March 20, 2019 IF ANYONE HEARS MY VOICE
Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
This is an amazing verse because it is an open, or standing invitation to us from God! We are told to ‘behold’, which means “Pay careful attention to what is to follow, it is very important.” Our acceptance or our rejection of this invitation impacts our lives in a major way and has eternal consequences. To reject this invitation is to insure a life lived apart from the One who created us, the One who holds the key to abundant life. Not to take God up on this invitation means that one is limited to living his or her life according to their own limited ability, void of the super-natural life that the believer experiences as a result of the indwelling Spirit of God; life lived without the presence of God is unfulfilling, to say the least. The good news, the greatest news ever is that He stands at the door and knocks! He comes to where we live. (I think this verse is an invitation for the one who does not know God to trust Him as Savior, but I also think it is an invitation for the believer who has wondered from God, and needs to be restored.) This verse clearly shows that God is compassionate and that He is personal; God is seeking out those that will invite Him in. The question is, the critical condition of this verse is ‘if anyone hears My voice.’ Who is it that hears His voice? In other scriptures God makes it clear that if we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him. If there is a secret in how we come to know Him, it is that we seek Him. To seek Him implies that we believe the word of God, the Bible, is His word to us and we read it with the intent of learning of Him. To seek Him also implies that it is our heart to obey Him and to walk in His ways. To ‘open the door’ means that we say yes to all God says about Himself and we welcome and desire His presence in us. What happens when we ‘open the door’ is almost beyond our comprehension-He comes in and we ‘dine’ together! In this sense, to dine means to enjoy being together and to fellowship with each other. The blessing is that there are no other requirements other than opening the door of our heart. Just as when a guest that we have not met before comes to our house, we spend some time getting acquainted. So it is when the Spirit takes up residence in us. His coming in is the beginning of an eternal relationship and it is a relationship that grows and matures with time. His presence in us does not guarantee a life free of trials, but His presence does mean that He will use the trials for good, to take us on to maturity in the faith. His presence also means that He will teach us of His ways and He will discipline us and an adjust us as we need it-all because He loves us and is committed to our being transformed in to His image. The goal is, the big picture is that God loves you and I and amazingly so, He wants to enjoy us. It is a major spiritual step forward for us when we realize that we were created for His pleasure! Isaiah 43:7, Revelation 4:11, Ephesians 2:10, Isaiah 43:21. He could have made us robots who would mechanically worship Him, but He did not. In His design, He gave us the power to make choices and to determine what our heart seeks. You and I have an awesome invitation; let us hear His voice and welcome Him in that we might dine together.
1 Corinthians 1:9 “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Blessings,
Buddy
Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
This is an amazing verse because it is an open, or standing invitation to us from God! We are told to ‘behold’, which means “Pay careful attention to what is to follow, it is very important.” Our acceptance or our rejection of this invitation impacts our lives in a major way and has eternal consequences. To reject this invitation is to insure a life lived apart from the One who created us, the One who holds the key to abundant life. Not to take God up on this invitation means that one is limited to living his or her life according to their own limited ability, void of the super-natural life that the believer experiences as a result of the indwelling Spirit of God; life lived without the presence of God is unfulfilling, to say the least. The good news, the greatest news ever is that He stands at the door and knocks! He comes to where we live. (I think this verse is an invitation for the one who does not know God to trust Him as Savior, but I also think it is an invitation for the believer who has wondered from God, and needs to be restored.) This verse clearly shows that God is compassionate and that He is personal; God is seeking out those that will invite Him in. The question is, the critical condition of this verse is ‘if anyone hears My voice.’ Who is it that hears His voice? In other scriptures God makes it clear that if we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him. If there is a secret in how we come to know Him, it is that we seek Him. To seek Him implies that we believe the word of God, the Bible, is His word to us and we read it with the intent of learning of Him. To seek Him also implies that it is our heart to obey Him and to walk in His ways. To ‘open the door’ means that we say yes to all God says about Himself and we welcome and desire His presence in us. What happens when we ‘open the door’ is almost beyond our comprehension-He comes in and we ‘dine’ together! In this sense, to dine means to enjoy being together and to fellowship with each other. The blessing is that there are no other requirements other than opening the door of our heart. Just as when a guest that we have not met before comes to our house, we spend some time getting acquainted. So it is when the Spirit takes up residence in us. His coming in is the beginning of an eternal relationship and it is a relationship that grows and matures with time. His presence in us does not guarantee a life free of trials, but His presence does mean that He will use the trials for good, to take us on to maturity in the faith. His presence also means that He will teach us of His ways and He will discipline us and an adjust us as we need it-all because He loves us and is committed to our being transformed in to His image. The goal is, the big picture is that God loves you and I and amazingly so, He wants to enjoy us. It is a major spiritual step forward for us when we realize that we were created for His pleasure! Isaiah 43:7, Revelation 4:11, Ephesians 2:10, Isaiah 43:21. He could have made us robots who would mechanically worship Him, but He did not. In His design, He gave us the power to make choices and to determine what our heart seeks. You and I have an awesome invitation; let us hear His voice and welcome Him in that we might dine together.
1 Corinthians 1:9 “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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