A Door is Open, Another Closed, Walk Closely With Me and You Will Know

 

Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with unbelief. They will walk with me in white for they gain the victory. All who are victorious will be clothed in white; I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, But I will announce before My Father and His angels that they are mine, and at my table they will dine.

To the Church in Philadelphia, this message from the One who is holy and true;, I hold the Key of David to open the door for you. What I open, no man can close, for you are my treasured possession that I chose. My precious Bride, I have made the way, closing every door that would obstruct your way. I know all the things you do, even weak and in pain, yet obedient to my Word, you show your love does not wain.

Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the testing that would cause others to fear. The whole world will be tested to show where they belong, while you will be singing a freedom song. Behold, I am soon coming to you in not long, hold to what you have as to me you belong. You will sit with me on my glorious throne, as I wipe away every tear from when you felt alone. Just as I have sat on the throne of my Father, authority for reigning, I will not give to another.

Here Jesus testifies that He fulfills Is. 22:21-12, “I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority in his hand, and he will be a father to the dwellers of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place, and he will be a throne of glory for the house of his father.… “

What door is God opening to us?

A door implies access. As we see with Jesus being the Door that gives us access to Him as well as His Kingdom in the unseen realm. John 10:9 (KJV) says, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

He is also the stairway or ladder that we can go up and down, finding pasture. Jesus says in John 1:51, “Then He declared, ‘Truly, truly, I tell you, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.’” He open door and access between this realm and the heavenly realm. God has given us access to the spiritual realm.

We are seated with Him in heavenly places. We say this but do we really understand this and the access we have? Often, I think we miss living out of this realm because we are still living according to the fleshly nature of the world. We hold to the old ways of doing and seeing as our minds are not yet renewed.

Romans 8:8-13, tells us we cannot live in the realm of the flesh and please God. But we are those who live out of the realm of the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God lives in us. Therefore, we are no longer to live according to the flesh. For if we live according to the flesh, we will die spiritually. But if we by the Spirit, put to death the flesh, we will flourish Spiritually.

To live out of the realm of flesh is to live out of our desires to obtain, have, hold and secure. It is not a place of trust but a place of self-sufficiency, works and self-focus. We are to put to death the desires of the flesh that come up. And when we do, it frees us to live self-sacrificing, fulfilled lives that are according to the will of the Lord and serve His purposes.

Revelation 5:10 say, “And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priest for our God. And they will reign on earth.

We can see from this verse, like the priests of that time, that we are called to minister before Him while holding up others to Him. It is a shadow of this self-sacrificing life where God is central and our lives serve His purposes.

We are to be led by His Spirit. Romans 8:14 goes on to say that those who are led by the Spirit of God and not the flesh are the children of God. Paul tells us that since we have been given the precious gift of the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead living inside us, we have an obligation to live according to the Spirit (8:12).

So how do we genuinely live and walk according to the Spirit?

Pau speaks about a few ways we do this in Romans 8:

1) Identify and put to death the works of the flesh (sin, selfish desires, performance works, self-sufficiency, and self-gratifying desires) by the Spirit.

2) Set our minds on what the Spirit desires. We will know this as the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

3) Walk as heirs, and co-heirs with Christ, sharing in both His sufferings and also His glory [the greater works that we will do in His authority].

4) Walk in freedom and glory, longer subject to the bondage that held us back in the past.

5) Groan inwardly and wait patiently, as we look for the redemption of our bodies in our full adoption to sonship.

6) Pray in the Spirit, interceding by Him with wordless groans because the Spirit intercedes according to the will of God.

7) Hopefully and confidently anticipate good as He is transforming us in the image Christ using trials and sufferings; growing in dependence and not giving up; knowing we are more than conquerors through Him.

8) Walk in His love at all times knowing that nothing can separate us from it.

We are to learn to live in the ways of God while living out of the Kingdom of God. We want to depend upon the Holy Spirit and follow Him rather than leading Him around and asking Him to intervene.

