How to receive the blessings God has for you. When I woke up this morning my phone told me it had updates. It didn’t want me to start my day until we had addressed the matter. Check the weather? Nope. How about a text? Nope. And there were like 20 pages of terms and conditions! I needed to accept them all before I could use my phone again. Well, I tend to be a little suspicious (OK, a lot), so I attempted to read all 20 pages. But I quickly realized that I had no idea what any of it meant. Reluctantly, I pushed the button, giving my permission to the technology gods to do whatever they’re inclined to do. I have no idea what that is. But they were appeased. We could move on. Does God have “terms and conditions” that need to be accepted before we can move on with Him? Yes. Yes, He does. But they may not be what you think. Many of us think that obedience and clean living are the terms and conditions that we must meet before God will bless us. We think we need to “do better” before He’ll bless us. Better at what? Well, our answer is usually whatever we’re bad at. Right? But let me tell you, your behavior is not keeping you from receiving from God. Most of us know that we got saved by grace. But for some reason, everything after that, we think we need to receive by trying harder. I grew up with the term “accept Christ.” Just accept Christ and He’ll come into your heart. That’s true. I need to accept that He took the punishment that I deserved; and in exchange, He put me in the place of blessedness, which He deserves. That’s the essence of the gospel. The exchange. But if it’s that simple, why have I struggled so much to feel blessed by God? And why have I watched so many other Christians struggle too? Maybe it’s because we reluctantly pushed the “accept” button without fully understanding the terms and conditions of salvation. Understanding them is extremely important to receiving them. If we don’t understand the terms and conditions of the gospel, we will labor under false assumptions. And we won’t know why we feel fearful, weary, and miserable most of the time. In other words, not blessed. What are some of God’s terms and conditions? Here are three of them. They are clearly spelled out in His book. These are the terms and conditions that God set forth. They have to be accepted. Well, I don’t know…. What if I don’t believe these are true about me? It’s a problem. But what if I don’t feel like their true for me? It doesn’t change the facts. How do I accept these terms? By faith. You have to receive them by faith. You must believe. God’s word is the final authority on every matter. It’s like when a dad says, “Because I said so.” Why is bedtime at 9:00? Because I said so. If God says you are righteous, then you are righteous. For no other reason than He said so. He’s the highest rank. There is no court of appeals. It may take time to grow into it. But the first step is to accept it. And not by trying harder. The labor is in the believing. That’s right, I have to work at believing. (Hebrews 3:19, 4:11-12) Again, how do I know what to believe? God’s word informs me what I have in Christ. And if we don’t know what we have, we’ll live like we don’t have it. Let’s say you booked a vacation to a tropical resort. But the restaurants there seemed rather pricey. To save money, you packed peanut butter sandwiches each day instead of eating out. How would you feel, if as you were checking out, you learned that all of your meals were included in the package? You could have had steak and lobster tails every night! Omelets for breakfast! If only I had known! Sadly, many Christians don’t know what belongs to them because they didn’t find out. They didn’t read His book. It has taken me years to fully receive these terms into my heart. And I’m still growing in it. For a season, I literally had to say out loud, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ” thousands of times a day before it went deep into my soul as revelation. Now, I can honestly say that I am righteous. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think I’m perfect. I just believe that I am exactly as God says. Who am I to argue with God? I believe that I am forgiven too. Because of that, I count myself dead to sin. That old nature still rumbles around but I don’t pay as much attention to it. It no longer defines me. I don’t know what it will take for you to believe and receive because we all learn differently. We have different experiences. I only know it’s worth it. It’s the key that unlocks the blessed life in Christ. How to receive blessings from God My son gave me a really cool chef’s knife for Christmas. I use it all the time. And when I’m chopping up veggies like a pro, I think of him. Isn’t that the best response to a gift? To enjoy the gift and think of the giver? That’s all God wants. He wants us to receive and enjoy. Don’t tell God “You shouldn’t have”, rejecting the gift because you don’t deserve it. That’s exactly the point. You don’t. But He wants you to have it anyway. God wants to pour favor upon you. Let Him, by receiving everything on His terms. He knows what He is doing. Trust Him. He’s better than you realize. And I have a lot more confidence in Him than the techno-geeks who are updating my phone. And I accepted their stuff.
