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Intro to Receiving

Here, people experience God’s love by receiving Jesus into their lives as their Lord and Savior.

Quick Tips:
Someone could be receiving because they’re brand new to God, or they could have met him decades ago, but just never really moved forward. It’s a critical phase of faith. The days of soaking up God’s goodness. Like kids, receivers still waver when it comes to obeying. They negotiate with God. Again, Bible-thumping is not so effective. (Pro tip: arguing, convincing, aggressive Bible-pointing is never the answer.) They might read the Bible but not know what to do with it. Or not read it yet at all. They need a model. They need to be led, loved, and received.

They may be actively “working” for Jesus (volunteering everywhere, even leading things). They may need to stop, and just receive for a while. Receiving means embracing something as a gift, not working for it, trying to pay for it, or minimizing it’s value. It’s taking someone fully at their word and living differently as a result. Many of the issues we have spiritually in “later phases” are actually a result of rushing past receiving, not fully embracing what God tried to give us. Help them soak it up.

Spiritually

They’re growing in believing:

  • God is a good Father and a good King. Most people come to faith very strong in one of these aspects of God but not the other. Most all of us can grow more in each.
  • Jesus is Lord. They may have said he is, but a receiver is someone who has asked God to save them. They haven’t necessarily said, “...and I’ll do whatever You want.” Their eternity is no longer on the line, but they’re right at the starting line of faith. They haven’t really gotten into the specifics. They could be brand new to faith, or they may have been sitting at that starting line for decades. Coming to terms with God’s absolute right to rule is a necessary step in their growth.
  • Jesus came to do so much more than save us from hell. He came to give us life to the full. But to do that, we can’t just receive parts of him. We need all of him. Receivers are growing to believe the character of God, the story we’re a part of, and our identity in him:
    • We are totally forgiven. Meaning there’s nothing we’ve done that’s too much for him. Coming to terms with this total absolution with their past will include repentance.
    • They don’t have to work for anything. The work has already been completely done for them. He actually died for us, and all we have to do is receive that. Tapping into this at a deep heart level lays a powerful foundation for everything else.
    • Grace is real, powerful, and never ending. We should practice soaking it up now and forever.
    • God is our perfect Father, meaning he loves to provide for us, protect us, train us, love us, give us good things, and grow us up well. He enjoys us, and they’re growing to enjoy Him as well.
    • We’re His beloved kids meaning we carry his name, have access to all his resources, and will never be abandoned by him.
    • He’s speaking to us, and he wants us to hear him. He wants to be with us. He wants us to know him, read his words, find truth, and be free. We also learn to internalize the Bible, have real conversations with him via prayer, and surround ourselves with people who call the best out of us.
    • God’s Spirit is real, alive, knowable, and active. Growing up in God means having a regular interface with his Spirit and his mysteries. Walking in the Spirit can be a little “out there!”
    • God is a good King who is worthy of being followed. Surrendering our preferences for his is good. Letting go of our stuff is safe. Turning over our will and receiving his direction instead is life-giving.
    • Repentance is sweet and leads to life, refreshment, healing, and newness.

Financially

They’re struggling to believe:

  • That God promises to take care of us, and we don’t have to worry about taking care of ourselves. We don’t have to be afraid of anything.
  • Everything we have is God’s. We didn’t earn it (no matter how hard we may have worked). He gave it to us.
  • Our resources are “ours” to manage only temporarily. We receive them and use them to bless others.
  • We can actually test him in this. He promises that if we give first to him, he’ll multiply our resources.

Intellectually

They’re struggling to believe:

  • The Bible is worth fully absorbing. Soaking it up, asking questions, learning to apply it leads to incredible freedom and clarity.
  • God’s goodness is tangible and accessible. We can notice it and receive it every day. He wants to give us good things.
  • God is obsessed with our trust. Wisdom comes from faith and choosing to take God at his word (aka believing what’s written in the Bible.)
  • Emotional health matters. Understanding our emotions, being real about what we feel so we can turn those over to God to more honestly interact with him and others is a critical difference-maker in experiencing relationship with God (vs. subscribing to a religion.)
  • Some of their intellectual barriers will need surrendered: learning to hear him, believing in things we cannot see, trusting in things we can’t prove is foundational for faith.
  • We can conquer fear. Jesus says, “do not worry.” So they’re learning how to trust. Stress, image, anxiety can be surrendered. Hearts can be light and free.
  • The suffering in the world can coexist with a good God.

Physically

They’re struggling to believe:

  • He says we’re enough exactly as we are right now. However we look, however we feel about ourselves, however the world validates us or not, whoever loves us or not, he says we’re enough.
  • God’s design for our physical life (time, health, and sex) is for our good. Where our opinions are in conflict with his, we can trust him. Our hearts and bodies need to be protected for marriage (diligence for purity doesn’t stop after a wedding.)
  • We work best from rest. We produce most from a place of abiding, not striving. The world will not collapse without us. We can take ourselves less seriously, receive, play, enjoy.
  • Surrendering our time, health, sex lives, and body image sets us free.

Relationally

They’re struggling to believe:

  • That revealing our whole selves to others—the good, the bad and the ugly—is freeing. That shame can be overcome through being known and loved.
  • That learning to love others well comes from first receiving God’s love well. Learning to forgive others comes from receiving grace from Him first.
  • Tackling difficult conversations—both giving and receiving feedback—is critical to relationships and can be done well, without long term damage.
  • We grow from sitting under others who are further along. Pursuing people whose lives we admire is worth our time and energy.