It is evident that God has a message for me, as He does for everyone. Sometimes it comes to you in the night, or after reading the Word, maybe it’s a gradual thing that you learn from life’s circumstances… whatever it may be, and whenever it’s timing- you just know when it’s Him. If I haven’t lost you already I want to share exactly what God has been showing me.
More than anything else that I have learned this year is that God provides and cares for us. So as I look back, not only through this year, but my life as a whole, God has provided and taken care of me. God has said, “Auston Copeland, I am your God, I am your Father, and I love you.� So as the pieces are being put together, I have learned that God loves me as His child. A father wants what is best for their child and that means going to the extreme to make sure they have what they need in order to survive and know that they are loved; that is exactly what God has done for me.
Last month, I packed up my belongings, as I do every month, and proceeded to travel to our next ministry location- Romania. However, this month already took on a new look as I left my loving team in order to serve with another team, Team Se7en. So why would I leave my loving team and become apart of another team just for only one month, especially when it is so close to the end? Well, again I felt that God wanted something from me, He wanted me to fight on behalf of another brother- Tyler. I had this dream where I was standing next to Tyler and we were both dressed in army fatigues as soldiers. It became obvious to me that I was to fight with Tyler. He had done the same for me several months back in Asia and Africa and I knew that there was a purpose in this.
The month started off like any other month on the race except for the fact that I had never ending hot showers and free unlimited wi-fi that allowed for me to keep in contact with my team. So after a few days, I received an e-mail from my teammate Kate and this is something that she sent to me:
Colossians 1:9-12
So Kate prayed this for me and it just so happened that two days prior I started reading the book of Joshua and where God began showing me my inheritance. It really began before the world was created, before my parents knew my name, before I took my first steps, and before I even knew Him. All the things that life has brought so far are apart of my inheritance, my story. In the Philippines, I realized that God is big enough to do anything and therefor He can use all of me for His Kingdom, even the ugly stuff, and lead me into my “promise land.� In Joshua chapter one, God reminds him that He has been with them and that they are going to receive their promise land, their inheritance, that was promised to Moses. I learned that God fights for His people and that HE FIGHTS FOR ME!
God has given each of us a promise land, He tells us that He is with us. As Joshua takes the people across the Jordan, God tells Joshua to take 12 stones from the river as a remembrance. These stones are to represent what happened, a remembrance to future generations that God was in their midst. He is in our midst now. What am I doing to set up for future generations to remember, to preserve the inheritance given to me?
So God has told us that we have an inheritance, that He has pushed and driven out the other nations, but WE MUST TAKE POSSESSION. It requires us to move, to act, and to take up our freedom that He has given us. Spending the month with Tyler, God showed me my ability to fight for others. Through His Word, God showed me that I have an inheritance. As I read about God giving Joshua His inheritance, I asked God for mine.
This is just the beginning of a life walking into what God has set before me, what He has promised. My inheritance is to take nations into a land of freedom, to grow the church by growing it’s people. A life that is of service to Him. Who knows what that will look like, I’m sure Joshua didn’t either. I do know however that Joshua remained faithful until his death where he was buried in his inheritance (Joshua 24:30).
Lord, you have given me life and life to live abundantly and I ask that you take me into my inheritance. Use me for your purpose and continue to show me more of it. There is still much to be done, more of your Kingdom to be brought. You were not finished with your people, just as you are not finished with me. Thank you for fighting for me.
