Prayer Meeting Tonight at 6:30PM
Daily Beats from the Pastor’s Heart:
John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
A great deal of importance is placed upon the word “receive” in the New Testament.
You might ask, What does it mean to receive Christ?
When do I receive Him?
At what point can I say I have received Him?
In the above verse, the answer to these questions does not mention joining a church or merely subscribing to doctrinal statements; neither does it require us to go through a religious ritual.
It simply says–“as many as received Him.”
Then it says, “to them He gave authority to become children of God.”
The word “become” implies that we were not children of God, but by the act of receiving, an authority is imparted to us by Christ Himself to become children of God.
It is by receiving Him that I become a child of God.
At this point may I ask, Have you received Him?
Do you have the assurance that Christ is IN you?
If not, you can receive Him now.
You can receive Him at any time and in any place.
You can receive Him by yourself or with others.
While you are reading this Heartbeat, you can take the step to receive Him.
It is as simple as receiving a gift.
For example, someone may offer a pen to you.
They can say, “This pen is for you. It is a gift.”
They can offer the pen to you all day long, but for the pen to become yours, you need to receive it.
Then it actually becomes yours.
In a similar way the Lord Jesus offers Himself to us through the gospel.
But He is like a gentleman.
He waits for our act of receiving.
Whenever anyone receives Him, He instantly comes into them.
It is a momentous thing to receive the Lord Jesus.
You receive by confessing with your mouth, “Lord Jesus, I receive You.”
At that moment He gives you the authority to become His child.
There is more authority in simply saying, “Jesus, right now I open to You, come into me,” than in all the form prayers you have ever prayed and all the rituals you have ever practiced.
The authority to become a child of God is yours by the act of receiving Him.
You can do it now, if you have not already.
Philippians 1:19, “For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,”
The very nature of the Christian life requires that we spend time with the Lord, because the Christian life is a supplied life.
It is a life that is supplied to us.
It has nothing to do with our own resources or any potential in ourselves.
It has everything to do with our opening up to Another life to be supplied by that life from beginning to end.
The Christian life is a life that has been prepared for us and is then furnished to us by God.
He intends to continually supply Himself to us.
It is for this reason that we need to spend time with the Lord–to receive the supply.
When we hear the truth from the Scriptures or from others, we may take it as a personal demand upon us and feel threatened.
We may think, “I’m not like that. I could never do that. I can’timagine that I could ever feel that way. I just can’t live up to that.”
With these kinds of thoughts and feelings, if we do not realize that the Christian life is a supplied life, we may conclude that this life is not for us and give up.
But listen to this.
Every word that God has spoken in the Bible, whatever it is, whatever apparent demand it brings, God wants to supply that very thing into our being.
It is not that we are expected to “measure up,” or come up with the ability to perform in ourselves.
No, God intends to continually supply Himself to us.
We must understand the Christian life in this way–it is a supplied life.
From beginning to end, it is supplied to us.
And this supply comes to us and is dispensed into us in a very specialand enjoyable way–by spending time with the Lord.
Until Tomorrow,
With A Shepherd’s Love
Pastor
Today’s Prayer List
Ashley & Jason’s 16 Year Old Nephew Did Well
Debra Roberts – Critical
Hanna Hall – Pray For Grace
James Parsons – Mae’s Brother – Hospice
Larry Barker – Hip Replacement
Sherry Yoachum – Surgery
Amy Garner’s Mother – Better –
Andria Carter – Ashley’s Sister –
Barbara Shed’s Family –
Bill Lawhead – Cancer Returned
Bill Moody –
Charlie Sessom –Waiting –
Colby/Connor – Allison’s G’sons–
Denise Stubbs – Kim Allison’s Mom
Don Slate – Angela Bryan’s Dad – Hospice
Doug Fritzel –
James Garner – Shoulder Replacement
James Garner’s G’Son –
John Burnette –
John McClain’s Mother –
Joyceann – James Garner’s Daughter
Kimberly – Dustin’s Sister–
Lavona Davis –
Linda Breedlove’s Sister – Sarah
Lynn – Nancy Brown’s Daughter –
Mary Sims –
Michael Stanley –
Nancy Brown’s G’Daughter –
Nora Allison – Dustin’s Mom –
Pastor Stucke– Nikki’s Dad
Paula Ferus’ Missionary Friend
Ricky Stubbs –
Roseleigh Osborn –
Scott Lanier – Lisa’s Cousin –
Sharon Blalock–
Shaelyn – Jill’s Friend
Shannon Golden –
Sheila Simmons Cousin –
Todd Bailey –
Todd Roberts –
Tom Witcher –
Wanda Galanti –