SATURDAY, MARCH 14
Scripture: Matthew 21:33-40

In Matthew 21:33-40 Jesus taught a parable of a landowner. This landowner planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press, built a tower and leased it to vinedressers. He then went out to a far country. When the grapes were ripe and the growing season was over, the landowner sent agents to the vinedressers in order to receive the fruit. What did the vinedressers do to his agents? They took his servants beat one, killed one and stoned another. The owner finally sent his son feeling certain the tenants would respect his son. When the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves. ‘This is the heir. Come let us kill him and seize the inheritance.’ That little phrase seize the inheritance really describes much of Christian life today. Many think that when they find a good Bible promise they can seize the inheritance, without building a relationship with the Holy Spirit Who will witness truth, or seeding the promise by confessing the Word as ours! They bypass hearing the Spirit-given word and then birthing it within. They choose the easier path of presumption rather than to develop relationship with the Father to the degree that they enter into Sonship. Jesus developed an intimate relationship with His Father. Out of our intimate relationship comes the ministry, the works and greater works assigned to us. A failure to surrender forfeits the anointing to minister. A failure to obey forfeits the greater works! Our inheritance is in a Person and that is the Person of the Holy Spirit who guarantees our inheritance. He is a living Roadmap and we must be vigilant to walk with Him every step of the way. Matthew 21: says, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” That is not the outcome we want. We need to respect the Father to whom we belong and wholeheartedly cultivate that Father-Son relationship. If there are attitudes and behaviors we need to change, it’s time to do it. Jesus taught this parable for a reason. He was looking at people who were deceived. We cannot grab a promise of our picking and choosing unless we behave as a legitimate Son who hears and seeks the Father’s heart and direction. By consistently yielding to the Spirit we further the process of building a relationship with the Father. Doing so will make us accountable to the Word. We cannot neglect the Word and we cannot neglect building relationship with our Father. The God Who created the heavens and the earth is our Dad and He wants to relate to us. That requires time spent with Him. He doesn’t count our TV time or social media time as relationship. It is time we develop ‘face-time’ with Father as our primary focus! What are we going to do? The number one issue of the end-times is deception. “Do not be deceived” is an appropriate and vital admonition. How are we doing in this arena? Is our building process headed in the right direction? Have we built relationship with the Spirit of truth?