We receive His blessings by receiving Him.
The Lord Himself is among us. He is speaking to us through His Word. His Spirit is bringing Christ to us. The Lord is giving us a glimpse of His glory. Jesus stands among us as the risen Lord. He invites us to begin a new life with Him.
Jesus comes to us with the Gospel. He comes to us with Good News. That's what the word, "Gospel", means - Good News!
A little girl was asked if she had ever received Good News. She said that she received Good News when she received the "Yes" replies to the birthday party invitations she had sent to her friends.
This little girl's answer tells us something very precious about the Lord's love for us.
We receive joy when we come to Jesus: !"If I come to Jesus, He will make me glad." There is, however, another joy. It is the joy which we bring to the Lord when we come to Jesus: "there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:10). We come to Jesus and we receive the joy of the Lord. We come to Jesus, and we bring joy to the heart of the Lord.
Christ asks us, "Do you want to receive joy?" He also asks us, "Do you want to bring joy to the heart of God?"
We may answer the first question selfishly, concerned only with what we can get out of Christ. The second question challenges us to seek God's glory rather that simply seeking our own pleasure.
"What is the chief end of man?" - "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. " Notice the order - first, God's glory and, then, our joy.
The hymn, "Amazing grace", contains a fine combination of receiving from the Lord and giving glory to Him - "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see ... singing God's praise." These words provide us an echo of the words of Luke 18:43, where we read of a blind man receiving his sight, following Jesus and praising God.
Have you received God's salvation? Have you begun to glorify God?
Having received God's salvation, having begun to glorify God, let us go on to follow Jesus, "living together in justice and peace, caring for the world and for each other.
