3) Ability to receive:

1 Chronicles 29:12-14 “Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. “Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You.”

You need to be able to recieve what you’re asking for. Sometimes we ask for blessings, we are not able to maintain. You have the ability to believe for a management position, the ability to wait for it, but once you get it, sometimes you lack the ability to maintain it. You got the first two, but you missed the third one. Perhaps you have the ability to purchase a house, but not the one to maintain it. All too often people develop the ability to get things, but at the same time, lack the ability to keep it. Sometimes, you’re able to buy a house in a certain neighborhood, but lack the ability to live in it. Perhaps you’re able to purchase a home in the best neighborhood available, but you lack the ability to put your children in the same schools or to provide your home with the same maintenance as your neighbors. You need both abilities, you already have them, but you need to activate them.

We need to be able to receive from God, all He wants to give us, free of prejudices of any nature. Many times, we lack the ability to receive, much less to enjoy. For example, you buy something haphazardly but then you don’t enjoy it. Think of how many things you have in your closet that you regret having bought it? You never enjoyed it. The Bible says, that God gives us the gift of enjoying those things that He freely and lovingly gives us. When you recieve something from God, celebrate it because it comes from His hand.

There are many that don’t enjoy what they have. I really don’t believe one can be truly prosperous, unless they enjoy what they have. Children are awesome. Until they don’t turn thick-skinned, you don’t know what trust really is. Trust isn’t when kids ask for something, it’s when they flat-out take it. No matter how many bathrooms you have in your house, the kids are always using yours. You’ve got to have a big bed, for one simple reason, it’s no longer for two. It’s got to be big enough to hold two, and whatever amount of kids you’ve got. Face it, they all want in there, anyway. Even the dog’s wanting a place there. Trust is when you ask about what happened to your food, and nobody knows. Kids ate it up and didn’t even leave crumbs behind. That’s the type of Son Jesus was. Or didn’t you read the verse where it says, that all things the Father has, belong to Him? He didn’t ask, He just went for it.

There are people that just can’t enjoy what God gives them. For example, you finally get time off, but you feel miserable because you don’t have anything to do. Let’s say you’re resting. Then you feel bad about it. Don’t be feeling that way, even God’s got a day of rest. It’s at times like these, that you need to exercise your ability to receive. You don’t let anyone near your stereo. Man, your son-in-law’s going to end up with it after you die. He’s going to have a big old party with the stereo you never did enjoy. Native Guatemalan indians have a greater ability to enjoy things than we do. A simple native outfit, for daily wearing, can go for $100, ranging all the way up to $300 or more. And your fussing and whining over a shirt with a little horse emblem on it. They enjoy their earnings, more than you do. Enjoyment is a decision, not an emotion.

Pastor Rudy Gracia’s got a past time. He inherited from His mom, the habit of buying shoes. He’s an only son, male and his Mom had a shoe factory. Rudy loves shoes. One time I started counting them and I got up to 68 pairs. At first, I wanted to confront Him, at that time he had forty something pairs. I told him that one day, God was going to ask him for his shoes and he said he didn’t care. He said that he wasn’t my size anyway, so they weren’t going to fit, and if God asked him for them, He’d gladly give them up and more. Going shopping with Rudy is an interesting experience. He sees a pair of shoes and he starts talking to them. He tells them how nice they are, tries them on and buys them. When he gets back home, he takes them out of the box, puts them on top of it, takes a pair of jeans and a shirt, and lays down and peruses them. He knows how to enjoy them. Go to his garage and you won’t find any vehicles, but a whole lot of shoes. You’re judging now, I know. When you judge, you automatically authorize others to judge how you spend your money. Perhaps you enjoy spending it on food, clothes or something else, perhaps those are your “shoes”.

We feel so limited at enjoying things God gives us. If God gives it to you, than readily enjoy it. Why bother asking God for things, if we’re not even going to enjoy it.

4) Ability to give:

During the time we were saving up for our home, out of the need to save much and not owe anyone, I went a little overboard. God has never had to deal with me for wasting money, but the opposite is true. We wanted to save so much, and the goal was so big, that a luxury weekend was splitting a value meal and eating it watching sports. I mean we were in such a saving frenzy, that when we went to buy a meal, if it cost less without the beverage, we’d get that one. Until God dealt with my faith, and He showed me that what I was doing was wrong.
What’s the point in growing to have things, if I don’t even enjoy the process to getting them. These are things that make life more difficult, and it shouldn’t be that way. One day my father-in-law, seeing how thrifty I was, walked up to me and gave me some good advice. He said, “make sure you take my daughter out, while she can still put on a swimsuit.” We fall into that snare. The only thing we mustn’t enjoy is sin. We mustn’t even smell nor see sin, but everything that’s wholesome and from God, yes, we are to enjoy it. God didn’t put us on earth to suffer, but to enjoy. When you give, give according to what you expect and believe.