What's in Your Closet?

(picture from oliphantlock .com)

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him….” – Revelation 3:20 KJV 

John Pantry is a singer we met in England who recorded some phenomenally incredible music. One song used this scripture as it’s premise and the chorus cheerfully beckons, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock and if any man hears my voice, I will enter in and take away his sin and together we will rejoice.” To hear the song, click here: Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock 

Pondering this verse led me to the thought that every verse we read in scripture means more to us each time we read it. God reveals new truth to us every time we read His Word, as we’re ready for it. “Behold”, He says, “I stand at the door and knock….” What door is He knocking on? The common answer is the door to your heart, because that’s where He longs to reside. 

But after letting Him into your heart, what if there are more doors for Him to knock on? What about all those closet doors you like to keep closed? Some of us will protest that there is no unopened door in their heart. Well, good for them. But some of us are an ongoing work in progress. 

We’re Christians, but we need healing in many areas of our lives. Our healing has already been provided, Jesus already took care of that. But sometimes we yield our wounds over to Him one by one, and little by little. 

You may just have a few closet doors in your heart, and they may not even be locked shut. Or – you may have many closet doors in there and you think you’ve got them all locked up tightly, secured against infiltration. No one needs to know what’s in them. In fact, you may have forgotten what you locked away in some of them. It's the silliest notion to think we can hide things from God. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we have hidden away in dark corners, and He knows what we’ll be doing at precisely 4:03pm next Thursday. He knows everything we know, and everything we don’t know. He knew where Adam and Eve were trying to hide even as He called out to them. He knew what they’d done – and yes, He still loved them. 

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No matter what’s buried in our closets, it’s okay, God isn’t mad at you. He loves you more than you can imagine, despite what you think. But He won’t go nosing around in our closets until we open the doors for Him. 

Once you work up whatever courage you think it takes to face what’s behind those doors, He’s ready and willing to go in with you and get them cleaned up and organized and ready to show off to anyone who passes by. 

He’s ready to give you that certificate of forgiveness or healing or deliverance or whatever the closet calls for. 

Television commercials ask, What’s in YOUR wallet? 

 Let me ask, rhetorically, What’s in YOUR closet? 

He’s knocking…….

Using Our Talent - Not What You Might Think

(picture from thecrackeddoor.com)

Sometimes you get a nugget of revelation dropped into your soul. Your spirit already knows the truth of the matter, but you may need to ponder it for a while, to accept it and apply it to your life. Here’s a tasty morsel to chew on.

In the Bible we can read the parable of the talents. Here are the scriptures if you’d like to read it (Matthew 25:14-30); I’ll quickly summarize for those who haven’t.

A rich man gives of his fortune to his servants before he leaves for a journey. In the time the master is away, one servant greatly multiplies what he’s given, another doubles it, and one simply buries it, expecting to return it to his master, for whom he has no respect, later. Those who compounded the talent of money, are rewarded. The one who did nothing but bury his talent is cursed and has his share taken from him.

The parable has much to teach us, but let’s focus on the talent; the measure of money (called a mina in Luke’s account of the parable, found in Luke 19:11-27). It was given to each servant according to their ability. Since Jesus used parables to explain kingdom principles, what could that talent represent?

Since God has given us all varying gifts, we might conclude that these talents of money are actually God-given gifts of talent. Our western brains take things as we read them, so it would be easy to make this assumption. Perhaps you can sing, or you have a knack for teaching. Maybe you’re graced with the gift of hospitality, blessed with a talent for entertaining and meeting the needs of others.

But, what if the talent isn’t merely a talent? It’s a gift from our Master, whatever it is.

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My nugget says that the talent is actually authority. In our case, Kingdom authority. Some of us use our God-given authority like we believe it’s ours to exercise. Some of us use it only when we are desperate and feel forced into using it. Some of us bury our authority, because we don’t believe it’s ours at all, because we’re not believing and trusting our Master.

Since the talents were given according to the servant’s abilities, they shouldn’t have been overwhelmed; nor should we.

How different would our lives look if we consistently used our God-given authority? Would we rise above sickness, which is a curse from the enemy? Would we not be struggling in our finances? Would we more boldly share the gospel message?

Ponder, if you will, what you do with your God-given authority. What does our authority look like? How can we put it into action?

Are you walking in fear? In lack? In sickness?

Jesus Himself, said, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” - Matthew 16:19 (NKJV)

 

(picture from clip-library.com)

“Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” – Revelation 1:5-6 (NKJV)

 

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Song - I've Got A Key to the Kingdom

 

Hiding

(photo from viktorpersson.com)

Is it fair to respond, “I don’t know…” when someone asks how you’re feeling; or to just shrug your shoulders and look away?

