I Stand at the Door

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  

- Revelations 3:20

I remember this picture from when I was a little girl.  I opened the door to Jesus' knock when I was just eight years old.  The day I was baptized we went next door for lunch with our neighbors.  I was helping dry the dishes afterwards and almost dropped one of her plates....ALMOST. I would have been mortified to have broken one of her Sunday best dishes.  I can still remember believing that the Holy Ghost (as my church referred to the Holy Spirit) helped me catch that plate before it hit the floor.  And I still believe that He helps me not make mistakes that would harm me or others.

In preparation for this post I listened to several sermons on-line.  One suggested that, as depicted in the Song of Solomon 5:2-6, He will not always stand at the door and knock.  At some point He will turn away because you have not responded to His hand upon the door of your heart.  

Another sermon dwelt on the Revelations 3:20 passage.  Here the Holy Spirit is speaking to the church at Laodicea.  He says, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."  Verse 19 then says, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.  So be earnest and repent."

Because this passage is to the Church He is obviously speaking to those who have already been saved.  In America the Church probably looks like the church at Laodicea to the unsaved.  In verse 17 the Holy Spirit says to the Church at Laodicea, "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.'"  I know there are many, many churches working behind the scene to help less fortunate people, but right now it would seem the vocal people are the only ones getting noticed--the ones who feel we shouldn't help the less fortunate BECAUSE THEY MIGHT HURT US.  If America is supposedly a "Christian" nation, then this is not the message we want to send to unbelievers.

In Revelations the Spirit's point is, we will always need Him--constantly.  There is not a moment that passes in our day that He should be left out of.  When you feel that tug at your heart, it is Him calling you away from whatever has distracted you from this Truth.  You do not know beforehand that you are about to "drop that plate" so there is nothing you can do to prevent it.  But you can open your heart to Him and let Him have free reign so He is there 24-7 to guide and direct you.

I had a conversation recently with a friend concerning premonitions.  She said she read a survey that  said people who cancelled their flights at the last minute on planes that ended up crashing did so because of some other circumstance, not because they "felt" the plane was going to crash.  I believe this is the way God works in our lives.  I avoided a car crash years ago with my children in the car when I decided to stay in the lane I was in instead of moving to the open lane like I usually did.  I was always in a hurry and wanted to be on my way as soon as the light changed to green.  As we waited at the light a large cement tanker came barreling down the road at 50 mph (the speed limit just before this intersection).  It was obvious it was having trouble stopping.  Using the open lane the driver ran the stop light, barely missing cross traffic, finally stopping once he cleared the intersection.  I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd blocked that open lane.  I had no premonition that kept me in my original lane.  I just did not "feel like" changing lanes that day.  God uses this incident to remind me He has a plan for me and I as long as I give Him access to my heart He will "come in" and supply me with all I need to live and to serve Him.

Father, make my heart sensitive to your Spirit so that I might not sin against You.

Link to Scripture:  John 14

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