FAITH CAPSULE: Receive the Word not only as daily bread, but also as oxygen.

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16, 2 Corinthians 3:6-18
 
In responding to ministration of the word of God, acclaimed believers most times respond stating, “I receive it” After having heard a preacher preach, how often have you claimed to receive the Word, and after having claimed to have received the Word, nothing happens? There are no changes, no results, but yet you continue to claim, “I received it.” The Word of God is true, it does not fail and it will not fail unless you fail to live by His Word. 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” The Word that you claimed to have received is not working because: One, you have failed to welcome the Word. Can you imagine how you would receive a message that one million dollars has just been deposited into your account? If you truly receive the Word as frequently as you claim, you will celebrate it. Two, if what you claim to have received is scripturally based, then do not let anything deny your acceptance and celebration of it. When the measure of how you welcome what you receive matches up with the celebration, then what you have received will work effectively for you.
The Word of God is not a letter, it is Spirit. John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” How have you been receiving the Word of God? If you have been receiving the Word of God as a letter, it will weigh you down, and you will be better off not to have received it than to receive and be weighed down into stagnation with no motion in life. However, if you have been receiving the Word of God as Spirit, it will work effectively by making its receiver a rider rather than a toiler in the face of wicked world. The Word will be transporting you around and above this wicked generation. Receive the Word as not as letter, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”(2 Corinthians 3:6)
It is when you receive, believe and live the Word that you become a believer. Receive the Word not only as daily bread, but also as oxygen. You can do without bread for several days, but without oxygen, in minutes you are dead. 78
 
Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to increase you with a zeal for His Word that is life, not letter.