Receptiveness (2)

Receptiveness as a human quality

It is characterised by an open attitude

Matthew 13:16–17 NASB95

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

See also Pr 18:15; Pr 20:12

It is an aspect of love

John 19:26–27 NASB95

When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

See also Ru 4:3–5; Ru 4:13; Mt 18:5; Mt 25:35; Ac 2:44–45; Ac 4:32; 1 Co 13:6–7; Ga 4:14

Thoughtful receptiveness requires discernment

1 John 4:1 NASB95

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

See also 1 Co 2:14; Php 1:10; 1 Th 5:21; Heb 5:14

Thoughtless receptiveness is dangerous

2 Corinthians 11:3–4 NASB95

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.

See also Dt 11:16; 1 Ki 11:4; Pr 7:21; Col 2:8; Heb 13:9; 2 Jn 10

Spiritual receptiveness is fruitful

John 15:5 NASB95

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

See also Ps 1:3; Pr 3:5–6; Pr 6:20–22; Je 17:7–8; Jn 20:29

God is receptive to human beings

To their needs

Matthew 9:36 NASB95

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

See also 2 Ki 14:26; Ps 103:13–14; Is 63:9; Mt 6:8; Mt 15:32; Lk 7:13; 1 Pe 5:7

To their cries

Psalm 38:9 NASB95

Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.

See also Ex 3:7; 1 Ki 9:3; Ps 6:8–9; Ps 40:1; Is 65:24; 1 Pe 3:12

To their repentance

Hosea 14:1–4 NASB95

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips. “Assyria will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’ To the work of our hands; For in You the orphan finds mercy.” I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them.

See also 2 Sa 12:13; Eze 18:27–28; Joe 2:13; Jon 3:10; Jon 4:2; Lk 15:7; Lk 15:10; Lk 18:13–14

God’s receptiveness may be withdrawn

Zechariah 7:13 NASB95

“And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts;

See also Ps 66:18; Pr 21:13; Is 59:2; Je 11:11; Mt 7:23; Mt 27:46; Ps 22:1; Jas 1:7

People should be receptive to God

Spiritual receptiveness begins by receiving Jesus Christ

John 1:12–13 NASB95

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

See also Mt 10:40; Ac 2:41; Ac 16:14; Col 2:6

Spiritual receptiveness requires openness to God’s Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:12–16 NASB95

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

See also Ro 8:5; Ro 8:16; 1 Co 7:40; Ga 5:16; Ga 5:25; Re 2:7

Receptiveness involves seeking and listening

Isaiah 50:4–5 NASB95

The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord God has opened My ear; And I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back.

See also Dt 4:29; 1 Ch 28:9; Ps 119:11; Pr 8:34; Mt 7:8; Lk 10:39; Eph 1:18; Jas 1:19

Receptiveness involves accepting and learning

Mark 10:15 NASB95

“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

See also Ps 1:2; Lk 11:1; Jn 3:27; Jn 6:45; Ac 8:30–31; Ac 17:11; 1 Th 2:13; 1 Jn 2:27

Receptiveness requires obedience and action

John 14:23 NASB95

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

See also 1 Sa 15:22; Is 58:6–7; Mt 7:21; Jn 5:17; Jn 7:17; Jas 1:25; Jas 2:14; 1 Pe 4:10

Refusing to be receptive to God

Zechariah 7:11–12 NASB95

“But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. “They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.

See also 2 Ch 24:19; Je 32:33; Mt 10:14; Jn 1:11; Ac 7:51–53; Jas 1:7–8