Are your receptors broken?

Back in the day, before thermometers were a common thing in each medicine cabinet, parents used to "test" their children for fever by placing their lips on the forehead of the child.  It seemed like an odd way to do it since we have seen people repeatedly use their hands laid across the forehead to "evaluate" the feverishness of another.  Yet, it was a pretty doggone accurate process!  More accurate than the hand - and the closest to the true determination of "fever" than anything other than a thermometer.  The lips have a great deal of "sensitivity" receptors which allow them to be pretty accurate at interpreting what touches them.

Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips.  (Psalm 141:3 MSG)  
The "sensitivity" receptors of our lips works both ways - affected by what leaves our mouths, and by what touches it!  Maybe this is why David prayed for God to post a guard at his mouth - the entry and exit point for many a good or bad thing in his life!  He is actually probably asking God to "tune up" his "sensitivity" to what both enters and leaves.  I think we all need to pray this prayer at times.  We need to "increase" the "sensitivity" of our lips - not just so we "feel" things better, but so we are able to evaluate things with more "receptors" - just like the mom testing her child for fever.

Two of the top areas of "sensitivity receptors" in our bodies are the lips and the fingertips.  My mom suffers from having lost the feeling in her fingertips, not to mention her vision, so is it any wonder she uses her lips to assist her in identifying something she may not be sure about?  The little candy wrappers with the twisted ends are a challenge for her.  So, she puts the first end in her lips and then pulls with the fingers of one hand.  In turn, she manages to open it.  She has "adapted" to using what remains consistently "sensitive".  Did you know your brain has dedicated more area to receiving the messages from your "sensitivity receptors" on your lips and from your fingertips than any other "receptor" area of your body?  This means we have dedicated more "brain power" to interpreting these sensations to these two types of "receptors" than any other.  

Sometimes I think we rely solely upon our "brain power" to do the interpreting of what it is we are receiving and sending out.  I learned a little song a long time ago.  It goes something like this:

"Holy Spirit come.  Make my ears to hear, my eyes to see, my mouth to speak, my hands to reach, and my heart to reach out and touch the world with your love."  

I wish I could credit for these lyrics, but I honestly don't even remember the title of the song, much less the author.  Just know, these words have stuck with me in good times and bad.  They have been sung over and over as I rely upon God doing just what these words imply - making me more sensitive to the things I need to be sensitive to and less sensitive to the other stuff.

We all have "sensitivity" receptors in our lives.  One of the purposes of these receptors in our physical bodies is to keep us from harm.  The receptors actually warn us to thins like hot, cold, bitter, or sweet.  In a spiritual sense, we have been given similar "sensitivity" receptors in areas such as our emotions, mind, and spirit.  It is good to post a watch over these in order to avoid undue injury.  Without being aware of what "comes" and "goes" in our lives, we would be opened to all kinds of harmful stuff.  

Let me give you an example of just a couple of these "sensitivity" receptors God has given to us in a spiritual sense.  Maybe we hear words with a little "twang of jealousy" spoken.  Our "ear" receptors have the ability to "filter out" the words to see the real intent of the one speaking them - to divide, to disgrace, or to destroy.  Our "heart" receptors have an ability to reject or accept the words spoken -  but first the "ear" receptors must do their job!  If only one set of our receptors is working, we have a skewed perception.  It is good to use the "sensitivity" receptors of our lips to judge how well the other receptors are working in our lives.  You see, what comes "out" of our mouth is a good indicator of how well the other "receptors" are doing at protecting us from harmful input.  When our ears have filtered out destructive input, our words are likely to reflect back words of grace to the one who spoke with the "twang of jealousy".  When our hearts have not succumb to the emotional roller-coaster of latching onto the emotion behind the words heard, our speech  will likely reveal words of forgiveness, not judgment.

The truth of the matter is - we need our "sensitivity receptors" to be touched by the Holy Spirit.  Once we become familiar with the "sensation" created by his touch, we will not be as susceptible to allowing other things past the "receptors" of our ears, eyes, mouth, heart, or hands!  Just sayin!

Such as you have....give!

^1-5One day at three o'clock in the afternoon, Peter and John were on their way into the Temple for prayer meeting. At the same time there was a man crippled from birth being carried up. Every day he was set down at the Temple gate, the one named Beautiful, to beg from those going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter the Temple, he asked for a handout. Peter, with John at his side, looked him straight in the eye and said, "Look here." He looked up, expecting to get something from them.  ^6-8Peter said, "I don't have a nickel to my name, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!" He grabbed him by the right hand and pulled him up. In an instant his feet and ankles became firm. He jumped to his feet and walked.

(Acts 3:1-8)

When we live in such a way that our lives are a testimony to a hurting world around us, we will always be in contact with those in need - our paths will PURPOSEFULLY cross.  God gives his people a sensitivity to the needs of individuals - not because we are better than others, but because we are connected to the one who can meet that need.  We may not even know the one we touch - but the connection with Jesus that occurs in that touch is what matters.

Look at the beggar.  He was taken to the temple daily in hopes that he would gather just a few coins from those going into worship that day.  Those coins would sustain him another day.  He had no means to get there under his own power - reliant on others to bring him to his "place".  In that placement of his cot on the ground at the temple gate, he was in the place where he constantly had to declare his "need".  Daily, time and time again, he would declare his need.  We would do well to take note of the heart of the beggar - not too prideful to express his need, not too complacent to do it again and again.  It is his consistency and his boldness that gets him noticed!

The disciples are on their way to daily prayer - a practice they had developed that they were consistent to engage in.  They had a "mission" in their walking that path that day - yet, the Lord had another "mission" in mind.  They likely did not set out to find a beggar - they set out to find some time with Jesus and in turn, came face-to-face with one in need.  It is not uncommon that when our "mission" is to seek Jesus, our path will be intersected frequently by those in need.  

The disciples are also consistently aware of their environment - they heard the request of the beggar asking for something to get him by another day.  The beggar's expectation was that his cup would be filled just a little - God's plan was to fill his cup so full that it would spill over!  It is often the case that we expect to see our need met one way while God has a completely different way of meeting that need.  There were likely hundreds on their way to prayer - the potential for a few "mites" being dropped into the cup was definitely a possibility.  The disciples probably had no idea that they were on their way to a miracle service - the beggar had no idea that this was his day for a miracle!

It took only a moment to connect the beggar with the source of all authority and all the resources for his need.  Yet it took both the sensitivity of the disciple's spirit and the desperation of the man's heart to make that connection.  We often call this a "divine moment" - the moment when God reaches deep into the place of a man's need and changes him forever.  The words of Peter, "Look on me", required the obedience of the beggar.  I imagine he had been so accustomed to begging that he probably did not really know the faces of his benefactors.  Today would be different!

His attention is turned expectantly toward the voice of the one he believes will meet his need.  Imagine his impending disappointment when Peter began with, "I don't have a penny to my name..."  BUT...imagine his rising faith when he heard, "But what I do have, I give to you!"  Oh, I am so overjoyed for those moments when God connects our seeming "lack of resource" with his great storehouse of power!  All God ever asks of any of his disciples is to put to use what you DO have.  We can bemoan all we think we DON'T have - but God wants us to delight in sharing what it is that we DO have!

In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk!  Those were miracle words to a lame beggar.  Those were "connecting" words for a yielded disciple and an expectant heart in need.  In that moment, God's power was released.  We cannot avoid the moment of connection - it requires our sensitivity, our willingness to yield, and our obedience to make the connection with that one in need.  It is our calling as his disciples to bring those in need into the place where they "look expectantly" upon Jesus for the provision of their greatest need.

You may not have silver or gold.  You may not have amazing glamor or glitz.  You may not have PhD or college degree.  BUT...such as you have, give!