"Receiving Fully To Give" By Graham Cooke

if you were not here you're going to be in for a treat this morning we are blessed have Grimm cook with us who originally is from England but now it's in the United States he's missionary I guess the states like Roland come over here to help us but we're glad that you're here author of many books I don't know how many you've got left in the foyer they sold a lot yesterday but just a man that loves the Lord that God is using in a powerful way to really impart the heart of the father and just add such great revelations so really blessed Graham to have you thank you for coming so if you will we walk in Graham cook good morning everyone the way you come into salvation is the way that salvation is sustained you didn't wake up one morning and think there's no thunderstorms no tornado touching down it's sunny it's warm I think I'll get saved God took the initiative he came looking for you because he chose you and he probably sent some slightly weird person to talk to you about Jesus and now you are one he took the initiative he made the first move and you responded salvation occurs the way you come into salvation is the way that salvation is sustained that means that God is always taking the initiative and we are always in the place of the responder the question becomes really is how do you seek the Lord when he never leaves you how do you seek the Lord when he said I'll never leave you nor forsake you what we're doing is we are allowing God to touch us that's what happened at Salvation you heard a message you opened your heart God touched you you responded every day life is exactly the same nothing changes in that regard God always takes the initiative 1 John 4:19 says that we love God because He first loved us in other words it takes God to love God and in fact only God can love God in the way that God likes to be loved so that's what we're going to prove this morning the God always takes initiative and you're always the responder so nothing originates in you because you have Christ in you and so what's happening is the father is responding to the son in you and you happen to be part of that relationship because Christ is in you and you are in Christ it is a guarantee that the Lord is always going to connect with you and you can always connect with him and it can be effortless no matter the circumstances no matter the situations because the truth is if you are in Christ so are all your circumstances if you can't be separated from the love of God your circumstances can't be separated from the power of God or if you put it this way having Christ in you is incredible because what it means is all of heaven is attracted to Jesus in you okay just think about that for a few seconds all of heaven is attracted to Jesus in you ever done that experiment when you were a kid in science class when it gave you a piece of white paper and some iron filings and a magnet you pull that magnet across that sheet and you see them all come up it's like magic that's just exactly what is happening in the realm of the Spirit all of Heaven is attracted to Jesus in you that means there's something about this Christ's life that's so powerful and so wonderful it's actually magnetic what it means is you attract blessing because Christ is in you you attract favor because Christ is in you because you have a placement in Christ God puts you there he's not taking you out he put you in Christ he's the only one who can take you out you're in Christ whether you're having an experience of him or not because that's what salvation gives us right so right now heaven is attracted to Jesus in you so when you live in that place in Christ when you abide in the fact that thank you Lord you're in me I don't have to go looking for you you're in you're on the inside this is a new covenant the Old Covenant was a visitation or culture God could come on you and he could lift off you visitation or culture but the Bible says that in Christ we are a new creation what does that mean we are part of a race of people never seen in the earth before Jesus because before Jesus everyone had a visitation or relationship with God now in the new covenant God has come and made his home in us we are a habitation of God by the spirit he's living in your house so you need to keep it tidy he's living in your house he's a he's not houseguest he's a member of the family he's living in your house he has no intentions of leaving you're a habitation of God you're a dwelling place of God by the spirit and the brilliant thing is you don't need to do anything to get into that place because you're already in you don't you have to do everything to stay in it's called abiding we learn how to stay you're in Christ stay sit stay I feel a hakama dog training class right now sit stay your abiding learn how to dwell that's what we're doing just nudge your neighbor and say you're in you're in Christ learn how to stay if you're in Christ and all the blessings and the benefits of who he is with the father come to us all of heaven is attracted to Jesus in us God is not expecting you to love him from your own initiative he's expecting you to receive his love and give it back whatever God wants from you he intends to give you first so all Commandments in the New Testament are different than they were in the Old Testament because now all Commandments in the New Testament are coming out of a place of habitation they're coming out of a place of ongoing relationship so now when God is wanting holiness from you you know when you hear those words be holy even as I am holy how do you hear it how do you see it do you hear it as be holy even as I am holy or do you hear it as a benediction okay I'm going to focus on the guy in the fourth row with fingers a yellow or a white shirt all right focusing on you all right do you hear it as a commandment or do you hear it as a gift what if the Lord is saying it like this and what if his face exactly looks like this what he's saying it be holy even as I am holy righteousness is a gift right it's a gift that you receive when you're in Christ all of Heaven is attracted to you when you're in Christ everything comes to you as a gift we don't have to earn anything we have to stay well role in this whole thing is to receive from the Lord we have to be the best receivers in the world it doesn't matter whether you're a slim receiver or a wide receiver doesn't matter as long as you're a receiver so your role is to receive so every day you have to receive something that's why we never exit worship that's why we're always giving thanks it's not a command it's a blessing we're always giving thanks why because we know that God always takes the initiative we know that God loves to give James put it this way in James 1:17 he said every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights in whom there is no shadow of variation he's always the same you always know where you are with God because he never changes he's always the same he's the easiest person to be with he is the most gracious the motor kindest the happiest sunniest person I've ever met in my entire