Perception Determines Reception

By Bonis Byrd

Perception Determines Reception expresses the importance of possessing a clear understanding of the word of God, devoid of religiosity and the traditions of men. This composition also presents the Bible from the perspective of the last will and testament of the Christ, the Testator. In addition, this book shares God's love for mankind and his covenant promises, plans, and purposes for his family-the church. This book provides the biblical meaning of covenant, faith, hope, and righteousness in order to legally activate the kingdom of God in the believer. In short, this composition emphasizes the principles of the message Jesus ministered. The convictions of a number of the apostles are reflected as well, in their proclamation of that same kingdom message, the gospel. One's growth in Christ and one's effectiveness in the ministering of Christ are based on the personal commitment-the establishment of a personal relationship with the Godhead. This written exposition will definitely stir up the conviction to increase in the Christ lifestyle, as you most certainly will be inspired to pursue, overtake, and recover all. Each chapter of this book will command your attention until the last closing paragraph; simply speaking, it is a good read for inspiration, enrichment, and spiritual growth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781641912075

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Perception Determines Reception

DR. BONIS E. BYRD, JR.

Copyright © 2018 DR. BONIS E. BYRD, JR.

All rights reserved

First Edition

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc

New York, NY

First originally published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc 2018

ISBN 978-1-64191-206-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64191-207-5 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Chapter 1

Your Perception Determines Your Reception

I am about to share a teaching with you that the Lord revealed to me a number of years ago. In fact, I taught it to my congregation during that time. However, it is only now have I had a burning desire to put it in book form.

I trust that you will find it a blessing as I had during my initial teaching but with more wisdom than at that time. I believe that word wisdom is a perfect place to begin, but not before I begin with the scripture that revealed this great revelation to me.

In Mark 8:22–25 (the complete object is verses 14 to 25):

²²And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. ²³And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. ²⁴And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. ²⁵After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.¹ (Emphasis added)

In the above passage we, see that Jesus was asked to minister to a blind man and Jesus agreed to do so but not before changing the blind man’s location or, as I would like to say, his posture and position, which is equivalent to one being born again as the new birth would create in one’s life:

Therefore,if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) (E)

The new birth opens a new outlook and vantage point; we see things as they really are.

Unless we have a clear perception and understanding of God’s word, we will not be able to see all things clearly and possibly miss out on God’s best for us due to our lack of knowledge or proper perception of God’s covenant.

Note Mark 8:23[b]: Jesus spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him. Jesus ministered to him. However, the blind man saw, but not clearly: I see men as trees walking. This is symbolic of a lack of wisdom and understanding or the lack of correct perception; remember that perception determines reception.

Mark 8:25 continues, "After that he put his hands again upon his eyes. We note that immediately, Jesus ministers to him again; God’s sincere desire is that we know truth; therefore, Jesus ministers to the blind man again. I have searched the gospel, and to the best of my knowledge, this is the only time I believe Jesus ministers healing to a candidate more than once for a candidate to be made whole. The scripture distinctly states that He (Jesus) ministers to the blind man again." Again, remember that perception determines reception.

There is a clear preamble to this, which I have shared; therefore, in order that what I stated is not a text out of context, let’s observe the previous verses that led up to this portion of the scripture. Mark 8:14–21 says:

¹⁴Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. ¹⁵And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. ¹⁶And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. ¹⁷And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? ¹⁸Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? ¹⁹When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. ²⁰And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. ²¹And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

In the passage above and for the sake of space, Mark 8:1–13 addresses the feeding of the four thousand with seven loaves (which were more than what was in their possession when Jesus began to feed the multitude) and a few small fish (Mark 8:7), of which there is no record of what they did with it; maybe, they gave it to the neighboring village inhabitants, for in the ship, they only had one loaf of bread (Mark 8:14). After this, Jesus warns the disciples to be alert to the schemes of the Pharisees and Herod and his supporters (Mark 8:15).

And because of their lack of spiritual perception, they misunderstood Jesus’s warning (Mark 8:16); and since Jesus knew all things, He began to admonish them (Mark 8:17–21) about dealing with everything from the surface or from the perspective of the senses or carnal reasoning. To paraphrase, Jesus meant, Why don’t you understand what is taking place before you or what you have been a part of beyond what you see on the surface. In short, there was a lack of perception.

Let’s look at the word perception. By definition, it means:

The process, act, or faculty of perceiving.

The effect or product of perceiving.

Psychology. a. Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based chiefly on memory.

b. The neurological processes by which such recognition and interpretation are affected.

a. Insight, intuition, or knowledge gained by perceiving.

b. The capacity for such insight.

I continue this definition that not all perception is in the realm of the senses; I declare that when Jesus admonishes the disciples, he was not referring to sensual perception as much as spiritual perception. Therefore, the definition should encompass a spiritual parallel.

Jesus himself usually used natural illustrations (parables or parallels) to explain or make clear spiritual realities; note Psalm 78:1–4:

¹Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. ²I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: ³Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. ⁴We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

Consider what I call my box theory. Let’s imagine if we live in a box, and all we know is the inside of this box. Suddenly, someone comes to us from outside of the box and tries to explain something we have never known or experienced; that person would have to relate the outside of the box with the things we know from inside of the box.

Likewise, the scriptures have been provided by God to illustrate a world that reveals our origin and purpose for being, which otherwise would not have been known short of the word of God.