What we see from the disciples of Jesus on how it looked to be led by the Spirit is this fearlessness while sharing the testimony of the Lord, pressing forth to bring the Kingdom forward in greater measure, longing for the Lord and full redemption, praising the Lord in all circumstances and rejoicing even in trials and sufferings without giving up.

Sometimes I fall into this “you are going to be okay” gospel. It becomes about being safe and protected from harm and obstacles. It really has to do with a comfortable gospel. God has promised me peace but not a life of comfortability.

God has spoken this to me at many turns about being safe and protected. He has given me incredible angels that help me in beautiful ways. But at the same time, being protected and safe in this world is not the end game. We see this with how all the disciples died and John the Baptist as well that following Jesus and walking in His power and authority while advancing the Kingdom.

Following Jesus is not safe if your goal is to protect your physical life. While sometimes he does this like the times he raised Paul back up to life after being stoned and protected John while being thrown in a caldron of boiling oil. Jesus didn’t interfere with John being beheaded. But He did send back a message about how powerfully the Kingdom was advancing through the work of John.

He makes my life beautiful, rich and full but not really safe in the sense of kept from troubles. Rather, He gets me into trouble sometimes and then helps me overcome the obstacles. He is growing my trust and my ability to see beyond this realm- to be more alive to and aware of the unseen realm. He holds my life eternally safe.

There were many in the Old Testament who saw into the spiritual realm, especially the prophets. And we also see this in the New Testament with the disciples having prophesies, dreams and visions. They were led by these yet today we sometime shirk back from this.

Joel even prophesies that there will come a day, the last days, that the Lord will pour out His Spirit and His sons and daughters they will have dreams, visions and prophesy. As the Word says in many places, and Peter proclaimed at Pentecost, we are living in the last days. Jesus came and opened the heavens to us. They have never since been shut to us. As we receive the Holy Spirit, we have the power to see into this other realm through visions, prophesy and dreams. This is the realm that we are to live out of.

Speaking of authority, as the Key of David opened the door to us, it is not only to His Kingdom realm in seeing it but in accessing it with the authority that Jesus holds. We are seated on the throne of Jesus with His full authority.

The key of David that He holds is the authority of the Davidic Covenant. He was the 42nd generation descendant in the Davidic line. From the Tribe of Judah, the scepter will not depart from their line.

Isaiah 9:6-7 he prophesies,

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.”

He used this authority to create a new and better covenant with us. When we believe, we are

born again and are in His loins as He goes to the cross and is risen again. He has full authority and has opened the door and given us the keys.

In Matthew 16:19, Jesus says, “ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Wendy Backlund writes in her new book, Changing Your Reality, on Day 3, Seated in Heavenly Places, “Our spirit is able to dwell in two realms at the same time, but it is the human body that gives us the right to manifest the spirit realm here on earth.”

2 Peter 1:4 says, “And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

Yet, often we fail to walk in this power and authority we have from the Kingdom realm and bring it into the natural realm. If you were given an incredible new car with tons of power at no cost, wouldn’t you want to take it out and drive it? Wouldn’t you feel blessed and so fortunate. It would be crazy to just park the car and never touch it. Yet, so many Christians do this with their authority. They just don’t use it or walk in it. Then they wonder why living the gospel is so hard for them. It is because they are doing it by their own might.

Bill Johnson says that authority is all about stewarding what you have been given. As we steward it well by using our gifts to bless and serve what God is doing and make room for it by bringing forth His Kingdom in this realm, our authority grows. Those to whom little is given and steward it well, more and more is given.

He warns us not to bury it, or in essence, leave the car in the garage. He calls those who do, not noble but worthless servants who fail to multiply what they have been given (access to the Kingdom realm).

Something else to note is not those who bury what they are given but do not steward it well. We cannot have our attention and our affection divided and experience the fullness of all God has for us. Competitive voices will make us like a leaky bucket rather than a conduit of His presence. We are to kill all that would compete with the fullness of what God has for us.

Along these lines, a problem is often our busyness. Our lives are often so packed with many good things. But what are the things that the Lord is leading us into and what are the things that just sound good? Going back to walking with God in the Spirit, I think where we (at least me) struggle often is our lives are already packed with good things, it is hard to know and make room.

