Opening Closed Door

Isaiah 55:8-9

"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."

The Bible has much to say about open doors. But many times, as Christians, we face obstacles on our path and in our ministry. Blocked doors can be very frustrating. But God often uses closed doors to advance His cause.

God closed the womb of Sarah so he could display His power to the elderly one.

God shut the palace door on Moses the prince so he could open shackles through Moses the liberator.

God marched Daniel out of Jerusalem so he could use Daniel in Babylon.

Even when Jesus requested a path that bypassed the cross, God said no. God said no to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane so He could say yes to us at the gates of heaven.

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It’s not that our plans are bad but that God’s plans are better.

Our blocked door doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us. Quite the opposite, it is proof that He does.

Thank You Lord that You know best
and have even better plans for me
and my service for You.
Help me wait patiently for You
to open the right door at the right time!

The Living Stones

1 Peter 2:5

…now God is building you,
as living stones into his spiritual temple.
What’s more, you are God’s holy priests,
who offer the spiritual sacrifices
that please him because of Jesus Christ.

The purpose of our lives is not to maximize our potential. So few people actually get the opportunity to do so! Many who, because of Christianity, are denied access to education, or are barred from developing promising careers.

The purpose of our lives is the sacrifice of our lives.

God makes each life that is yielded to Him a living stone in building His temple. That’s why we are alive. That’s the purpose of it all. We are all made to become a stone in His spiritual temple, His eternal kingdom. And everybody gets the opportunity to become a “living stone” just by virtue of giving our lives to Him.

And we are priests because we offer a sacrifice.

That sacrifice is the only one we can make — that of our lives.

And so we find the purpose for which God made the world — to build a kingdom of worshippers for Himself.

No one wastes their life who gives it to Jesus. They are placed into an eternal structure — the kingdom of God, and will rejoice forever in that status. No one goes unfulfilled because God builds His kingdom on our sacrifices, not on our achievements.

Let us be the “living stones” for God and offer Him the sacrifice of our lives.

Thank You Lord that
I don’t need to spend my life
seeking fulfillment other than in You!

Pray Together

James 5:16b
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

We must pray and rely on God to solve our problems.

We must pray for our city or community so that it is peaceful and safe.

We must pray for the work of the gospel so that it is stable and steadily expanding.

We must pray powerfully and effectively.

Our Father God will hear us.

He will help us solve our problems.

Let us recommit ourselves to believe in the power of prayer and practice that belief.

Let us pray for the problems in our city or community.

Let us seek like-minded brethren to pray together.

Oh Lord, help us believe and rely on the power of prayer.

Precious Food For Christians

Psalm 104: 27-28

All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.

Let us recommit ourselves to living the principles of God’s Word

and not be ashamed of publicly sharing them.

Let us thank God for the Bibles we have
and ask Him to provide for those still without even one copy.

Luke 6:27-28

But I tell you who hear me:
Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.

In Luke 6:22, the Lord Jesus defines persecution with four verbs: hatred, exclusion, insult and rejection.

Later in the chapter, Jesus gives more emphasis on how we are to respond to persecution that comes our way.

One of the ways is to pray for those who persecute us. This is a parallel principle with loving our enemies. God will honor this principle of prayer.

Let us respond to persecution with non-violence
as the Lord Jesus taught.

When we pray for our enemy and love our enemy, he or she is no longer our enemy.

Oh God, help me to always respond this way.

Joshua 4:1–9

Memorials help us preserve important memories.

God memorialized many important things in the Old Testament, often through festivals and ceremonies.

In this instance the Lord used a simple monument of 12 stones, one for each tribe of Israel, so that in the future the Israelites could tell their children how God stopped the flow of the Jordan River when the 12 tribes walked across with the ark of the covenant to enter the promised land.

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What things has God done in our lives that we ought not forget?

Think of ways to memorialize them.

We could have a ceremony or create a physical memorial.

We could keep a journal or record of answered prayers and unexpected blessings.

Whatever it takes, we need to foster the memory of God’s work on our behalf.

Remember God!