...And what do you have that you did not receive?...
The other day, my husband, Jack, was sharing a testimony about how he received an impartation from an older man in the Faith. It was a spiritual gift of healing that this man had received from God. It was one of those unusual God moments. The man knocked on our door, out of the blue. He was weeping in the Spirit of God, and he asked Jack for his hands. As he laid his hands in Jack's hands, he told Jack God had sent him to impart the gift of healing that he had been given from the Lord. He did, and then he left.
As Jack was talking, I thought of the decades that have passed since that day. I began to think about the measure of the gifting that our dear old friend had so freely given, and how long it had taken to be completely activated in our ministry. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit highlighted "what do you have that you did not receive..." with the emphasis on "have" and "not." Now, I recognize that Paul was exhorting us not to be prideful in our gifts, because that is exactly what they are, gifts. But God was reminding me, in that moment, that we have treasures upon treasures of gifts from our Heavenly Poppa that are our beyond measure!! What do we have waiting for us to open and use that we have not received?
I went back to the root of the word receive. It comes from re- and capere to take, seize. Re- signifies doing something again, or anew. When we receive these gifts from God, we are actually taking back what was originally ours, in the Garden, before the enemy stole them from us. Jesus was beaten and was crucified to restore us, in everything and every way, to God!
What keeps us from receiving everything Jesus already gave us?
It is ignorance, lies, and shame.
Friends, let us cast these aside and press in to the fullness of Christ! Let's come alongside each other and help each other to be healed, and to learn truth, and to grow into the full stature of our dear Lord and Savior!