I say yes to so many things that sound good and seem to advance the Kingdom. But the question is, what is He really calling me to do? As a mentor recently confirmed by reminding me, If He is calling me to do something, I will have a sense of enthusiasm about it and selfless desires that benefit others.

For instance, I run a leadership development program and my work and I love it. I have tons of enthusiasm, even on the simple administration pieces. I dream of it growing even more and never get tired doing it. But the reason is that I have a passion to see our leaders walk in the fullness of the Spirit. Seeing them grow gives me incredible joy. Sometimes God will just give me an incredible download to administrate it and I am just as amazed as others at what comes together for it.

Writing is another area that God seems to meet me and I love to do it. I have a deep desire to mentor others through what I have learned and I am wired to connect to God through my writing. I also just started writing poetry one day when I suddenly started praying in poetry. He has spoken to me about writing so I want to be faithful in making time and room for it. Just recently, I felt Him speak about putting together a poetry book.

Yet, finances, God meets me powerfully and gives me downloads of things at times, but I don’t have a great deal of enthusiasm about doing it. My enthusiasm is to grow other leaders in developing these skills; so, by this, I know it is where the Lord is leading me in it. Doors also open for me to teach young leaders in it and also leadership.

Just recently, I have been asked to lead the implementation of an enterprise wide healthcare management system. Since I was the one who identified the system, I was glad to be involved. But I find my enthusiasm is not as much for the technicalities and the project of the system but seeing the implementation team grow in their leadership skills. When they take over and lead well in an area of it while working together, I overflow with joy. I love to see them partner with the other leaders, stand out and at the same time, cover all the bases. My job has been more to make sure the areas are all covered and encourage their leadership as I cheerlead them.

Another area I know I am called to is prayer. My first pastor told me when I first came to know the Lord that I was “a leader and an intercessor.” That has proved true. I love to help other leaders grow and I love intercession in the way that it connects me with God. When I pray for my church or clients at my work, I connect with the unseen realm in ways that are amazing at times. There is nothing like it. I long to be like Enoch and be so faithful and full of faith that I just cross over at some point.

Areas that I am uncertain about is in some of my extracurricular volunteer activities. I am part of a deliverance ministry and perform prayer for this on a monthly basis. I love this and often wonder if I could fit more in but struggle with the time to do this. I love to see people get set free. I also have several ministries that have invited me to be one of their key intercessors. They send me updates and things to pray for. What a privilege and my closest friends are a part of this so I try to fit it in.

Lastly, a friend who has started a church in my area has asked me to be a prayer minister once a week. Since he is a volunteer at my work and many of the clients love him, and he is creating an environment for them to serve and minister, I agreed to be part of this but have mixed feelings about it. I love to see the clients that go there experience His presence and flourish and this is where I find joy. While I am not that enthused, God opens the door every week in clear ways as my boys and husband always seem to make other plans during this time. And when I was sure I was going to drop it, I had a dream that the enemy was trying to rob me and steal my homeless backpacks that I give away and my rings.

I have written down that everything that speaks against God in your life has to go. I love this and agree whole heartedly. I want everything that quenches the Spirit, distracts me, or opposes God completely out of my life. Things like little sins, compromises, not treating someone the best, offenses, people pleasing, indulgence in food, being comfortable, and doing less than my best on something all have to go.

At least this is easier to see. The tougher part is when all of it is in alignment with the Kingdom and advances it, what do we stand by and what do we let go? What about my boy’s biological mother? I make room to spend time with her, love on her and encourage her, but when do I let her back in my boy’s life?

I am learning that hope-filled trust is the most important thing that I can do in being led by the Spirit. In trusting moment by moment, rather than trying to manage my schedule and activities, I can more live out of a place of being led by the Spirit. I can trust He will get me where I need to be, open the doors He has for me, and close the doors that would hinder me.

Lord, we long to be led by Your Spirit in all things. Fill us to overflowing and lead and guide us in Your ways. We want to follow You not just to get it right and be good stewards but to walk with You and know You better.