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (John 5:39)

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11)

So now, we begin our teaching on Perception Determines Reception.

The understanding of God’s word is paramount to receiving from God. I’m not talking about trying to understand religious dogma or sermons. I’m speaking of understanding the covenant word of God. Until we understand that God is a covenant-keeping God, we deny ourselves of God’s best.

I’m not intending to teach covenant; although it is essential in receiving from God, we should not obtain the cart before the horse. That is why we must first get an understanding of God’s word before we can truly understand his covenant conviction toward us. However, it was never God’s purpose for us to ever lose understanding of covenant, but our ignorance of God’s word contributed to that reality greatly. In fact, we use religion as a substitute to true covenant conviction. But that’s another book in itself.

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¹ All scriptural passages are presented in King James Version unless otherwise indicated.

Wisdom and Understanding

We do miss God’s best not understanding the covenant word of God. Jesus declared that we do error not knowing the scripture or the power of God (Matthew 22:29, paraphrased).

Notice that understanding the scriptures is possessing the power of God; the word power indicated here is where we get the word dynamite that comes from the Greek word dunamis that when interpreted implies (1) strength, (2) power, and (3) ability of God. The word in you is God inside you. The Apostle Paul states in Romans 1:16–17:

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. ¹⁷For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Now, clearly note the above passage; it summarizes what this book is all about:

"I [Paul] am not ashamed of [not despaired of hope concerning] the gospel [good news] of Christ [the Anointing of the Anointed]; for it is the power [strength, power, and ability] of Godunto salvation [soundness, wholeness, nothing missing nothing broken]."

That power is the strength, power, and ability (of God) (E)

Inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth

Power for performing miracles

Power of moral excellence of soul

Power and influence which belong to riches and wealth

Power and resources arising from numbers

Power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts

Meditate on this thought; we refer to His word as the Word, and that is because we have not become or identified with the Word as He. He is Word, not the Word.

When we speak concerning His word, we speak the Word. But when He speaks, He speaks Word, because He is Word, not the word. Note Genesis 1:1–3:

¹In the beginning God [Word] created the heaven and the earth. ²And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God [inherent power residing in Word by virtue of His nature] moved upon the face of the waters. ³And God [Word] said [spoke; released an image of His inherent power], Let there be light: and there was light. (E)

Listen, Word declared what was in Himself, and it was what He spoke. A supporting passage is in John 1:1:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God [within God as One in Unity], and the Word was God [Word was God; Himself]. [The same]

Again, remember that perception determines reception.

Now, with the above being stated, let’s approach it from another vantage point; God’s word is His will or last will and testament. Another way of expressing it is His covenant between you and Him.

The more knowledgeable we are of His covenant word, the greater power and authority we walk within. Or perhaps I should state that the more we believe or be fully convinced of God’s covenant word, the more we walk in power and authority in the Spirit, which is a higher realm than the natural realm.

John 6:63–64[a] states:

⁶³It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. ⁶⁴But there are some of you that believe not.

If we don’t believe, we will compromise, abuse, or sell/betray the truth as Judas. In our case, betrayal means to substitute the truth with man-made religiosity rather than establishing a living growing relationship with the word or rather with Word. The Word is a person; His name is Jesus.

John 20:9 states:

⁹For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

We see from the above passages that we do ourselves a grave injustice not knowing the truth. How hungry are you for truth?

In John 8:32, Jesus declares:

³²And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Wisdom and understanding are keys to receiving from God and activating God’s power in you. This cannot be obtained via religious thinking. It requires establishing a working and growing relationship with the Word. We must come to know Him and the Word that He is.

Let’s begin by looking at Proverbs 4:7:

⁷Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Let’s dissect the above passage. First, we need to understand that wisdom is the Word and that Word is available to man to come to realize his purpose and destiny on earth and the ability to accomplish it. God has a purpose for you on earth, but it can only be achieved through the wisdom of God.

Second, understanding is the ability to apply wisdom or the wisdom of the Word—in other words, the ability to become the word through correct application of the Word. We always know we have a proper understanding of the Word when every time we apply it, we always get the desired result.

The proper application of wisdom always yields the desired results. Don’t forget that your perception determines your reception in anything you perform. You are only as effective as your understanding, in this case understanding of the covenant of God—the Word.

Remember that perception determines reception.

The Key to Receiving God’s Power

The keys to receiving from God are wisdom and understanding. Wisdom and understanding are keys to receiving God’s ability to realize your destiny. That’s God’s power in you—His wisdom and understanding of the covenant word of God.

Proverbs 4:7 states:

⁷Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Here, Solomon, son of David, admonishes his son that wisdom is the principal thing.

I want to bring to your attention that the word principal is not an error in the passage, although I, for some time, believed it was until I grew in the word and it jumped out at me in my spirit that the word wisdom was being introduced as a person. I remember in elementary and high school that each had a Principal. He was the top instructor and administrator for the school. No one performed anything in the school without the consent or approval of the principal; he or she is the one who establishes the principles or, if you will, princely rules. If you performed everything according to the principal’s rule[s], everything goes well; and if not, you had to face the principal. And what happens in the principal’s office? You were reprimanded, and the rules were rehearsed to you over and over again.

Why were the rules rehearsed before you again? The rules were rehearsed for you to know and understand how to carry them out. The purpose of performing according to the rules is to ensure your results