5 Steps To Receiving From God

Given January 2009

Are you a spiritual receiver?  Do you receive anything from God?  Having played sports in high school and watching football on TV for years, I see this spiritual receiving in similar fashion to a football receiver.  God has lots of good stuff to get to us but we  need to be prepared to receive it.  “But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).  So, how do we receive these things that God hath prepared for us?

1.  First, we have to be on His team…we have to get saved.  We cannot receive from God until we are one of His own and that’s as simple as believing in our hearts and saying with our mouths that Jesus is our Lord.
2.  We have to work hard to get into the game.  That involves getting in spiritual shape through Bible study, prayer, and fellowship with other believers.  That means we learn the plays; all the “plays” are found in the Bible and by reading them we learn how to execute on the field.  And, as in sports, we have to practice.  The Bible says, “Be ye doers of the Word and not hears only,” (James 1:22).  What we learn we must put into practice by doing it.
3.  We have to overcome the opponent.  As always, we have an adversary who is trying to block our path and keep us from receiving.  But, Luke 10:19 says that, “I have given you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing will, by any means, harm you”.  This is something we have already received so we need to use it.
4.  Get your hands up.  A football receiver can’t catch the pass with his hands at his side, he has to reach up to receive.  So it is with spiritual receiving.  We need to be in the position to receive which the play book will dictate but when we’re in the right loction, we need to raise our hands to receive.  Another benefit of raising our hands is that it is the position of praise which is pleasing to the coach, (Master, God).
5.  Receive.  And when you’ve done all these things, you just receive what God has made available to you, score for the team, and enjoy the rewards with your teammates.

Now keep in mind however, we don’t always catch the pass and even if we do, we don’t always score.  Jesus said that in this world we would have trouble but don’t worry, He’s already won the game. (John 16:33).  Follow these steps to begin receiving from God or to receive more of what He has for you.  But we have to dedicate ourselves to God and the team; we can’t just come to practice or the game when we don’t have anything else to do.  God has to be No. 1.  Yea team!  Let’s go!

I’d like to hear your thoughts on receiving from God.  Please share what God has sent you.  Be blessed!

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