life he's wonderful is easy to be with his kind is merciful it has a way of seeing and a way of thinking that's incredible that ashley is marvelous because when you understand how God thinks about things like he steadfastly refuses ever to work on a negative because there's nothing negative about him what he does is he gives us the anointing to convert that negative thing into something else but he doesn't see a problem he sees a possibility we'll talk about that in the next session so God gives us the ability to convert a problem into a provision he never works on a negative he just says listen if all your thinking has brought you to a place you don't like have another thought what are you doing messing with that thought why not ask the Lord to give you a better thought isn't that what the mind of Christ is all about why are we stuck on thoughts that are generated by the world around us when we have a whole kingdom on the inside of us that thing's completely differently never work on a negative thought just change it for a better one and work on that don't work on the old man because it's dead work on the new man because he's alive if how God gives you permission why don't you just consider yourself to be dead and be alive to me and I'll teach you what being alive to me is really all about I want to give you things I want you to posture yourself to receive let me read you something else from the Bible listen to this Romans 11:35 who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again rhetorical question the answer is no one no one john the baptist said a man can receive nothing unless it's given to him from heaven we don't give to God out of our own initiative we received from God and we give back to him what he gave us let's carry on reading who's first given to him that it might be paid back to him again then he says for from him and through him and to him are all things that that what does having the whole of the Godhead is involved in relationship with you so it's like this big circle that you're a part of from the Father through Jesus in you because all of heavens attracted to Jesus in you and then back to the Father by the Holy Spirit from him through him to him are all things that's all y'all in Texas all y'all is in that some way from him through him to him life in the spirit works brilliantly when you know that you have to receive first is always something that God wants to give you sometimes you know when you get up in the morning you know the thought in your head or something or just something going on in your spirit worship song or something cuz we never exit worship but if it's not if you're overwhelmed or overloaded by things pretty much doesn't matter that's what the gift of tongues is for it allows you just to worship God and it bypasses everything that would seek to hold you down it's a brilliant gift and the enemy has never worked out how to oppose it so you can speak in tongues and then there are those wonderful days when God allows you to interpret your own tongue and you realize what you're praying to God loves to be in communication with us you ever wondered why God never answers some prayers because he didn't like it didn't like it fight he's listening to Jesus praying for us Hebrews 7:25 says he ever lives to make intercession for us and Romans 8 says the Holy Spirit prays for us intercedes for us with groanings he groan cuz he has to live with us right so he's like is groaning when is that boy ever gonna get it is he ever gonna get it he's English do they ever get anything the English so God sometimes we're praying over here and he's going no no no seriously no I want to answer this prayer no that's why Jesus said asking keep on asking God saying no I'm not answering that prayer seriously that's a boring prayer I'm not answering it I want to answer this one keep asking keep out keep asking keep asking warmer warmer warmer there we go what are we learning we have prayer in stereo from two of the most important people in the Godhead Jesus who always prays for us the Holy Spirit who groans for us you know over us so we have prayer going on in stereo so what if you are the third part of a three-fold cord what if prayer is not about praying to God it's about praying with God yeah that's why we should worship because when you worship you're getting a place to listen then when you give thanks you know 1 Thessalonians 5 it has it has prayer as a worship sandwich rejoice in the Lord always pray without ceasing in everything you affects yeah so we rejoice twice as much as we pray and that makes all of our praying effective yeah so we're learning to pray with God why because we're learning to listen so what are you praying right now Jesus we're not you're curious you're curious what's he praying what's the Holy Spirit pray those two agreeing from him through him to him you're part of this incredible relational cycle your everyday your life is answering the prayer of Jesus in John 17 that they may be one even as we are one yeah is that one as God put Christ into you so you would always be one with him so you'd always know his presence cuz he never leaves you nor forsakes you and so you'd always have something to receive and therefore something to give so nothing initiates in us it takes God to love God as he is so are we in this world we're learning how to be in the same relationship with the father that Jesus is all of heaven is attracted to Jesus in you you have to become world class at receiving because I think that's your principal role in the earth at the gate beautiful Peter said to the laymen such as I have I give what I've received I'm imparting and the geniuses amongst us know that the faster I give something out the stronger it's going to come back right give and it shall be given to you yeah it's not just about money it's about anything it's about any resource whether it's joy whether it's peace that you can give to someone I was in a supermarket walking down you know being a good husband good submissive husband doing the shopping not being able to find anything because I'm not that submissive apparently I don't go there often enough but I'm walking around and I see this woman and she's just you know she just looks incredibly anxious which honestly the best thing about her day was me being in the same aisle with her because I just walked chopped and said excuse me sweetie you what you worried about something she looked to me said I'm worried about everything and I said well I can give you some peace if you need it so what do you mean I said I'm a believer I believe Jesus is the Prince of Peace I'm a peaceful man so I can give you some peace right now ship what would that do I said it will make a lot of things easier and maybe it'll open up your heart to receive something more I said but right now right here I can take that worry right away from you Prince of Peace yeah so she went okay so I said I'm just sleep see this finger here just gonna touch your shoulder that's it and be gonna feel peace in your mind so laid hands on her prayed for peace and she went ah and the whole face changed simple thing