Positioning Yourself To Receive

In order to receive anything from the Lord you must first put youself in a position to receive from Him. A good expample of this in the Bible is found in Luke 19:1-10 where we read about a man by the name of Zacchaeus, who was the richest of all the tax collectors and was a sinner but he was also a son of Abraram.

5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

We see in verse three that Zacchaeus sought to see Jesus to see who he was. Zacchaeus was a rich man but he had heard of Jesus who was greater that he. People were lined up along the road to see Jesus as he passed by. Zacchaeus being short could not find a place where he could see so he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a Sycomore tree.

Zacchaeus was a rich man in fine clothes, he was not wearing a sweat suit that day. He must have had on some expensive clothes but he did not care if he messed up his $2000 suit.

A sycomore tree has bark that will leave a white powdery substance on clothes. I know, my Grandfather had a huge one in his back yard that I would climb as a young boy. It was hard to climb because the bark was slick and the limbs were far apart because of its size. I would be covered in white bark residue when a came down from the tree.

Nevertheless Zacchaeus had to see who Jesus was. He had never met the man, yet when Jesus passed under the tree, he looked up and called him by his name, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down for today I must abide at your house.

You have to understand that Jesus was not alone that day. Zacchaeus had run ahead of the crowd that lined the road but he still had to climb a tree to see Jesus in the crowd that was following and surrounded him.

When Jesus called Zacchaeus by name he got his attention. Zacchaeus climbed down out of that tree as fast as he could and received Jesus into his house joyfully. The crowd that was Jesus did not understand why He was the guest of a sinner.

Now watch what Zacchaeus said, Look LORD, I give half of my goods to the poor and if I have taken anything from anyone by lying, I restore it back four times over. This was not a faith statement of what he intended to do. He actually did it right before Jesus and gave to the people that were following Him that day.. He said, LOOK LORD... Talk is cheap but actions will bring salvation to households.

This is the first thing that happens when a person makes Jesus LORD of his or her household, they begin to give Him substance out of it and become completely honest in financial matters. Notice that Zacchaeus called Jesus LORD. He came to see a man but found the Lord.

Not only did Jesus come to bring people to eternal life but He also came to bring riches and wealth to households of His covenant people as He did with Zacchaeus, who was a son of Abraham, a covenant person.

Jesus showed Zacchaeus the real way to have kingdom riches that day and Zacchaeus learned his lesson, because Jesus say to him, "This day is salvation come to this house." Zacchaeus submitted himself to the teachings of a greater man than himself and salvation came to his house in one day. This example is in the Bible for our learning that the same thing happen to us. Zacchaeus pasted the test that the rich young ruler failed. He made Jesus Lord over His riches.

You must put yourself in a position to see the Lord and for Him to see you. How do you do this? You see Jesus in the Word of God. As you study the word concerning finances the Holy Spirit will reveal His will and as you act on it, Jesus will see your faith and salvation will come to your household.