By: Lee Ann Anghis

Why do we not receive from God like we should? I have seen it time and time again. Many Christians walk around being so super spiritual always telling everyone, “Oh yes, brother, I believe in the word of God.” “Oh yes, sister, God still heals today.” “I have already heard that message on faith and I don't need to hear it again”, and so on and so on. We'll see how much faith they have when the pressure is on and they find themselves in a fiery furnace. That is where the rubber meets the road and all will see what they really do have inside of them. A lot of these Christians are all talk and no walk. It is their own pride that deceives them. It feeds their ego to present themselves as spiritual giants and getting others to believe that they know it all concerning spiritual matters. They walk by sight and not by faith. The Bible calls them carnal Christians. They have no idea what faith really is. Even most people who classify themselves as “Word of Faith” people aren't walking by faith because they are hearers only and not doers of the Word. They buy all of the books and tapes of all of the well known speakers and run to every meeting that comes to town. How many of the books do they actually read or how many of the tapes did they listen to? And if they do read or listen, was it a one time deal and then on to the next one? Do they take time to meditate and really comprehend what was brought forth? Nine times out of ten I would say they do not. These same people are the one's who are always looking for a new revelation. But what have they done with what they have already heard? When the tests, trials, and tribulations of life cross their path, they don't know how to handle it and have no spiritual strength to stand against and outlast the storm. The main reason for this is that they have no revelation of the Word they have heard. It is not real to them in their hearts. The whirlwind of circumstances in the trial will outweigh what is really in their hearts and they will not win. Knowledge without revelation will end up in disastrous results.

When will we, the Body of Christ, stop operating in spiritual pride and deception? When will we stop being tossed to and fro in the storms of life? Where is the power of God in our lives? The majority of the modern day church have become like the cowardly lion in “The Wizard of Oz”. He was bold and fearless when everything was going fine. But at the first sign of confrontation and opposition, he fell apart. It is so discouraging to watch how people, especially so called "faith" people in the body of Christ, act when trouble comes. Doesn't the Word say that it is impossible to please God without faith? It does say that, therefore, we must believe that He is not pleased when we don't operate in faith. He is displeased when we draw back in fear and consider circumstances over Him. (Hebrews 10:38) Therefore He is putting the responsibility on us to meditate in the Word and get understanding and revelation in our hearts so that we are spiritually strong to stand against the gates of hell.

I would venture to say that a big reason so many Christians do not receive from God is because they have lack of commitment to God and His Kingdom business. Their Christian walk consists of going to church on Sunday and even that has turned into religious "works". They feel like they have done their duty for the week. In other words, they are plain lazy. If you do not have the Word of God hidden in your heart, you will not win in the battles of life. Walking in our rights and privileges as born again believers requires more than just going to church. It requires more than just confessing a few scriptures now and then. It even requires more than just sowing seed and doing nothing more. It is a daily lifestyle that requires discipline, diligence, consistency, and commitment. Most Christians live their lives giving God virtually no time whatsoever because they are so busy with everything else, and then when trouble comes they want to cry out for a miracle. That may work for babies. But there is a time where God will require us to grow up and get serious with Him and with His Word and if we don't, the miracles won't come for us anymore and we will see very little of His power in operation in our lives. If God continually bails one out and that person makes no effort to grow and mature in his Christian walk, it would be unjust and unfair to those who do mature and do what is required to walk the walk of faith and receive the manifestations of God's promises to us.

The bottom line is that if we do not know God intimately and have revelation in our hearts of Him and His Word, we will never walk in His fullness and power and glory. We will not rule and reign on this earth. We will not see much victory in our lives. We will be no better off than the people living in the world's system. And this situation should not be. What a travesty in God's eyes! The price Jesus paid was a price that we could not pay. He gave everything He had to redeem us and provide for us an abundant life. So how do we get off of this merry-go-round and get this situation turned around?

Let's look at the account in Matthew 16:13-18. Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They answered, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” The disciples gave Him an answer out of their intellect. But Jesus wasn't looking for a response from their intellect. He responded to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And then Peter who was always faithful to speak up replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Jesus found what He was looking for.) “Then Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven". And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hell shall not overpower it or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it.” Amp. The K.J. says that “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. Now Jesus wasn't saying He would build His church upon Peter, the rock. He was saying that revelation from God is what He would build His church upon and it is this "revelation" that the gates of hell cannot prevail against. Revelation where? Revelation breaks forth in our heart, our spirit man. Our spirit man is where the Holy Spirit resides. How do we receive revelation? We receive revelation by spending quality time with God and His Word.

God told Joshua that this Book of the Law, the Word of God, shall not depart out of his mouth, but he shall meditate on it day and night, that he may observe, (get revelation) and do according to all that is written in it. For then Joshua, would make his way prosperous, and he would deal wisely and have good success. God is telling us the same thing today. If we do not have revelation in our spirit man of God and what He says in His Word concerning what we believe Him for, Jesus Himself said that the gates of hell would prevail against us. In other words, satan will always be able to defeat us with his crafty schemes and hold us back from our Kingdom inheritance. When God tells us to do something with a specific word of instruction, without revelation we will not be able to get it done. Joshua would have lost every battle he fought without revelation from God that He had already given him the victory over the cities. We've got to see beyond the natural and see with our eyes of faith into the spiritual realm. It is there that our faith will grab hold of everything we will ever need, exactly when we need it. God gave us everything before the foundation of the world and it is all there waiting for us. If we could see into the realm of the spirit, we would be bumping into all of our blessings. But our faith will not connect unless we can see our healing, our house, our money, our deliverance, our restoration, coming to us and in our possession. If we can't see it, we can't receive it. The image of having everything that Heaven possesses must be more real to us than this physical realm we operate in.

Living lazy and not committed to God and to the things of God will be very costly in these present days and in the days to come. We are going to have to follow God's method of operation that He has laid out in His Word. There is no way around it. It is going to require spending quality time with God and His Word. We are going to have to meditate on scripture until revelation comes. And then what? When we've got the perfected image of God's promise, His Word, inside of us, we can be 100% assured that it is on its way to us. It's already ours and it's already paid for.

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