“We Have Left All”

Have you ever felt like you had to leave everything behind just to follow God? Maybe following Jesus cost you a friend group, a spot on a team, or the approval of people you love.

Peter said something close to that. Right after the rich young ruler went away grieved, Mark records:

"Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee." — Mark 10:28 (KJV)

Jesus didn’t brush that off. He answered with one of the most incredible promises in the Gospels.

"And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." — Mark 10:29–30 (KJV)

Did you catch it? An hundredfold now in this time. Not only someday in heaven, but right here: a brand-new spiritual family, houses opened to you, brothers and sisters in Christ. And yes, Jesus is honest that persecutions come with it. But eternal life waits at the end.

That theme of receiving God’s provision before the final destination goes all the way back to the Old Testament.

An Inheritance Before the Jordan

This week’s verse:

"And I gave Gilead unto Machir." — Deuteronomy 3:15 (KJV)

Here’s what makes that verse special. Machir and the half tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan River, before Israel ever crossed over into the Promised Land (Numbers 32:33).

Most of the tribes had to wait. They wouldn’t receive their land until after the Jordan, after Jericho, after years of battles. But Machir’s family received a place to settle and belong early, while the journey was still going on.

That’s a picture of what Jesus promised in Mark 10. Heaven is our final destination. But God doesn’t make us wait until then to give us provision, a family, and a place to belong. He gives an inheritance right in the middle of the journey.

In Acts 16, we see that exact picture play out in the city of Philippi, with two people who could hardly be more different: a businesswoman and a Roman prison guard.

Lydia at the River

Paul and his team arrive in Philippi, and on the sabbath they head out of town.

"And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." — Acts 16:13 (KJV)

One of those women was Lydia.

"And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul." — Acts 16:14 (KJV)

Notice who did the opening. Paul preached, but the Lord opened her heart. Salvation was God’s work from the very first moment.

And look what happens next.

"And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us." — Acts 16:15 (KJV)

She got baptized, and boom, instant spiritual family. But she didn’t stop there. She immediately opened her house to Paul and his team. That’s the hundredfold promise of Mark 10 happening in real time: houses, brethren, sisters, all in a single day.

And her home didn’t stay a private home. Later in the chapter, after Paul and Silas are released from prison:

"And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed." — Acts 16:40 (KJV)

A brand-new believer turned her house into the gathering place for God’s new family in Philippi. Just like Machir settling in Gilead outside the Jordan, Lydia received an unexpected, early inheritance, and she used it to build God’s family.

The Jailer at Midnight

Lydia found her inheritance by a peaceful river. The next man in Acts 16 found his in the middle of a midnight crisis.

Paul and Silas had been beaten and locked in the inner prison with their feet in the stocks. Instead of complaining:

"And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." — Acts 16:25 (KJV)

Then came the plot twist.

"And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed." — Acts 16:26 (KJV)

The jailer wakes up, sees the doors standing open, and assumes the worst.

"And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled." — Acts 16:27 (KJV)

Right at his lowest moment, Paul cries out.

"But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here." — Acts 16:28 (KJV)

That led straight to the most important question anyone can ask.

"And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" — Acts 16:30 (KJV)

And the answer is just as clear today as it was that night.

"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." — Acts 16:31 (KJV)

Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and everyone in his house (Acts 16:32). Then everything changed in a single night.

"And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway." — Acts 16:33 (KJV)
"And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house." — Acts 16:34 (KJV)

The other prisoners’ chains fell off when the earthquake hit. The jailer’s chains were the kind you can’t see, and Jesus broke those too. He traded his strict Roman security for the ultimate security, God’s eternal family. In one night he went from a dark prison and a drawn sword to a table full of joy and brothers and sisters in Christ.

Two Houses, One Family

Lydia and the jailer had almost nothing in common. One was a wealthy merchant from Thyatira who already worshipped God. The other was a Roman guard who was ready to take his own life a few minutes before he believed. One met Jesus by a quiet river, and the other met Him in an earthquake.

But look at what they share:

That’s what Paul meant when he wrote that believers are no longer outsiders.

"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;" — Ephesians 2:19 (KJV)

The church in Philippi started in two very different houses. And Paul never forgot that family. Years later he wrote to them:

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you," — Philippians 1:3 (KJV)

Your Inheritance Starts Now

If following Jesus has cost you something, you are not walking alone. God has a family for you right here, right now, in the middle of your journey. Jesus promised it, Machir’s family pictured it in Gilead, and Lydia and the jailer lived it in Philippi.

So ask yourself two questions:

Open your digital door

"Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." — Colossians 4:6 (KJV)

Online encouragement is a great place to start —

your inheritance starts now.

This Week’s Verse

"And I gave Gilead unto Machir." — Deuteronomy 3:15 (KJV)

Keep reading: Machir’s family still had to go and take Gilead. See who fights ahead of you in God Gave It. Now Go Take It. Then see how fear lost the land and faith won it in Possess Your Gilead.

Challenge #4 · Week 3

Watch This Week’s Videos

See every video for Deuteronomy 3:15 in this week’s YouTube playlist, and follow Bible Memory Bros for more.

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