Week 5 Day 5: And Received

"The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:9 NASB

To receive means something has come into our possession. It could be an object we purchase, a gift, or a talent. We can assimilate thoughts through our mind or with our senses giving us the ability to receive new ideas. When we welcome, greet or permit someone or something to enter a space under our control we receive them.

This tells us that receiving is an action that we have some control over. We can purchase something, have it delivered to our homes and if it is not exactly what we ordered, we can refuse to receive it. That is exactly what we should do with our thoughts. If they do not line up with what the Word of God says, we should send those thoughts packing.

We should always weigh our thoughts and look for truth. We don’t look for man’s truth about the thoughts, we look for God’s truth. Often some nuggets of truth are hidden in a mountain of lies. We need to excavate the nugget of truth and receive it, but we cast the mountain of lies into the depths of the sea and drown them.

When we hear a truth, we need to receive it, meditate on it and take it deeply within us so we will act on that truth. Because we are wired toward negativity, we hear lies and by nature we tend to take them in deeply. There is danger in that because we will act upon anything we take in deeply. If we believe the lies that we are not loved, that we are not enough we carry it deep in our hearts and live our lives according to those lies. Lies will weave their way into our words, our actions and our relationships.

Every day we must intentionally sift the truth and lies, choose to receive the truth and to reject the lies. It is a battle. Every choice is an act of war between God's truth and the lies of this world. As we feed the truth and reject the lies, we become seasoned warriors. Our ability to recognize and receive the truth gets sharper, more discerning and more empowering.

Receiving also means to act like a receptacle or container for something. Cisterns are typically used to hold rainwater. Unlike wells, they are waterproof and have only one way in and out. If water sits for long periods of time without movement or a fresh source, the water grows stagnant and carries disease.

What we receive is like water. The water can be good or bad, we have to decide which to hold. But even if we choose the good, we can’t just receive it and keep it for ourselves. It will go bad. God’s truths are never ending and deeper than we can even image, it never runs out. Only our unwillingness to receive it stops the flow and we must act on what we have learned in order to get a fresh filling of truth.

"We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing.” Billy Graham

Do you struggle with discerning and receiving truth? How can you increase your ability to receive what God has for you?

Meditate on “and received" today.