Open Doors

In 2 Corinthians 2:12 Paul talks about God opening the door for him to go to Troas.  I believe that simple statement is amazingly helpful for us to learn about the leading of the Holy Spirit.  There are times in our lives when God will open doors for us and we need to be ready to walk through the doors that God opens. A journey with God implies movement.  Yes, there is a time to wait and seek the Lord, but for many of us that becomes our normal mode in the journey and so we don't get anywhere.  I am still waiting for the Lord to open the door as I sit at home and watch my life go by.    If we want to be lead by the Holy Spirit we have to pray that he would open doors for us.  Only through prayer can we expect God to open doors.

Paul experienced closed doors in his journey.   He experience persecution when he walked through a door that he was lead to go through but he didn't allow that to stop his journey.  He was beat, whipped, stoned, imprisoned and more as he went through the doors God opened for him.  But he didn't quit moving forward and he didn't quit looking for open doors.  In 2 Corinthians 2:13 we see that even though God opened the door for Paul at Troas, Paul did not feel at peace there because he didn't find Titus.  Sometimes as we journey through the open doors we find that everything is not right and God will not allow us to be at peace. We must seek the wisdom of God to be able to know what God wants us to do in each situation.

Paul ultimately praises God in verse 14  - But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal processions in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. Paul realized that when God opens a door it was not about Paul, but rather about the Kingdom of God.  Paul realized the God opened doors to allow His followers to spread the fragrance of Christ to the world.

I hate the feeling I get when I realize I missed an opportunity.  God will open a door and I missed it and didn't realize it until it is too late.  It is my desire to learn to better follow the Spirit's leading in my life and see the opportunities as they come.  It is my desire to have the courage to walk through the doors God opens and allow His Spirit to give me the words and the actions to be the aroma of Christ to the world.

Nothing Can Ever Separate

Romans 8:38  And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. (New Living Translation) 

A song we sing at Living Faith Church is One Thing Remains - which simply reminds us that God's love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me.  I recently had a conversation with a friend who wondered if we set people up to believe God's love would not run out for them.  Does this concept keep people from accepting Christ in their window of opportunity?  Does it give them false hope for eternity even when they don't have a relationship with Christ?  

My answer was that songs like One Thing Remains reminds us as followers of Jesus that we can be confident in God's love for us.  On God's side of our relationship we can be confident that God will always keep His part of the covenant and He will always love us.  Even if we are facing demons, worries, trial, or the powers of all hell coming against us, we need to remember God still loves us.  

In the same way I don't believe that our love for God is consistent.  We can be led astray or we can decide to turn our backs on the love of God.  As we all know from relationships it take two individuals to have a relationship.  I can love someone very well but if they chose not to love me back the relationship is strained.  This is how many marriages are today.  One person loves and their partner is not fully committed to the relationship.  The one person cannot create a loving relationship.  Just because God's love is amazing doesn't mean we will receive it, have a relationship with God and keep a relationship with God.  Either way in the end all that will remain is the love of God.