WE MUST RECEIVE

Luke 13:16 "And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?"

LUKE 13:10-17

This sickness was the work of Satan - not the work of God. Jesus said it had bound her - not blessed her - for eighteen years. The teaching that says that sickness is actually a blessing in disguise, because the Lord is working His plan in one's life, is not found in scripture. As Acts 10:38 says, Jesus "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil," not "oppressed of God."

There are 17 times in the Gospels when Jesus healed all of the sick that were present. There are 47 other times when He healed one or two people at a time.

Nowhere do we find Jesus refusing to heal anyone. Jesus said that He could do nothing of Himself, but only what He saw the Father do. His actions are proof enough that it is always God's will to heal!

GROW IN GRACE

Luke 11:38 - "And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner."

LUKE 11:37-41

A sure sign of the error of legalism is misplaced priorities, as we see here with these Pharisees. It is not recorded in Scripture that the Pharisees marveled at the wonderful works of Jesus. They were too busy looking for something to criticize (Mark 3:2). But they marveled at Jesus not washing His hands. This is a classic example of straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel (Mt. 23:24).

Those who seek to earn righteousness through keeping the Law are consumed with "doing," while those who receive righteousness by faith are simply confessing what has already been done. This is a simple and yet profound difference. If we are still "doing" acts of holiness to get God to move in our lives, then we are still operating under a "Law" mentality that is not faith (Gal. 3:12). When we simply believe and confess what has already been provided through Christ, that's grace.

Blessings and Miracles

By Andrew Wommack

It’s true that we serve a God of miracles. But brace yourself, because what I am going to say about that will come as a total shock to some of you. The Lord’s preference is not to meet your needs through a miracle.

Now before you think I’ve lost all my faith, hear me out. I define a miracle as the suspension or superseding of natural laws, and personally, I’ve received many. There is no doubt in my mind that the Lord performs miracles and uses them like a bell to draw people unto Himself.

But let me ask you, would you rather receive a miracle of healing or live with the blessing of good health? Would you rather have the Lord perform a miracle to pull you out of bankruptcy or be so blessed financially that He wouldn’t have to? I think the logical answer to both of those questions is obvious.

It’s always better to avoid problems, which is the result of living in blessing, than it is to be delivered out of them, which requires a miracle.

Don’t Settle For Less—Receive God’s Best

By Andrew Wommack

A few months ago, I dreamed all night long of preaching a message entitled How to Receive God’s Best. I’ve spent weeks meditating on this and feel like the Lord gave this to me to share with you.

Before I can share the heart of what the Lord spoke to me, I need to point out two very important things in that title: You have to learn how to RECEIVE God’s BEST.

The Lord really impressed on me that the main reason we aren’t receiving His best is because we are willing to settle for less. Very few are committed to God’s best. We have been influenced more by the world than by God’s Word and “dumbed down” to accept far less than what God has provided. As long as you can live with less than God’s best, you will. That is a powerful truth.

You have to get sick and tired of being sick and tired before you will aggressively pursue God’s best. You have to have a holy dissatisfaction with mediocrity before you can experience all that God has for you. It doesn’t happen accidentally or automatically. If you don’t pursue it, you won’t get it.

Step Across the Faith Line

"And being not weak in faith, [Abraham] considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God." (Romans 4:19-20)

In the years I've spent living by faith, there's something I've learned to do that helps me receive from God in the toughest of situations. It's something I call stepping over the faith line.
A faith line is what you need when you want God to do the "impossible" in your life. It's what you need when you want to be firm in your faith and yet you keep wavering back and forth between your circumstances and God's promises--believing first one, then the other.

It's what can make you like faithful Abraham. You know, Abraham had natural facts to deal with just like we do. He knew there was no natural way for God's promise to him to come true.

Harnessing Your Imagination And Intuition

The Book of Job reveals the following:

But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. Job 32:8

You have a spirit, given you by God, and through your spirit God intends that you communicate with Him, receive from Him, and join with Him. It is impossible to know God without the activity of your spirit.

At the same time, when you were in your fallen state, outside of Christ, living in death, the result of sin, your spirit became tainted and resulted in your waywardness from God, and your inability to see, hear, and speak about genuine reality both invisible and visible accurately. Everything coming from your spirit as a result of the fall tainted your thinking, feeling, speaking, and acting.

Press on in Patience

"...be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (Hebrews 6:12)

You've been walking by faith. You've been believing God to meet your need. But what do you do when the results seem slow in coming and you are tempted to give up?

Be patient!

There is not much said about patience these days. But, when it comes to receiving from God, it is just as important as faith.