"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." (John 13:20 KJV)
"I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." (Philippians 3:12-14 NLT)
Something of a little twist, based upon that word, "receiveth," which pretty much means to 'lay hold on,' or, 'to take it unto yourself.' Here is the thing, in a nutshell: We are captured by God! You can pretend all you want to think that you found God and made up your mind to follow Him; but truth be told, you were lost and without hope, and He snatched you up, like a fish washed up on the shore, and He saved your life by throwing you back into the ocean!
I know that might not do it justice, but it is the simplest way to show the condition we were in, and what it took to get us to know how much it was Him, and no us that saved ourselves. We, like that fish flopping around on the shore, did not know which way to go, and did not have the ability to get there, even if we could see way; because the way is not a place, but a Person!
Pay attention to what is being said, because it is He that sends for you! That day when I was saved, I had no intention of doing anything but resting on my bunk. But God apprehended me, by calling me out of my state of rebellion, and gave me the desire to check out what He had to offer me. He sent a Preacher to where I was, to preach a message that was prepared for me, that I received, as I believed everything that he said! Then I received Jesus into my heart; thereby, making me to be received by the Father!
Forty years later, I have no more faith than I did back then; as a matter of fact, I feel as though the race has gotten harder. But the greatest thing I have to lay hold upon, is that my hope is still on Jesus and not upon myself! Oh, what plans I saw for myself way back then: Laying hands on people to heal them, preaching sermons to enormous crowds, being sinless and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!
Yet, the older I get, the closer I feel I am to the ground. By the way, even a nut has three parts...
"Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made." (Philippians 3:15-16 NLT)
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