“As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord.” 
              — Colossians 2:6

The life of faith is represented as receiving-an act which implies the
very opposite of anything like merit. It is simply the acceptance of a
gift. As the earth drinks in the rain, as the sea receives the streams,
as night accepts light from the stars, so we, giving nothing, partake
freely of the grace of God. The saints are not, by nature, wells, or
streams, they are but cisterns into which the living water flows; they
are empty vessels into which God pours his salvation. The idea of
receiving implies a sense of realization, making the matter a reality.
One cannot very well receive a shadow; we receive that which is
substantial: so is it in the life of faith, Christ becomes real to us.
While we are without faith, Jesus is a mere name to us-a person who
lived a long while ago, so long ago that his life is only a history to
us now! By an act of faith Jesus becomes a real person in the
consciousness of our heart. But receiving also means grasping or
getting possession of. The thing which I receive becomes my own: I
appropriate to myself that which is given. When I receive Jesus, he
becomes my Saviour, so mine that neither life nor death shall be able
to rob me of him. All this is to receive Christ-to take him as God’s
free gift; to realize him in my heart, and to appropriate him as mine.

Salvation may be described as the blind receiving sight, the deaf
receiving hearing, the dead receiving life; but we have not only
received these blessings, we have received CHRIST JESUS himself. It is
true that he gave us life from the dead. He gave us pardon of sin; he
gave us imputed righteousness. These are all precious things, but we
are not content with them; we have received Christ himself. The Son of
God has been poured into us, and we have received him, and appropriated
him. What a heartful Jesus must be, for heaven itself cannot contain
him!

On this day...

• Judges 8 - 2024
• Judges 7 - 2024
• He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary - 2011
• Don't put your faith into feelings. - 2010
• PLACED IN THE LIGHT - 2009
• The Scramble for Popularity - 2009
• THE QUEST FOR IMPERFECTION - 2008
• POLITICAL SKILL - 2008
• GO-TO PERFORMERS - 2008
• 1 Corinthians 2:2 - 2007