Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – Revelation 3:7-13
Set – Revelation 3-4
Go! – Revelation 1-4
Revelation 3:7-13
7 Write down My words, and send them to the messenger of the church in Philadelphia. “These are the words of the holy One, the true One, and the One who possesses the key of David, which opens the possibilities so that no one can shut them. The One who closes all options so that no one can open:
8 “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. I have done this because you have limited strength, yet you have obeyed My word and have not denied My name. 9 Watch, and I will make those of the congregation of Satan—those who call themselves ‘Jews’ but are not because they lie—come before you penitent, falling at your feet. Then they will know how much I have loved you. 10 Because you have obeyed My instructions to endure and be patient, I will protect you from the time of trial which will come upon the whole earth and put everyone in it to the test. 11 I will soon return. Hold tight to what you have so that no one can take away your victor’s wreath.
12 “As for the one who conquers through faithfulness even unto death, I will plant that person as a pillar in the temple of My God, and that person will never have to leave the presence of God. Moreover, I will inscribe this person with the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, New Jerusalem—which descends out of heaven from My God—and My own new name.
13 “Let the person who is able to hear, listen to and follow what the Spirit proclaims to all the churches.”
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
How would you like to have those words written about you? Limited strength, but obedient to My word. True to My name. Loved by Me. You endured and were patient. Those would be pretty good descriptors for anyone wanting to join Me in My kingdom. When you look around this corrupt world and the enticements Satan throws in front of you every day, a description of your life like those I gave to the church at Philadelphia would feel pretty good.
It’s possible for those words to describe you, though. I did for them the same thing I will do for you if you let Me. Did you notice the words? I have placed before you an open door which no one can shut. Before that I talked about holding the key of David that opens possibilities and closes options. When you give yourself to Me, I’ll use that key for you. I’ll open possibilities, close options, hold open doors that no one can shut. I’ll help you walk through life in a way that lets Me talk about you the way I talked about Philadelphia.
What you must do, though, is walk through those open doors and leave those closed doors shut. The problem with many who say they want to follow Me, they come to a closed door and start slamming their shoulder against it to burst through it. I don’t know if you’ve seen many doors that someone burst through, but there are always cracks and splinters and broken frames involved when you do that. You’ve just ruined the door. I close those doors for a reason. Those places aren’t good for you or at least aren’t good for you at that time. A closed door means stay out. Why do you insist on going in?
I also open a lot of doors for you when you walk with Me. I don’t make you go through the door and often once you pass by the door I close it and you can never go into that door again. But when I open a door for you and you walk through it, I can promise you good things will happen because of it. You might not see the good things, but good things will happen. Opportunities behind those doors are often fleeting and don’t last long, but I make them available as you journey through life.
What made the letter to the church at Philadelphia one of the few without negatives said against them? Because they went through the doors I opened and left closed those I shut. It’s as simple as that. They obeyed what I asked them to do as they journeyed with Me even under heavy persecution. Consequently, I have pretty good things to say about them.
You can enjoy those same descriptors. Just walk through open doors and bypass the ones I close. Listen to Me as we walk together through life. Pretty simple, isn’t it. So why do so few pass that simple test?
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