Revelation 3:20 - A Relationship With Jesus; Starts Afresh With Each New Day.
Revelation 3:20: A Relationship With Jesus; Starts Afresh With
Each New Day.
Revelation 3:20 (NKJV) 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.
COMMENTARY PEARL
Our first day in Egypt, my three friends and I found
ourselves in the middle of Cairo with a plan to go visit the pyramids of
Giza. But we couldn't find the bus that would take us there. As you
know, many countries have a different language but still use the same
number symbols we do in North America. But Egypt doesn't. Their numbers
are totally different, so it took us awhile to find the correct bus
stop. After fifteen minutes, we saw a bus approaching in the distance
with the number symbol we were looking for. This was our bus!
As we looked to the right where our bus was approaching, all
the other people waiting at our bus stop suddenly started to run to
the left, away from the oncoming bus! What was going on? The bus
never stopped; it only slowed down. A moment later it passed us and
caught up to the people who were now running alongside the bus at about
the same speed. In a flash, the people running alongside the bus
jumped onto the bus, and the bus sped off. It all happened so quickly,
and we realized we had just missed our bus. We missed it because we
didn't know the system. Twenty minutes later, another bus came, and
this time we boarded it successfully and made it to the pyramids!
Getting to heaven doesnt require us to be aware of any
special systems, characters, or languages. GOD DOESN'T WANT US TO "MISS
THE BUS SO HE'S MADE IT VERY SIMPLE FOR US TO GET TO HEAVEN.
JESUS KNOCKS ON THE DOOR OF YOUR HEART EVERY DAY. EVERY DAY YOU MUST
ANSWER THE DOOR AND DECIDE IF YOU WILL ACCEPT JESUS INTO YOUR HEART BY
ASKING HIM TO BE PART OF EVERYTHING YOU DO THAT DAY. WHAT WILL YOU
DECIDE FOR TODAY? [Passport to Adventure by Rich Aguilera]
COMMENTARY
Meals, especially in cultures like those of the Middle East,
are an occasion for developing deep friendships and lasting bonds.
They aren't just about nutrition; they are about closeness. This is
what Jesus promises His people, but only if we hear His voice and
open the door. We have to accept His invitation and welcome Him in.
Our primary motive for hearing His voice is intimacy with Him. Only
then are we drawn into the kind of relationship where His will is
discovered and His secrets are made known. He shares His heart with those
who have opened the doors of theirs.
Above all else in this life, accept this invitation. Don't
view it as a one-time acceptance of salvation. See it as an ongoing
meal between close friends. Let Him lean over the table of your heart
and tell you what's on His mind. There's no greater blessing than
this.
Jesus, the door of my heart is wide open. Come on in. Sit
with me, eat with me, talk to me. Let me be one of Your closest
friends. [The One Year Hearing His Voice Devotional by Chris Tiegreen]
It happens every day, in every culture, and in every city,
town, and village. To establish or deepen relationships, we humans sit
down and eat together. The habit is in our genes.
Go into any restaurant at lunchtime or dinnertime or visit
any sidewalk cafe and quietly observe. You are sure to see business
being transacted over a meal, or it could be a reunion of friends from
way back. Look around, and you will certainly see several couples,
some at the earliest stages of getting to know each other, others
perhaps embarrassingly giddy in love (maybe even on their honeymoon),
and yet other older couples celebrating life together. Perhaps you
will see a family enjoying eating out, or several tables pulled
together for a party - for a birthday or maybe a retirement. It is human
nature to eat together.
Important relationships may progress to the point of inviting
someone into your home for a meal. First you set a time and date. You
carefully plan the menu, shop for ingredients, and start preparations well
ahead, making sure that the setting is right - lighting, music,
flowers, the best china, crystal, polished silver, and freshly laundered
linen. And the food - everything done to perfection, ready at the same
time so that you can sit down to eat together. In spite of all the
preparation and attention to detail, it's not about the meal - it is all
about the relationship. Hearts knit together over food and drink. It
is what we do.
So when the one and only Creator-God, Sovereign of the
universe, Lord of lords and King of kings, walks up to my door and knocks,
waits patiently, and knocks again, and waits again maybe I'm not
home. Oh, I am home, all right. This is the door to my heart, my mind.
I am always home. He knows that. So He calls to me. He isn't a
bill collector or a loan shark, but a Father longing for a
relationship with me. Hear the cry in His voice: "If anyone hears my voice
and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and
they with me." It isn't about the meal, mind you - it's about the
relationship.
Lord, please come in. Let's eat. But more important, let's
talk. [God of Wonders by David Steen]
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Pray in your closet, and as you go about your daily labor let
your heart be often uplifted to God. It was thus that Enoch walked
with God. These silent prayers rise like precious incense before the
throne of grace. Satan cannot overcome him whose heart is thus stayed
upon God. There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to
offer up a petition to God. There is nothing that can prevent us from
lifting up our hearts in the spirit of earnest prayer. In the crowds of
the street, in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a
petition to God and plead for divine guidance. A closet of communion may
be found wherever we are. We should have the door of the heart open
continually and our invitation going up that Jesus may come and abide as a
heavenly guest in the soul.. live in the pure air of heaven. Those
whose hearts are open to receive the support and blessing of God will
walk in a holier atmosphere than that of earth and will have constant
communion with heaven. Let the soul be drawn out and upward, that God
may grant us a breath of the heavenly atmosphere. We may keep so
near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to
Him as naturally as the flower turns to the sun. SC98-100
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2006/20061221-0925.html
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2016/20161130-0909.html
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2010/20101212-1204.html
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2011/20111212-1311.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
Seeking God Made Real: http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES AND SEMINARS
Restoring The Power by John Bradshaw:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRogO1SxoZN15Boa7BMon4BouVMdteVaq
Prophecies Decoded Sermon Series:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies: http://www.bibleresearch.info/
ABible.com: http://www.aBible.com
