Eating my Manna

What comes from God to you, is first for you, then for the church.
What comes from the church to you, is first for God and then for you.

It is a strange phenomenon. When Father God first taught it to me, He was merely teaching me to listen to what He told me. Then, as a next step, He gave me an opportunity to experience what He told me and enabled a better understanding. Finally, He took me to a situation where I found someone else in a similar situation and I could share what He taught me and my experience. It made more sense to the hearer.

Neat little trick!
He taught me the principle itself after He'd, so to say, shown it to me. It's been a really cool lesson.

At times, when we receive a word from God, be it an encouragement, a teaching, or a warning (etc.), we tend to locate potential targets where we can dissipate this information.
If it's an encouragement, we like to receive it well and share with others when trying to encourage them.
If it's a teaching, we like to figure out who around us may need it, and rush to them to give it to them.
If it's a warning, we worry for our neighbors whom we perceive may be justified in getting it.
If it’s a revelation, we are glad to receive it and are eager (read impatient) to share it with anyone who may hear.

The Lord God, in His great mercy, gives us grace in accordance to our needs. He sees our needs much better than we do, or we think we do. This is primarily the reason why many of us fail to understand the relevance of the word of God received at a particular time in our lives. It is not until later that we understand that the particular word was for us, and not for our neighbors (well, maybe for them too, but one can’t help where one’s not already been helped by God first. Praise God!).

If the word has come to me, then I’m the one who needs it most at the time when it came. If God wanted to speak to my neighbor, then He’d have spoken to them (or told me that the word was for them). It must be shared, but I need to apply it to me and my life, first.

You know, same old, walk it before you talk it! If I do not know how good the bread tastes, how effective may I be in encouraging another to try it. You need to receive something fully to be able to give it away fully.

On the other hand, what comes from the church goes to God first. Be it something good or unpleasant. It needs to go to God first, and then He is able to help me see it from His perspective.