Talk about untapped resources! According to CNN’s Money Channel, as of 2013, millions of Americans were forfeiting billions of dollars of unclaimed wealth. Financial experts say more than $58 billion was sitting in abandoned bank accounts or stock holdings, in unclaimed life insurance payouts, and in forgotten pension benefits. Many retirees or their dependents had forgotten about accrued benefits from previous employers, and the average unclaimed retirement account contained $9,100.1
In California, there was $6.1 billion—yes, billion, with a “b”—worth of unclaimed property as of 2013, much of it in abandoned safety deposit boxes. State officials hold things like gold bars, jewels and jewelry, lots of coins, and even an abandoned can of Norwegian sardines—all there to be claimed.2
Perhaps you’re thinking, “With my luck, I’d end up with the sardines!” Maybe so, but let’s be positive. The Bible affirms that you and I have endless supplies of specific riches, privileges, joys, and blessings we’ve never appropriated. These are the promises in the Bible we haven’t claimed. There are levels of peace we’ve not experienced. There are joys we’ve underappreciated. There are answers to prayer awaiting us. Evangelist Billy Graham once quipped, “Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask.”
Scripture is filled with affirmation about all God has given us.
Scripture is filled with affirmation about all God has given us. If God is infinite in His resources, our finite hearts will always underestimate the riches of His blessings. That’s why Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:18-19 (HCSB): “I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.”
For an interesting Bible study, read the first half of Ephesians and notice how the words inheritance and riches and wealth and blessing fill the first three chapters of this book: [He] has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ … the riches of His grace … we have obtained an inheritance … the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints … rich in mercy … the exceeding riches of His grace … the gift of God … the unsearchable riches of Christ … the riches of His glory … (Ephesians 1:3, 7, 11, 18; 2:4, 7, 8; 3:8, 16).
Several years ago, a fellow named Sergey Sudev, a journalism student in Moldova, was working as a radio station disc jockey in his hometown of Komrat. Startling news came over the wire—a wealthy man had died in Germany, leaving his entire vast estate to his Moldovan nephew—Sergey Sudev.
Sergey looked at the report in disbelief and thought someone was playing a trick on him. But presently, agents of the uncle’s estate confirmed the report. Though Sergey had met his uncle only twice—the last time a decade prior—he had evidently impressed the man, who named Sergey his heir without telling him. The student was suddenly one of the richest men on earth. His inherited fortune was larger than the annual budget for his entire country of Moldova and included controlling interest in a German bank, lots of cash, and real estate in Germany, Italy, and France.
In Christ, we’ve inherited a fortune beyond anything this world can imagine, but perhaps we’re largely unaware of it.
In Christ, we’ve inherited a fortune beyond anything this world can imagine, but perhaps we’re largely unaware of it. The Scripture is filled with affirmations of all God has given us. He is a God of yeses and noes, depending on His wisdom and will; but His yeses are incalculable. He wants you to see the dream He has for your life and to live it out.
Every Promise Finds Its Fulfillment in Him
The apostle Paul had an interesting way of putting it. His ministry had fallen under criticism among the Corinthians, and some of his skeptics accused him of reneging on a purported promise to visit them. Paul told them, in essence, “We try to honor our ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ But when it comes to God, He unfailingly keeps His every promise with a resounding Yes.” The actual text says: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us… was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2 Corinthians 1:19-20).
Let me paraphrase it like this: “When we read a promise in the Bible, we ask—is that promise from God and is it true? Jesus says, ‘Yes!’ So we say, ‘Amen!’—to God be the glory.”
Our heavenly Father is always faithful to His promises, and He always says “Yes!” to His Word. That doesn’t mean He always says “Yes” to each of our requests, desires, wants, or demands. He, better than us, knows what is best in every circumstance. God has set up boundaries of protection for us—but even this is positive.
Yes, He sometimes says “No.” Yes, He sometimes withholds a blessing. Yes, He sometimes allows a trial. But yes, all these things work together for the good of those who love Him. And think of His other alls. Yes, He works all things according to the counsel of His will. Yes, all needed things are given to those who seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Yes, we can cast all our cares on Him. Yes, goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. Yes, as we trust Him with all our hearts, He will direct all our paths. Yes, if He “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32, emphasis added) He gives us all things to enjoy, and that’s why we can count it all joy.
All Christians Find Their Preapproval in Him
God’s yeses and alls are everywhere in the Bible, and with Christ as our Savior, we’re preapproved in Him to appropriate them by faith, and that leads to rejoicing. Miss Joy Ridderhof was a great woman of faith who established a missions organization called Gospel Recordings. She once wrote a letter of encouragement to the workers on her fields, saying, “Are you practicing rejoicing? Remember—make a victory of it by rejoicing! The thing that has been your hardest trial, that disappointment, that disillusionment, that thing that seemed such a tragedy, that biting experience doubtless will prove to be something that you will thank God for with all your heart when you see His purpose in permitting it. I’m not young, and I can talk from knowledge.”3
If you examine Scripture closely, you’ll find dozens of these affirmations to explore and enjoy. Here’s a sampling:
Yes, I have a good inheritance—Psalm 16:6
Yes, I will sing praises to the Lord—Psalm 27:6
Yes, the Lord will give what is good; and our land will yield its increase—Psalm 85:12
Yes, our God is merciful—Psalm 116:5
When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet—Proverbs 3:24
Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand—Isaiah 41:10
Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you—Jeremiah 31:3
Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!—Daniel 10:19
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them”—Revelation 14:13
Yes, you have been preapproved for so much, and we’re heirs of untapped spiritual wealth.
Yes, you have been preapproved for so much, and we’re heirs of untapped spiritual wealth. With these verses in your Bible and these yeses in the billfold of your faith, you needn’t ask permission to live abundantly; you have it. You don’t have to dream about being rich. You’re an heir of God and coheir with Christ.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but rich people live differently from the rest of us. They breathe a different air, have a different attitude, and enjoy life at a different level. When we more fully realize our riches in Christ, we think and live and act differently. The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places. Read Ephesians 1–3; say “Amen” to 2 Corinthians 1:19-21; and begin thinking of yourself as rich in Christ. Catch the dream God has for your life and see how many yeses are within the boundary lines of grace.
And remember to always say: “Yes, Lord! Amen!”
1“$58 Billion Unclaimed: Is Some of It Yours?” http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/24/pf/unclaimed-money, accessed on July 28, 2020.
2“Pricey (And Unusual) Unclaimed Property,”http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/2013/01/24/unclaimed-property/index.html, accessed on July 28, 2020.
3Phyllis Thompson, Count It All Joy (Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1978), 152
This article originally appeared in the March 2014 issue of Turning Pointsdevotional magazine. Request your complimentary subscription today!
