Ephesians 1:14 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory. God truly understands us. Without this we would have a difficult time lasting this life in faithfulness to Him. This is true on many levels. The problem is the allure that the world, the flesh and the devil provide. We wouldn’t be able to resist long. Because the inheritance starts now, we have a new heart which goes Godward. Our spirit cries out abba, Father, Romans 8:15. Our new gravitational pull goes to Him. As long as we feed the spiritual side of us, this pull will be strong. If we ignore it, it will fade and will become small and in the background. Almost like a memory. Another part of the inheritance begins with His Word, the bible. The world has it’s draw, but as we fill ourselves with His Word, we get His values. We begin to march to His drumbeat. The bible is more than words, it contains life. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The Spirit is in our lives, but the Word gives Him messages for us. The more we are in the Word, the more He will speak to us. There are more metaphors for the bible: it’s life, a guide, food, a sword, etc. Those are great topics for another day. Nonbelievers (those not in the bible) will see us as foolish. They won’t get it. 1 Cor 1:18.19. As we follow God’s way, our new spirit thrives on it. As we fellowship with other believers, we thrive even more. This life of God is the beginning of the inheritance; a taste of that which is to come. The vibrancy of this calms the fears that would normally arise. Our doubtful nature would be flooded with worries like, “did this really happen”, or “is God real” or “this is taking too long, I’m not sure I can hold out”, etc. He knows that we couldn’t hang on with just a word. The experience described is a very full, dynamic new life. It cannot be denied. Of course doubts creep in, but the new reality is too much evidence. The words in todays scripture are He (the Holy Spirit) is the down payment. Just like our claim check is evidence that we’ve paid for the product and it will be ours, so the Holy Spirit and all the blessings described above are our guarantee that heaven will be ours.