Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:12-13.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
It is one thing to believe, it is another to receive. Receiving is a higher level of faith than merely believing. Many believe that I can heal but it is another level to receive the healing you already have in Christ with fully persuaded faith. Many people believe that Jesus died and that I raised Him from the dead, but it is another level to receive Him as your own Savior and rejoice in your salvation as a cherished gift to you. And many believe that I forgive, but they have not received forgiveness, that is, they do not feel forgiven and still bear the guilt of their sins. And many believe that the Holy Spirit exists, BUT IT IS ANOTHER LEVEL TO RECEIVE HIM, HIS GIFTS, AND HIS GUIDANCE. It is called being “filled with the Holy Spirit.” And next on our journey will be Pentecost fulfilled, but first I have a few things to cover.
All of you who are My children should be following the lead of the Holy Spirit, for I clearly tell you that those who are My children are led by Him. So you can be. But it is based on your receiving Him and then walking in love and peace.
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20: 21-22.
Receiving and applying what you have from Me in your life is another level up from merely believing. Come up higher in the flow of divine fire.
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3:15-16.
“Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, its ardor is as inflexible as Sheol; its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it; if a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, it would be utterly despised.” Song of Songs 8:6-7.
If you go ahead a little to the day Pentecost was fulfilled, you will find that the people who were saved and baptized that day were “those who had received” the Word Peter was preaching.
And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:40-42.
You see, they received the Word and they applied it to their life style. Everything changed by believing, receiving, and applying the Word.
And what was Peter preaching? The good news of Jesus as seen in the prophecies of Joel and David.
Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. the grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:22-25.
Love has a lot to do with receiving My Word.
Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the Word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:21-22.
And receiving Jesus is the basis upon which you are saved.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13.
Many take communion, almost by rote, but few receive it as I intended it to benefit you. Why? They do not recognize the body. And I mean the body of Christ but also His body the church of which you are a member by receiving Him. You are not alone, you are a member of the most blessed, powerful, and glorious body on earth, which is also in Heaven. And every good deed, every work of excellence, from the Head to the least member is yours by incorporation. Yes, what Jesus did, I credit to your account as part of His body. What My apostle Paul did I credit to your account as well. And so on from the beginning to this day.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22.
And your works too, while particularly yours for an individual reward, also belong to all the members of the body! You are living for the praise of My glory IN EVERY MEMBER OF THE BODY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH. Every good work you do increases the glory of every saint in Heaven and every saint on earth and makes you shine brighter and brighter.
So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 1 Corinthians 11:27-31.
Examine yourself in this.
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? 2 Corinthians 13:5.
Therefore, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to My work, be about My affairs, because you know that your labor unto Me in Christ Jesus is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58. It blesses and increases every member in the body of Christ, including you. The scope of what you do reaches far beyond you.
And what do you have to do to do My Works? Jesus told you, “believe in the one He has sent.” John 6:28-29. Anything you ask in His Name, He will do. Fully persuaded faith believes and receives, and it also acts. He told you to cast out demons in His Name and lay your hands on the sick to transmit the power of the Holy Spirit in you to heal.
When you partake of the body and blood of Jesus, to experience what I have so freely given you, you must truly receive. And you do this by way of remembrance. And we are on that journey of remembrance of Him—the One I sent who is ever before Me interceding for you to the uttermost.
And it is My doing that I have put you in Him. 1 Corinthians 1:30. And attributed all He has to your account. He emptied Himself and became poor, so that you, by His poverty, might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9. That is grace. And when you RECEIVE the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness you reign in life through Christ Jesus. Romans 5:17. Not just believing but receiving. And you receive by believing in your heart and declaring with your mouth and doing corresponding actions.
For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. Hebrews 6:7-8.
It has to do with how much you open your heart and then open your mouth to declare. Jesus knocks, you must open to receive.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20.
And part of our journey of remembrance is to look at the prophets and see their words as applied to the revelation of Jesus. Just as Jesus did on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples. And next we will pause to look at Daniel and David and what they foretold of the ascension of My Son back to glory when He had finished the work I gave Him to do as Messiah.
As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. 1 Peter 1:10-12.
But we have already covered enough for you to ponder and chew on for this Life Lesson. More in our next Lesson.
Are you beginning to know and believe in the love I have for you? It is higher than the sky and deeper than the sea, beyond what you can fathom. And it is broader and longer than you can even imagine. Are you enjoying this journey of remembrance as much as I am? I keep a book of remembrance about you who love Me.
Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” Malachi 3:16-17.
I love you. My delight is to be with the children of men blessing them and helping them to grow to the mature one I made you to be—just like Jesus and He is just like Me. Go beyond believing to receiving all the good I have stored up for you!