Open Doors I

   STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 

A Daily Devotional by Bishop David 

Open Doors I

Saturday, 5 October

 

And to the Angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth , and no man openeth. Revelation 3:7

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: Revelation 3:1-8 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. 5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

 

MORE LESSON: Isaiah 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

 

Revelation 3:7-13 is a letter to the Philadelphian church and it starts with the declaration, I know thy works.... This is a beautiful reminder that God is a God of knowledge. There is nothing that we are doing or not doing that God does not know. Imagine that the first thing God would tell the Church in Philadelphia about them is 'I know thy works'! It is true that we are not saved by works, but we are known by works. Our works actually are our fruits and the Bible says by their fruits we shall know them (Matthew 7:15-20). The question is, What are your works by which you are known by Heaven?

Going by the wordings of a song which says, 'Let us not grow weary in the work of love, send the light, send the light' we understand that the work that every church and its members should be involved in is the work of love. The work of love is accomplished by individual members of the church sending the gospel light in practical terms to all who need it. If Christianity was borne out of the love of God that released Jesus to a dying world, it can only be sustained by the same love that Christ's disciples spread around the world. This is consistent with John 13:35 that says, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

As reward for the Philadelphian church for having good works despite their small strength, God set before them an open door which no man could shut. This church was not without strength, only that their strength was small. It may be that they did not have numerical and financial strength but they had some kind of strength all the same. As a matter of fact, it was strength for them that they were able to keep the word of God. The spiritual strength of keeping the word of God is real strength. The reason why Saul, being the first king of Israel, was rejected from being king was because he did not keep the word of God (1 Samuel. 15:26). Our staff of office as kings on the earth is keeping the word of God.

Open doors may not be by your physical strength; it is in spite of your lack of strength that God opens doors for you. However, the strength that you need is spiritual – that is, keeping the word of God and not denying His name like the testimony that the Philadelphian church had.

 

Prayer/Action

* Pray that irrespective of your strength or otherwise God will open doors for you.

 * Pray that your spiritual strength will sustain you and your open doors by the grace of God.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: In the name above every other name, this tenth month of the year will work well for me by the power of the Holy Ghost, in Jesus' victorious name.