation fatherless again, believing either that they could not sustain what the fathers had, or that it was not for their time anyway.

Therefore they write books about what has been instead of developing it further in what should be now. And they long for a new move for their generation.

Malachi tells us that God will turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons and vice versa. God will deal with both problems at once. If he finds willing people.

But what happens when we do not sustain the move of the former generation, letting go of their inheritance? Whatever was dealt with in that revival comes back – worse than ever – and brings some friends. We lose the truths and freedoms our fathers fought for.

Let’s write those books – not to romantically look back, but to keep the memories afresh, and even more the truths revealed. Let’s talk. Let’s tell the stories of our history. Not to dwell in the past, but to build the future.

For the inheritance of a father is the revelation God gave him.

I am in Lynmouth, England at the moment, heading towards Wales. Wales has experienced such a revival in the past. I do not want to let go of the truths and freedoms gained, the revelation set free. Do you?

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