Many people have a hard time receiving from God because in the world we are programmed to receive based on what we earn. If you work, then you receive payment based on the expertise and amount of hours you put in. It is unusual for someone to come up to you and give you something valuable you didn’t work for or earn. Even on Christmas we expect to receive gifts because we give gifts in return; thus it is not really a present but a blind exchange. Contrariwise, receiving from God is made easy and possible because Jesus bore all of our sins and all curses in His body on the cross.

Text: Romans 10:8-13
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

I. The Word is Near You

1. Jesus came to earth to make God’s presence and grace near us.

2. You can’t get any nearer than becoming flesh and blood like the Word did 2,000 years ago.

3. When Jesus came to earth and redeemed us He successfully reconciled God back to the created earth, so that God is not far away from humankind anymore.

4. Paul said in Acts 17:28 that He is not far from each one of us: “for in Him we live and move and have our being.”

5. As a result of the resurrection of Christ, the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all flesh:

a) Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16).
b) Jesus proclaimed that He was bringing favor and mercy to the human race (Luke 4:18-19). He purposely left out the next part of the verse in Isaiah 61:2 regarding judgment because the only thing He was judging on the cross was our sins in His body, and Satan, by casting him out legally from the earth (John 12:31-32).
c) The Day of Pentecost brought the gift of the Holy Spirit that gives us salvation, healing, baptism in the Spirit, and refreshes our souls (Acts 2:17-18; 3:19-20; 8:14-17; 10:38-46). These passages show that all we have to do is receive the ministry of the Lord; we don’t have to work for what has already been given to those God is calling.

II. How you personally receive the Spirit (Romans 10:9)

1. Confess with your mouth:

a) Your mouth expresses the desires of your heart which, when combined with faith, gives you a legal right to receive from God.
b) You need to speak about Christ in front of someone else to seal it.

2. Believe with your heart:
a) Your mind may doubt but your heart leaps toward God!
b) Combining faith in your heart with the faith-filled words of your mouth releases the power of the cross: salvation (Acts 4:10-12)!

III. Why don’t you receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in your life today?

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