Three Steps to Biblical Receiving

    

“He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.  But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”  John 1:11,12

If we are to have anything from God we must learn to receive.

I worked in a warehouse for a spell.   There was a “receiving” department.   That department was responsible for three very important things.

Acknowledging a delivery, allowing the shipment to enter the building, and verifying the material was correct.

Even if the person in receiving acknowledged the delivery and allowed the shipment to enter the building, unless they verified that the material was correct, they could still refuse it.  It would be sitting on our loading dock, but it wasn’t ours.

The end of the process of receiving is a transfer of ownership.

Shaking off the snakes

“And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid [them] on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the [venomous] beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.” Acts 28:3,4

Have you ever been in the position where life brings you a challenge… a test… an unfair situation… and you feel judged by others?

Have you ever been in the position where others (whether in the Body of Christ or not) are looking at you and saying, “God must be dealing with them… They must have done something wrong… God must be angry with them… They are reaping what they sowed!”

I know I have.

It can get confusing.  You go before God truly seeking to understand.  And when you don’t…

Why do we pray?

I read a book awhile back for work.  It was called The Question Behind the Question.  I don't remember much of it other than the title, which drove home the point of the book, that to begin to find an answer to a question start by asking a question about it.  It resonated with me very much because I saw it as a principle that Jesus demonstrated, often responding to people's questions with a question. 

I imagined myself asking Jesus, "Lord, do You do anything apart from prayer?" and wondered, "What question would He ask me?"

Perhaps He would say, "Why do you ask Me?"

An item you requested is on backorder

Backorder: a customer order that cannot be filled when presented, and for which the customer is prepared to wait for some time.

 

I have experienced this myself.  I remember ordering a few books from an online site and getting an email letting me know that one of the books  was not in stock and had been placed on “backorder.”  I was given the  option to cancel the backordered item, but I wasn’t in a rush, and more importantly I wasn’t able to get it anywhere else so… I waited.  It eventually came in the mail.

 

The rest of my order had already arrived.  And had I not known about the backorder I could have said, “I can’t believe they forgot one book!”  I might have gotten mad or frustrated and started complaining about the company.

 

Even though the item wasn’t readily available it was allocated to my order.  As soon as it became available, it would be forwarded to me.  It was definitely mine, even though I hadn’t received it yet.

 

Can you see where I am going with this?