"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." (Re 3:19-20)
As I was meditating on the Word of God this Sunday morning, I began to think of all the different Christian churches there are in the world. In the Book of Revelations in chapter 3, Jesus rebukes and disciplines the Laodicea church because they were “lukewarm” in their faith.
The believers in the Laodicea church began to worship material things more then our Lord. “I stand at the door and knock” pictures the Lord Jesus seeking entrance into His own church (Re. 3:14) for the purpose of renewed fellowship. Though it is often understood as Christ knocking at the door of an individual unbeliever’s heart, the context makes that improbable.
God would discipline this lukewarm church unless it turned from its indifference toward Him. God’s purpose in discipline is not to punish, but to bring people back to Him. Are you lukewarm in your devotion to God? God may discipline you to help you out of your uncaring attitude, but He uses only loving discipline. You can avoid God’s discipline by drawing near to Him again through confession, service, worship, and studying His Word. Just as the spark of love can be rekindled in marriage, so the Holy Spirit can reignite our zeal for God when we allow Him to work in our hearts.
The Laodicea church was complacent and rich. They felt self-satisfied, but they didn’t have Christ’s presence among them. Christ knocked at the door of their hearts, but they were so busy enjoying worldly pleasures that they didn’t notice that He was trying to enter. The pleasures of this world – money, security, material possessions – can be dangerous, because their temporary satisfaction makes us indifferent to God’s offer of lasting satisfaction. If you find yourself feeling indifferent to church, to God, or to the Bible, you have begun to shut God out of your life. Leave the door of your heart constantly open to God, and you won’t need to worry about hearing His knock. Letting Him in is your only hope for lasting fulfillment.
Jesus is knocking on the door of our hearts every time we sense we should turn to Him. Jesus wants to have fellowship with us – not breaking and entering, but knocking. He allows us to decide whether or not to open our lives to Him. Do you intentionally keep His life-changing presence and power on the other side of the door?
Heavenly Father, I come to you this morning and ask forgiveness for not always making You the top priority in my life. This morning Lord, I open the door so You can come in and shine through me so I will become a blessing for someone today. Father God, I give all the glory for everything that happens in my life to You. I pray this in Jesus’ Holy name. Amen.
References: NKJV Bible, Life Application Bible (NIV), Nelson Study Bible.
References: NKJV Bible, Life Application Bible (NIV), Nelson Study Bible.
10 comments:
I want the door of my heart to always be open to Him, no matter where I am or who I'm with. He must be first in my life!
Great post brother!
Hi! I see you're a follower of my Reader Person blog. I've been looking through your blog and was wondering if you would like to check out my other blog at
writer-person.blogspot.com
Today's post was an interesting topic and I would love to hear your opinion. -Wolfie
I very much enjoyed reading through your posts. I found them to be very thoughtful.
Thank you for visiting my site.
Very good post!!! He is there waiting for sure but its up to us to open the door and let him in. Thanks for stoping by my blog and following.
~Michele~
Hi Lloyd,
Thank you for becoming a follower of Glass House Ministries.
What you have posted here is exactly what our pastor preached on last Sunday. We are praying for revival in the church, and it has to begin within each individual person!
Blessings,
Cheri
Hi Lloyd,
You are right, it is so easy to just get busy in life and not have God as the center focus of your life. It takes a daily effort to keep the world at a distance and keep God the center.
Rocco T
This was a blessing to find you today. I appreciate your kind comment about my site especially since it led me to yours.
How fortunate that there are so many wonderful Christian sites on here and that I have been blessed with finding them.
God really works miracles in some strange loving ways.
Take care and I so enjoyed your site
Maggie
I want to personally thank each of you for your visits and comments. They mean so much to me.
We need to let the unsaved world know that we are Christians and that God loves them so much that He came to earth, incarnated as man (Jesus) and died a horrific death on the cross just so we could have eternal life with the GREAT I AM.
God's blessings, Lloyd
After studying the church of Laodecia I always wished that every fall our church would LITERALLY throw open our church doors & invite Christ in...I am going to suggest it this year for our fall kick off :)
Lloyd said: "We need to let the unsaved world know that we are Christians and that God loves them so much that He came to earth, incarnated as man (Jesus) and died a horrific death on the cross just so we could have eternal life with the GREAT I AM."
I couldn't agree more!
Blessings,
Cheri
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