what we have we give our role in the earth is to be the best receivers ever so think about it this way every day of your life starts with you receiving something the God has so much to give you you know your sight you're permanently standing there there's always more God always wants to give and the way your life works in the spirit is that you receive from God what he wants from you he has to give it to you first from him through him to him a man can receive nothing unless it's first given to him from heaven what is it you need right now what is it that you need in your life right now your spirit is always set on receiving you're a receiver what we're doing is we're tuning in to the giver of all life we're tuning in to the one who gifts God isn't broke he doesn't need your cash he needs you to receive you know there are unclaimed upgrades all over this room sometimes we get in this weird religious mindset that says I've got to give something to get something from God now that's the way the world does stuff the kingdom doesn't do it that way the kingdom says you receive and then you can give whatever God wants from you he intends to give you first so in the New Covenant every commandment is actually wrapped in a promise yeah whatever God wants from you he intends to give you first so when God gives you a commandment you whoo-hoo great because you know you can only fulfill that commandment by receiving something than what you receive you can give from him through him to him are all things and there's a peace in that there's a generosity in that there's a joy in that there's an ease in that Christ is in you all of heaven is attracted to Jesus in you that's the joy of the Lord they give strength that gives you power that gives you some impetus everything is about presence everything is about him everything is about the fact that he loves to initiate he loves to make the first move or as my daughter says dad Jesus is always making a move on me she gets it she gets it a lot of my prayer time is with her she'll just come and big smile because she knows that God is a giver she knows that something will come from him it'll come to Jesus in her so it doesn't depend on you Christ is in you he's a magnet favor is attracted to Jesus blessing is attracted to Jesus power is attracted to Jesus anything you need is attracted to Christ in you it's a glorious life and we need to live it gloriously to believe simply like much love children God is always taking the initiative the turn to neighbor and say Jesus is about to make a move on you so what I want you to do this week is I want you to practice receiving you guys who played football you know what that looks like right you're looking for something yeah footballers are looking for a ball and drop out of the heavens and look into something right look for something the Bible says seek the Lord it's not because you're lost or he's lost what is saying what it means is you need to look for the Lord in a particular way you need to look for the look for the law for the presence of the Lord in every situation that you're in where is God what is he doing what's he giving you know he's present cause he never leaves some days you feel it brilliant other days we get there believe it fabulous either way faithful feelings both exactly the same one is not better than the other one is no inferior to the other they're both the same God allows you to feel on days yahooo the other days you get to trust the Lord brilliant yeah either way something's going to happen right so this week look for the presence of the Lord in your life he's there he's in you you're a habitation of God you're a dwelling place of the Spirit look for the presence of God you can stand there and say I know your Lord you never leave me nor forsake me so in this situation where are you what is it that you're praying because I want to be praying the same thing that you're praying because I don't want to hear you say I know say that again I want to hear what Jesus is praying I want to pray with you this week I want to I want to walk through this week knowing that I'm a magnet for blessing because Christ is in me John the Bible calls that hope expectation confident expectation that God who is brilliant is going to be brilliant to you confident about the presence of God confident that something's going to come from God to Christ in me and then the holy spirit is going to push it back to God in praise in worship or in some kind of beneficial word or action that touches somebody else's life you are a receiver it's your primary role in the relationship with God is to receive let's pray thank you Lord a great day this is thank you that you love to give you love to me all of our needs you love to tell us about our inheritance you love to teach us how to walk in that inheritance you give and you give and you give and you give and you give and you give and you give and you give and you give and you give because you love giving you're passionate about giving and there's so many things that you want to bestow upon us so I thank you that by the power of the Holy Spirit you are going to teach us how to receive every day for the rest of our lives we're going to receive from you the way that we came into salvation is we received you as our Lord and Savior and you saved us the way we come into that salvation is the way that salvation is sustained so father I thank you right now we can just bind and break all performance that thinking that says everything depends on me and what I'm doing we just break that in the name of Jesus because it's not true so we break it as a lie that it is and we declare in Jesus name that everybody in this room and those who are listening later who not here right now you're not getting away with it we declare that everybody is a receiver in the name of Jesus I take the switch on your heart and I turn it to receive in the name of Jesus take that switch in your head and turn it to receive and I declare in Jesus name you will become amazing people because you're going to practice receiving which means you will always have something to give always have something to contribute no matter where you are no matter what the circumstances are you can receive from the Lord because all of heaven is attracted to Jesus in you so I declare that you are receivers wide or slim doesn't matter you are receivers from the Lord stay sit live in that place develop an expectation that God is going to give to me because that's our relationship he initiates I respond and he responds to my response and I respond to his response and our relationship runs on him making that first move and me responding and father I thank you for all the doors all the things that are going to open up to us simply because our hearts and minds are set on receiving and then giving oh man hey thanks for listening I appreciate it

Channel: Sojourn Church Carrollton, TX

Views: 223,165

Rating: 4.8063316 out of 5

Keywords: Sojourn Church, Graham Cooke, Church (Type Of Place Of Worship)

Id: NrJnjeBoFbk

Length: 33min 49sec (2029 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 09 2014