“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by that we cry, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)

 

Have you experienced deep sleep for about three hours until BOOM! you awake with endless thoughts running laps inside your gray matter?

That was my night last night.

Maybe I got four or five hours of sleep. I don’t know. I might have drifted off during those hours staring wide-eyed into the darkness desperately wanting sleep to return.

But finally, at 4:45 AM I gave up. Rather than waiting fifteen more minutes for my alarm to annoy me, I turned it off before it could sound and climbed out of bed.

Coffee didn’t interest me, but the methodical morning activity ushered hope for the new day. Its inviting aroma promised a little comfort and it’s hot liquid calmed my nerves as I nested in my favorite spot with my morning companions:

Journal.

Bible.

Devotional.

And the Bite of Bread reading plan.

It’s on mornings like this when I don’t feel I have anything to give–nothing to type on the white screen of my laptop; nothing fresh. This is when I’m tempted to quit. I consider taking the day off until I open my Bible.

And I discover a new treasure.

A gold one.

The Bite of Bread Reading Plan this week focuses on the Power living inside of us–the Holy Spirit. I just can’t shake the thought that we who have the Spirit rarely acknowledge His presence in us much less employ His wisdom, strength, prayers, and gifts.

As I studied Romans 8:15 today, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba,” Father.” my eyes locked onto the word “receive.”

The Greek word translated as “receive” is Lambano. These are the definitions/meanings and usages according to blueletterbible.org.:

I. to take

1. to take with the hand, lay hold of, any person or thing in order to use it

   1. to take up a thing to be carried

   2. to take upon one’s self

2. to take in order to carry away

   1. without the notion of violence, i,e to remove, take away

3. to take what is one’s own, to take to one’s self, to make one’s own
   1. to claim, procure, for one’s self
      1. to associate with one’s self as companion, attendant
   2. of that which when taken is not let go, to seize, to lay hold of, apprehend
   3. to take by craft (our catch, used of hunters, fisherman, etc.), to circumvent one by fraud

   4. to take to one’s self, lay hold upon, take possession of, i.e. to appropriate to one’s self

   5. catch at, reach after, strive to obtain

   6. to take a thing due, to collect, gather (tribute)

4. to take

   1. to admit, receive

   2. to receive what is offered

   3. not to refuse or reject

The very last definition does include to word “receive”, but the majority of its usages mean “to take”.

You might think I’m being a little picky here and it’s all about semantics. . . these words are closely related, but the tense of this word proves something important too.

The Greek tense is Active, Aorist, Indicative. Simply broken down:

• Active: the most basic voice and indicates that the action is being carried out by the subject.
• Aorist: expresses an instantaneous point in time, an event occurring in a single moment.
• Indicative Mood: can be defined as the mood of assertion.. .points to assumed reality or makes a simple statement a fact.  (Key Word)

Do you see the power of this word? The subject carries out the action. The event occurs in a single moment. And it is an assumed reality!

“For you did not take a a spirit that makes you afraid of God, but in a single moment in time you took, without any doubt of its truth, your adoption right. You are now a child of God. He’s your papa, and He is a good one. All that He has is yours.”

The truth is, we can’t receive something if we don’t take it into our hands, claim it, use it.

Will you pray with me?

“Father-God, thank you for this gift of the Holy Spirit who makes us family. All that you have is ours. Freedom from sin is ours. Love is ours. Victory is ours. Joy and peace are ours. Kindness is ours. Your Kingdom is ours. We take your Spirit today. We claim it. It’s done. Make this reality clearer to us everyday. Thank you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.”

Penny for your thoughts: (leave a comment)

• What do you do when you can’t sleep or what do you do when don’t know what to write on your blog (for my writing friends)?
• How do you incorporate the Holy Spirit in your life?

 

With purpose beyond today,

 

 

Photo attribution of watches: By Pierre EmD (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons