November 1, 2020
I greet and bless everyone in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. The blessed word that God has given for you today is from the book of Revelation 3:8 , “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.“
From the above context we learn that Christ speaks through the words of John the Elder, in the book of Revelation, to the seven churches, saying, “I know your works.”God wanted the people to know that no human works are needed for attaining Salvation. Many people were simply confused about receiving Salvation. Salvation is indeed a free gift of God. It cannot be earned by anyone’s works. God wanted the people to have Salvation as part of their way of life. No amount of work, no degree of quality of work, can earn that gift for us. This is what God offers us. He offers us the opportunity to be born again into the Kingdom of God. Salvation is a free gift of God, and to receive this Salvation all you need is an open heart. This is the open door kept before you.
Jesus did not censure the church at Philadelphia neither did He rebuke the church in Smyrna. Jesus said, “’ I know your works” Because nothing escapes the notice of the Lord Jesus. Nothing that goes on in any churches has ever passed His attention. Jesus knows. There is nothing that He does not know. Jesus knows their “works.” He knows how they produce. So He says, “ See, I have set before you an open door”. Jesus, therefore provides favourable conditions for serving him. In the face of adversaries, He gives opportunities to serve Him.
Open doors are something that Jesus gives out of His grace. We do not earn or deserve the right to serve Him. Our opportunities for service to God are unadulterated gifts of grace from the Lord Jesus. The word “open” means a door that Jesus opened in the past with the result that the door still stands open. God opens doors of positive volition as He did for Nineveh, where an entire city came to God. And when God decides to open the door, He also keeps these doors open, and no one can shut it. No force, whether man or Satan, can shut a door, that Jesus opens.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters, Have you ever decided to enter this door. Jesus opens doors of opportunity because of prayer. Do you pray for opportunities? God is responsible for opening doors of opportunity if people open their hearts to Him. When God opens these doors, no opposition will stop your service for Him. Although you may not have much strength, God will use you.
God knows your frame and remembers your service to Him. He knows your strength. God told Gideon, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel, from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? ” Yes, any service you do for the Lord must be acknowledged by God. Only then you will find success in your life. Jesus has the key of government and authority in and over the church. He opens a door of opportunity to his people, he opens a door to his ministers; he opens a door of entrance, opens the heart. He shuts the door of heaven against the foolish, who sleep away their day of grace; and against the workers of iniquity, how vain and confident so ever they may be. The church in Philadelphia was commended by God yet with a gentle reproof. Although Christ accepts a little strength, yet believers must not rest satisfied in a little, but strive to grow in grace, to be strong in faith, giving glory to God
Has the doors of opportunity been closed in your life? Has the doors been shut that you cannot open by your skill? By your own strength then wait on the Lord, who gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. God will not only open the doors for you to secure a good job, but will also provide the Visa for you to go abroad. He will also help you to take your family and settle abroad. All you need to do is to allow God to come into your heart. Once He comes inside of you, then you will experience a great change in your life. He will work miracles for you. He says, “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” When you make “prayer your life style” and pray to the Lord then, all the doors that had been closed until yesterday, will begin to open and you shall glorify God. May the Lord help you to be like the church at Philadelphia who were true to the truth by being faithful to the Word of God. God Bless you.
Prayer: Our loving heavenly Father, we thank You for this blessed day. Lord thank you for revealing to us how the churches ought to be. For telling us that you have kept open doors of opportunity for us to serve you even though we have little strength. Help us to be true to your word, even in the face of opposition. May we allow Jesus to come into our heart. And thus receive the blessings He has kept in store for us.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.