Tag: pillar

6.i. I have set before you an open door

Revelation 3:8  “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Colossians 4:3     At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ,

1 Corinthians 16:9     for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

“I have set before you an open door”.  How many times do we miss the opened door?  Why is it the door to serving Christ seems wide open to others and not you?  The open door must be seen and trusted in through faith.  It is with faith eyes that we see doors/opportunities of serving and honoring Jesus Christ in our daily walk.  “Faith is the substance hoped for and evidence of things not seen”.  Only by faith can we attest to the open door before us.  We can miss opportunities if our faiths complacent and we neglect God’s Word.  We can miss open door opportunities if our eyes have been blinded by the bright shiny things of this world.  We can miss open door opportunities if our hears are deaf to the whispers of the Holy Spirit to our soul.  We can miss open door opportunities if we are not expecting and looking for them.  Sometimes we need to wait and not try to force open a door that is closed before us.  Other times we need to walk through that door full steam ahead.  How can we know which is right, wait or walkthrough?  Faith is in-line with God’s word.  Seeking and desiring to honor and serve Jesus Christ more than self.  Praying and asking God to confirm within us to wait or walkthrough.  We must set aside our self-reliance and self-centered ways.  People would like to think that an open door from Christ will mean prosperity, ease, and life without trials and troubles.  This is not true.  Sometimes our open door is walking into a lion’s den, or facing the Red Sea, or carrying our own cross.  The thing that matters is that the door we walk through is that we are not walking through on our own.  Christ is there in all of His power and will never leave us.  He is all-knowing so there are no surprises that He is not in control of.  He is ever-present and will accomplish His plans and purposes.  Spend time thinking about how many open door opportunities Jesus Christ has given to you today to serve, honor, and glorify Him.

22. Do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned.

Numbers 12:1  Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.

When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.” But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again.

We all can have temptation to see things and question the hand of God in them.  We all can have the temptation of seeing ourselves much higher and better than we are.  Here we see Aaron and his wife wanting to be recognized for being ones whom God used for speaking His message to the people.  They spoke badly of Moses to lift themselves up.  Do you ever wonder why God would include these aspects of history in His word?  Could it be to give us insight into human nature and how easy it is for us to get sideways in our thinking?

We get thoughts that come into our head and if they are not recognized for what they are there is a good chance for them to take root.  Once they have taken root they seem to grow and produce fruit that is not God-honoring.  In fact, they produce works of sinful desire, greed, pride, lust, hate, prejudice, and love of self.

We can recognize these thoughts for what they are when we spend time in His word each day seeking God to speak to your heart and mind on how we might honor, serve, glorify and obey Him.  It is not rocket science to know that what we spend feeding our mind will eventually come out “whatever a man sows so shall he reap”  Good or bad.

Remember it only takes one conscious decision to commit to reading His word, and likewise, it only takes one to neglect it.