I suppose it depends on the why we think they asked. But, by presuming to know the motives behind their asking, we put ourselves into their mind, where we don’t belong, because, truthfully, we don’t know what really goes on there.

We believe we can safely surmise what someone’s thinking or what their intentions are, sometimes based on their past subsequent responses to us.  If, in the past, they seemed not to truly care, we conclude that this time is no different. But, what if in the past they did truly care, but didn’t quite know how to communicate their concern to us? What if their “care button” isn’t broken, but their “communication button” works differently than ours?

There are many reasons we turn from the attention of others. Perhaps we don’t think they actually care, or their personality overwhelms us. Maybe we don’t have the time or interest to reciprocate that care. Sometimes we may just feel like our concerns don’t deserve a spotlight or we’d rather keep them to ourselves, insisting that no one could help us anyway. It could be pride or it could be privacy.

(photo from nickelvery.com)

It could be that we honestly don’t even know in our own heart why we run from the love or attention others offer us.

Personally, the way thoughts often jumble together in my own mind sometimes causes me to panic, not finding the “correct” response fast enough, forcing me to emotionally shut down to keep from exhibiting an emotional response that others might not find acceptable. Of course, rightly or wrongly, I probably base what is “correct” or “acceptable” on past responses or my own imagination.

I guess I’m writing this post to probe: Why do YOU run? Am I alone in my feelings? Am I basing my actions and reactions on deceit?

Logically, if forcing things down inside myself hasn’t worked to “fix” things in the past, why would I (or we) think that this time that’s the fix we should reach for?

Yet, if reaching out for help in the past hasn’t yielded the results we hoped for, why would we continue to reach out?

(photo from thesaleslion.com)

I believe that God created us with a need for each other; a need to connect with each other, as a means of meeting our other human needs. If this is true, then it makes sense that the enemy of Life would want to sever our relationships wherever possible. No? Satan’s most effective tools against us include deception; false illusions, and cleverly created evidence to back up those deceptions. As people, we can be very vulnerable, perhaps to the point where we run from the very help we seek.

The Word of God instructs us to bear one another’s burdens, while a few verses later we read that we have to bear our own burdens. (Galatians 6:1-5)

The King James version of the Bible uses the word ‘burden’ in both places. Upon looking into the meaning of the Greek words behind the word burden, we find that in verse two, where we’re instructed to help bear the burdens of others, the word reveals a weight, something heavy bearing down on us. The word burden in verse five divulges a task, or a service. So, while we are to help each other with the concerns/burdens that weigh us down, we are each expected to perform the tasks and services God asks of us. We’re each to fulfill our own purposes; our own destinies, but will likely require help along the way when the weight of being human becomes too heavy for one soul.

Throughout scripture we read over and over again that God is our help in time of trouble.

The writer of Hebrews encourages us greatly:

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:6 (KJV)

God often chooses to meet our needs through the hands and hearts of those around us. The only need I can think of that God provides Himself, personally, is that of redemption. When He redeemed us, saving us from sin and eternal destruction, He did that through the cross.

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Even as Jesus commanded Lazarus to come from the grave, He turned to those around him and instructed them to release him from the graveclothes that bound him. (John 11:43-44 KJV)

The burdens of this life serve as graveclothes. Through the grace of His redemption, we’re further blessed with the body of Christ - each other - to help tear away the confines of binding graveclothes.

Yet……we hide. Why do you hide?

Let's Get Dirty

(photo from beechwoodcross.blogspot.com

There’s a lot to ponder in the parable of the sower, sometimes called the parable of the soils. Here, a seed of faith is planted in soil we find in three different conditions; weedy, rocky soil; shallow soil and good soil.

If the soil is in bad shape, the Good Gardener works on the soil before He expects the seed to grow and produce.

The soil of our lives may be fertile and ready to receive, it might be shallow and dusty or perhaps rocky, weedy and all around in crummy shape. The condition of the soil could be because of curses declared, or repeated bad choices on our part, or because of the sinfulness of others. Whatever the case, the Gardener has His work cut out for Him. And, it won’t be easy, at least, not looking at the task through our human eyes. But, what gardener doesn’t love a good challenge?

As for us, in general, it’s anything but painless. Most of the things in my life worth having are worth fighting for. Whether it’s a healthy body, a great marriage, safe children or strong faith, the battles waged must be well-fought; the ground taken, well-maintained.

The enemy of our soul often comes against the things we hold dear; our families, our health, our finances – all in an effort to defeat the object of God’s affections.

