Many people believe in Jesus but few people follow Jesus. Following Him means obeying Him in every area of your life. It means surrendering your own choices and following the one He has predetermined for you. Just yesterday, He gave me a bit of wisdom regarding the receiving of one’s inheritance.

According to the Bible, the kingdom of heaven not only exists in heaven. In fact, the Lord’s prayer promises that God will bring “His will on earth, as it is in heaven.” If we all obeyed Jesus in the way we were supposed to, this earth would look a lot more like heaven. Some of us, rather unfortunately, don’t seek Jesus, His kingdom, and His righteousness in God’s timeframe. As a result, we can miss out on the fullness of our earthly inheritance.

Our inheritance involves more than just receiving gifts from God. It also involves work and purpose – and God will often provide for us through the purpose we fulfill for Him. It all stems from obedience in a healthy relationship with Jesus.

While the Bible makes it clear that faith is required to receive salvation, it also says that faith without works is dead. This is because the works that we do in obedience to Christ carry life in them. Bringing heaven on earth is the literal act of carrying life down to earth for us and others to experience. It involves diminishing the death that comes from living in flesh and sin. If we obey God, He’ll refine us and we’ll sin less. Not only that, but God breathes life into us as we surrender to His will. Faith without action, repentance, and obedience does not bring us closer to Jesus or closer to our inheritance.