John 1: 1-12 A Sensible Relationship CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
This passage says, “as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God” and according to the Bible there are many aspects to receiving the Lord – they involve your whole being – all of your senses and your heart and your will are involved
To look is to receive with the eyes – Is 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else – we say “keep your eyes on Jesus” – we sing “turn your eyes upon Jesus” – truly we walk by faith and not by sight but 1 Cor 13:12 says, but now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face – our eyes are so over stimulated by the things around us that we have to receive our heavenly sight from the Lord – like the blind man that begged, “Lord that I may receive my sight” now we need to ask for divine sight – Elisha asked the Lord to show Gehazi that there were more with them than with the Syrians and the Lord let him see all the chariots and horsemen of fire – when we read the Bible we need to be able to see what we are reading – our eyes need to behold the glory of his revealed truth – open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law
To hear is to receive with the ears – Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy – Josh 3:9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God – Matt 13:9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear – do you know what Israel’s problem was? They had ears but they could not hear – their ears were dull of hearing – we need the Lord to open our ears so that we can understand what we are reading when we read it and so that we can hear the words speaking to us throughout the day, particularly when the Lord is trying to tell us something – he will speak to you through the Bible and teach you what he wants you to know
To taste is to receive with the mouth – Ps 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him – we are to hunger and thirst after righteousness Matt 5:6 – but our mouths are so accustomed to the taste of those things that satisfy our appetite, we cannot taste the Lord – the full soul loatheth an honeycomb but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet, Prov 27:7 – when you come to the Lord truly hungering and thirsting after righteousness then Jn 6:35 is true – And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst – you truly need to develop an appetite for the Lord – how else do you suppose that Moses and Elisha fasted 40 days and 40 nights
To take is to receive with the hands – Rev 22:17 let him take the water of life freely – Ps 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD – Mk 8:34 Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me – once you get saved there is the cross to take – a man on the cross looks one way, never looks back, and dies to his own will – if you don’t take your cross you can’t be his disciple
To come is to receive with the feet – Matt 11:28 come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden – you have to come to Jesus with your labor and burdens – many try to handle things on their own – the kings of Israel were lifted up when they were strong and quit coming to the Lord for help – Jer 17:5 Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord – Enoch certainly learned to walk with the Lord and we need to follow his example and walk with the Lord learning to come to him with everything in our lives
To trust is to receive with the heart – Prov 3:5-6 trust in the Lord with all thine heart – your relationship with Jesus is no different than any other healthy relationship – it is built on trust – and you have to trust him with everything – the time that you are going to be tempted to pull back and quit trusting him is when following his will leads you into trouble and hurts you or when you don’t get something that you really want – but you must receive him with your whole heart and truly trust him all the way – Israel didn’t want to do this after they had been in the wilderness for a while
To choose is to receive with the will – Josh 24:15 choose you this day whom ye will serve – serving the Lord is a choice – it is a matter of the will – it is not a choice that is made for you by your parents – they may drag you to church when you are a child and you may outwardly perform all of the duties laid upon you – but until you personally make the choice to serve the Lord, you have never received him with your will
Will you receive him with your whole being?