Freely you have received, freely give.
Matthew 10:8
It’s a reality to life you can’t give what you don’t have. It’s a principle set by God. First there must be the receptivity. The majority of our stuggles in life circle around our abilities to trust and believe someone. People! I know no other ‘perfect’ human other than Jesus Christ. We have all faced our own perculiar dysfunctions as children; behaviours and thinking patterns ingrained as we grow up. David often says, just because you grow older doesn’t mean you grow up.
As believers we have this goal we are moving towards fround in Ephesian chapter four ~ growing up in every way into the fullness of Him -
This is alot of work. This requires much willingness to change. This presents pain and comes with suffering. Identities are shattered and rebuilt. Values are replaced. Not by the efforts of our own but as we behold Him, we become like Him. Transformed by the very working of His Holy Spirit, HE makes all things new.
I like something a man of God once said, ‘we are not looking for behaviour modification
we are looking for transformation’ and that by the Spirit of God. Yet, this all hinges on my willingness to believe and receive what God has decreed.
David adds this thought this morning as I write ~ “It’s a funny and awkward truth about people. They can’t view anyone in a relationship with them as more valuable than they view themselves. Honour eventually seeks it’s own level. If I despise me, I eventually have to despise anyone who loves me, as I judge anyone who’d love me ( if they really knew me ) as more broken than me. That rolls outward to the relationship in general.”
The receptivity from God can never come from simple practices of mental assent. While agreement with God is absolutely necessary, this must be a truth birthed in us by the Holy Spirit. It must become revelation to our heart and mind. Identity must be redefined by Our Father in Heaven.
For me It began with Romans 5:5. The Love of God has been (past tense) shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Leaning into and asking for His help to make this a reality to me as I studied Ephesians chapter one.
In love He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the Beloved, verse 5,6.
Ephesians chapter one is filled with rich, full, generous words that describe Gods heart for you and me. As we prayerfully meditate on these truths, the water of the word washes and purifies our consciousess that is so aware of our faults and failings. We learn to be loved without resisting and grieving the work of the Holy Spirit.
Can you imagine the grief we cause when we continually reject love? There’s only so much rejection we mere humans will tolerate until we quit trying. Thankfully, His love never fails and He never quits. This means that as I lean into Him, I become one with His abilities and character. His heart and mind and His love never fail, never fade out and never come to an end. He is longggggggggsuffering.
Through a purposeful pursuit of knowing Him and His love we are ultimately free from the lying vanities and the cycle of rejection. We can begin to pour out what we have freely received. I love that word, freely. I don’t have to work for it. I don’t have to be perfect to keep it; cp: Romans 5:8; Romans 8:31-39. CONSEQUENTLY I don’t bring this into my relationship with others. Freely I have received, freely I give.
May this be a day and a season of new beginnings where we are able to step into greater dimensions of knowing and displaying His love. Let the change begin in us so that truly all men will know we are His disciples because we are rooted and grounded in His love and filled with the fullness of our God able to freely give to all.