"For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst RECEIVE IT, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7).
Imagine hearing a knock at your door. You peek through the curtains from a nearby window and see the mailman standing there with a big package in his arms. You open the door to find that the package is addressed to you; it's a gift from a friend! The mailman asks you to sign for it on a paper marked, "Receive" and leaves as you stand there holding your gift. It's yours! All you had to do was receive it!
There is a key to receiving God's blessings in your life.
Christians need to learn about the receiving end of obtaining the blessings of God. In the area of salvation, a lot of people say, "If you'll do this, and if you'll quit that, and if you'll give up this, then the Lord will save you." Have any of you ever heard that? It couldn't be further from the truth! We don't give up anything to get what belongs to us from Christ. Receiving from God is not subtracting; it's adding!
The gospel is the good news! It is not subtraction; it is addition. We don't give up things to become Christians. And we don't give up things to receive healing. We just take it! We receive what has already been given to us!
I had the privilege of growing up in a minister's home. I was born one Sunday morning and brought to church the next Sunday. I've been around church all of my more than 50 years of living. And I've seen some things throughout the years that have hindered people from receiving from God.
Just Come to God and Receive
I want you to notice that John 1:12 days, "But as many as RECEIVED HIM, to them gave he POWER to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
You cannot live for God in your own strength. But after you receive Jesus, He gives you the power to overcome evil. He gives you the power to overcome temptation. He gives you the power to overcome everything the devil will try to bring to you. It's not giving up things and trying to be a better person that's going to save you. It's receiving the Lord Jesus Christ and then living in the power that He gives you!
So many times we pray about something and still get no results. Certainly we need to pray, but we've got to have faith in order to receive. I thank God for prayer. Often when you're preaching or teaching on a certain subject and you zero in on one particular area, it may seem as though you're minimizing other areas. But I'm not minimizing praying. I'm only emphasizing receiving right now.
You've got to have both of them working together, praying and receiving. However, you don't have to keep praying to God for something that already belongs to you. You can just receive it! God has already handed you blessings in His Word. He has already given them to you. They're in your pocket, so to speak. All you've got to do is use them!
God is waiting on You
How many of you have ever played a game of checkers, chess, or another kind of board game? Has anyone ever looked at you and said, "Okay, it's your move"? Well, I'm going to tell you something, friend. When it comes to receiving from God according to His Word, it's your move!
God has already moved. Now it's your move! What you receive from God depends on you! Say this out loud: "What I receive from God depends on me! It's my move!" That should excite us! So many times we're sitting around waiting for God to move, and that's wrong.
First Corinthians 4:7 says, "...what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" They way to enjoy the blessings that God has provided for you is simply to receive them. It doesn't matter where you were born or what your status is in life, God created you to enjoy His blessings.
In Christ, you can cross the street over into the blessings God has for you spiritually, physically, materially, and in every area of your life. Don't misunderstand me. Certainly, spirituality is not measured by material wealth or your status in life.
But as a believer, no matter what your situation or circumstance, you can move from a position of defeat to a position of victory according to God's Word. However, in order to do that, you 'll have to make a move toward God to receive those blessings and benefits.
You Can Have God's Best!
Each day, God offers us every benefit spiritually, physically, financially, materially, and emotionally. But many times we say, in effect, "Well, I believe I'll go back where I was and settle for less than God's best." But you'll never know and experience the blessings of God until you make a move toward God. It's your move!
I heard an illustration once about a guy who told another man, "You be here tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock at the corner of Such-and-such Streets, and I'm going to give you the keys to a brand new car."
A third fellow said to the man who was offered the car, "That couldn't be so. You know nobody is going to give you a new car." The man replied, "I don't know, but I sure can't lose anything by going."
Now I want to ask you a question: Would you be there at the street corner? What if your family, all your friends, and even your fellow church members said, "Aw, you know that couldn't happen. That same guy promised something to Uncle So-and-so and never gave him anything?"
What would you do? Would you go down to that street corner at three in the afternoon? Even if the guy doesn't come through, you don't have anything to lose except a little but of your time. But if he does come through, you've got a new car to gain! And you can drive that new car back and show it to those people who told you it wouldn't happen.
The Lord's Blessings
Friend, the Lord has promised us blessings in His Word. He has them for us. All we need to do is take the keys, so to speak, get in the car, and drive! Then we can "drive back" with the blessings and show that God is still God and that He always will be God!
Receive it! Receive whatever it is that you need or want from God's Word. That's all there is to it. How hard is it to receive? It's very simple and easy, but we have made it difficult. When I say "we," I'm talking about the Church. For example, when you talk to some Christians about the promises of God, you find out that they don't understand how to receive from God in simple faith. But the Word makes it clear not only what the promises are, but how to receive those promises.
We have already discussed what God's Word says about salvation. But the Word also says something about healing. It says that by Jesus' stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). That's what God said in His Word! Yet when you talk about some of these blessings, including getting your needs met, some theologians have made it difficult by saying it can't be that simple. Others say things like, "You've got to go to church every day in order to earn God's blessing." You don't have to do anything like that in order to receive from God.
Now don't misunderstand me. You should go to church. But what I'm saying to you is, just receive what God has for you. It is simply this: "Lord, I receive!" And then act like its so!
"Well, yes," somebody said, "but there are still some crosses we have to bear. If you haven't borne any crosses, how do you expect to get anything from God? After all, there will be some trials and tribulations. The Bible says so."
But God is still God even though there are trials and tribulations! And because God is till God, I am still receiving the victory! I don't care if I'm in the midst of the biggest trial there is, I've got the victory, because the story isn't over! We still haven't written the last two words at the end of the story: The End!
In other words, when you get to the end of a test or trial, if you're believing God, there's victory! Now you may have to cross a few rivers and jump a few obstacles. But if you will keep receiving, God will keep giving. It's your move!
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications