The Holy Spirit said to me, “There’s a difference between grabbing and receiving.” That opened my eyes! I saw so many people, Christians included, busy grabbing, out for all they could get. Many times they were ruthless and unethical in their dealings with fellow Christians and with their fellow human beings. They were just out for what they could get. And God said to me, “That’s only grabbing. Whatever you get by grabbing, you will not have forever.”

The only thing you will ultimately keep is what has been given to you from heaven. So, why go through all that labor and toil to grab and to get something that you will not be allowed to keep? Why not rest, turn your face toward God, and say, “God, show me what it is your good plea-sure to give me”?

Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32 NKJV). Brothers and sisters, if we have the kingdom, why do we have to grab? We do not get the kingdom because we grab for it; we get the kingdom because it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. We must learn to rest for a little while from grabbing and be willing to see what God wants to give. Many times when we grab and have that grabbing attitude, we are not in a condition to be able to receive what God is freely offering to us.

I spend much of the year in Israel, and there is a phrase that I hear so often: “I’ve got a right to this; it’s mine!” That is a natural way to think, but it is not the way to think in the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God, we say, “God, my Father, what is it your good pleasure to give me?” That is the only thing that matters. That is the only thing that is permanent.

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Today we will take a look at a passage from the prophet Isaiah, that reiterates that the way we think affects our experience. God is speaking in this passage:

“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth.’” (Isaiah 55:8–11)

Notice, God begins with thoughts, and He says that, by nature, our thoughts are not His thoughts. How, then, can we begin to think God’s thoughts? God gives the answer in the words that follow. God’s ways and God’s thoughts are on the heavenly plane, and our ways and our thoughts are on the earthly plane, far below God’s. But God’s Word brings His ways and His thoughts down from heaven into our lives and hearts, producing the results we need.

God goes on to say in the same passage, concerning His Word:

“It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.” (Isaiah 55:11–13)

This is the result of God’s Word coming down from heaven, entering

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