When our Good Gardener gets to work in our lives, He may need to saturate us with His living water to break up the hardened clay to make it moveable. He may need to pull up weeds; not merely mowing them down, but securing the roots to prevent regrowth. He may need to remove rocks and boulders and even out the ground. He may need to add fertilizer and plow it in deep, turning the dirt over time and time again. Not that I imagine actual soil feeling the pain of intrusion or wincing at the pulling out of weeds and mourning the loss of the rocks it tried to hide under, but when the soil represents our lives, there is plenty of pain and wincing and mourning as God gets to work on His repairs, but He works in communion with us.

As soon as the property is handed over to the Great Gardener, He gets to work. Most likely, He’s been secretly planning long before the property was yielded to Him.

He doesn’t expect what we give Him to be in perfect condition as soon as it’s handed over. Our lives can take a lifetime to look as they were intended. The longer we wait to hand over the rights to our lives, the more futile our struggles become; the more hopeless life looks, the more we struggle with giving up altogether, and the angrier we project ourselves.

Don’t you love before and after pictures? What do you say we let Him get to work today?

“For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.” – Matthew 13:17-18 (KJV)

(The entire parable is found in several places within scripture. Read all of the Matthew chapter 13 for more insight, especially verses 1-23. Verses 24-58 share other related parables.)

Open Heart

(Picture from walterlogeman.com)

God sees my heart! He sees me struggle, He sees me fall. But, praise His Name, He doesn’t base my future on the mistakes of my past. Yes, He sees my heart!

God sees beyond the occasional bad word that slips through my lips when I indulge in fits of anger. He sees past the selfishness of my taste buds when I just have to have a piece of chocolate that’s not on my diet. He looks through the fears that sometime prompts less than proper or acceptable behavior; and He gazes on my heart.

And what does my heart look like? Is it black with sin? Is it ugly and angry and filled with hate that motivates inexcusable temper tantrums?

No, because I’ve yielded to the power of His Holy Spirit. In me, He sees a heart that is hungry for more of Him; hungry for more of His Word and for more of His power.

Does that make my mistakes okay? No. But, they are forgivable. And He freely forgives. The only hang-up is when we refuse to accept His forgiveness; when we’re too proud to acknowledge that we need it, and we choose not to receive it.

More than thirty years ago I gave my heart to Him. It was a night of divine revelation, when He broke through my fears and my pain and revealed to me His great and mighty and powerful and jealous love for me. Though the choice was mine, how could I refuse Him?

It wasn’t just the most overwhelming feeling in the world; it was the most incredible knowledge in the world! And I now possess that knowledge! I can deny it; I can hide it or try to ignore it, and can discard it as if it were a lie. It’s mine to do with as I please.

I choose to live in this knowledge; to walk in it daily. I choose to embrace it, to engage with it, to prosper in it, to explore it and to find eternal salvation in it.

I choose life!

When you watch a love story unfold before you on the silver screen, what happens to your heart as you see the star lovers miss each other? Why is our heart in our hands when the man and the woman seem destined to meet on that rooftop or on that subway ride or in that park – and something comes up to keep one from making it? The other is left, alone, believing the lie that the other had no intention of showing up.

But, God always shows up.    Right on time.    Always.

What holds you back?

“For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. – 1 John 3:20 (KJV)

Funhouse 'Fun'

In your mind’s eye, look for a little boy at the fair, cotton candy in hand, uncontrollable giggles. Is his hair sandy colored, jet black, curly, in desperate need of a comb? Is he tall? Well dressed or wearing the t-shirt he slept in last night?

Now that you’ve got a vivid picture in your mind, take him over to the funhouse. Watch as he snatches his hand from the ticket taker and runs headlong into the mirrored halls, squealing with delight.

He’s bobbing and weaving, running into mirror after mirror, filling the halls with his robust laughter. He sees the reflections of other children as they make their way through the maze. His first time in the funhouse proves to be the time of his life, pleasure that’s addicting.

Dad waits patiently outside, watching child after child after child go in and come out – yet his son remains inside. Occasionally the boy laughs so loud; dad knows he’s okay.

Eventually the laughter subsides. Though it’s been fun, he panics looking for the way out that has to be there. Sitting down, the boy concedes, trapped in the mirrors and yells, “I have to live in here forever?”

Unbeknownst to him, dad has come into the funhouse. Reaching out to him, taking his hand and lifting him to his feet, they exit the mirrored halls easily.

Hebrews 11:25 tells us there is pleasure in sin - for a season. We wind up trapped in the sin, convinced there’s no way out. God has already come to where we are, yes, He’s stepping into our world of sin, to take us by the hand, lift us up and lead us safely out.

*Genesis 19:16 When he hesitated, the men (angels of God) grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.

*Genesis 21:18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

*Exodus 13:14 …‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out…of the land of slavery.’

*Mark 9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.