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| How many doors have you opened today? |
On a “normal” day, did you realize that the average
person opens and closes a door at least ten times (even more depending on the
event).
For example, in many parts of
the world, this is a busy day with neighborhood kids knocking on doors for a
special treat. All that knocking can add up to a pretty good amount of door
functioning.
If we were to total our low average door activity for one
year, it would be 3,650 times we placed our hand on a doorknob. Think about the amount of doors you use each
day. There are entrance doors to the
home, bedrooms, bathrooms, garages, closets, pantries, basements, etc. You get the point.
Over the course of a lifetime of approximately 70 years our
door visits add up to 255,500. Let’s not forget that this total doesn’t include
out of the home door visits as in shopping, doctor appointments or any other
place we may go that includes opening a door.
Figuring in those totals we could see upward of one million doors we
face in our lifetime. In the words of Mayberry's Gomer Pyle, "Makes ya think."
You would assume that being familiar with a simple
thing as a door, we wouldn’t have a problem approaching them would you? Awe, but there is one door that many have
never faced.
Welcome new friends this week from:
See if your city/state/country made the list.
New on DFB – Bangladesh;
Netherland Antilles; Tel Aviv, Israel;
Swan View, WA, Australia; Bridgewater, NS, Canada; Burgess Hill,
England, UK; Kranj, Bohinj, Slovenia;
Orillia, ON, Canada; Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand; Davao City,
Philippines; Larnaca, Cyprus; Comayagua, Honduras; Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan;
Cannock, England, UK; Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany; Sarcelles,
Ile-de; France, France; Surat, Gujarat, India; Kuwait; Malaysia.
USA – Madisonville, TN; Dahlgren & Broadway,
VA; Margate City & Glassboro NJ; East Berlin& Sharpsville, PA;
Fairmont, WV; Lubbock & Weslaco, Texas; Raleigh, NC; Saint Paul, MN;
Security, CO; Youngstown, OH; Mitchell, SD, Bell Gardens, CA, Smyrna, DE;
Portage, MI; Clovis, CA; Ballston Spa, NY; Zebulon, NC; Hialeah, FL; Chester, MD; Grove City, PA.
New
Jersey –
Margate
City, Glassboro, Woodbury, Sewell, Franklinville, Vineland, Millville, Mullica
Hill, Williamstown, Swedesboro, Elmer, Newfield, Turnersville, Bridgeton,
Pittsgrove Twsp., Deptford, Mantua, Cherry Hill, Dumont, Tuckerton, East
Orange, Alloway, Sicklerville, Monroeville, Marlton, Gibbstown.
If I left anyone out please let me know.
Thank you for your continued support and sharing this Outer Journey on
Daily Favor. (DFB - Daily Favor Blog)
You are welcome to leave comments or prayer requests below. All are private. I would love to hear from
you and how Daily Favor has worked in your life. Contact me by leaving a message in the box at
the bottom of this week’s post.
Don't miss
out on this week's challenge (below).
Doors Are Passages
While my husband was in physical rehab this week I took
advantage of a conference room that was adjacent to the facility. It’s a quiet place that has a large table for
me to do research. I like to use that room whenever it is available.
Spreading out all my materials I settled in for some
serious writing. It didn’t take but a
minute, literally for me to stop what I was doing after noticing the word
“knock.” I don’t know why that word put
a halt to my research, but it did.
Out of curiosity I looked up a few passages in the Bible
regarding that word and got some insight to what the Lord was revealing to
me.
Glancing around that small area (maybe 30’ x 40’) there
are eight doors. In one hour about
twenty people entered or left the room through one of those doors. No one looked frightened or apprehensive
about using them either. They are simply
a passageway to another place.
Another Kind of Knocking
Traveling around town I have seen some very strange and
bizarre things that people chose to display for the first big fall holiday. Some
I can’t even look at they are so scary.
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| King Belshazzar: Rembrandt-Feast-of-Balthazar |
Have you ever been so frightened that your knees
knocked? More than likely even if it
didn’t happen to you, that phrase is familiar.
I remember a passage in the Bible when King Belshazzar was so freaked
out by a strange sight that his face changed colors, his hip joints shook out of their sockets and his knees knocked against each other. Talk about rattling bones!
When the King saw fingers writing on the wall (another
catchy phrase … “the handwriting on the wall”) you can be sure he wished there
was a body attached to that hand. (Daniel 5:6)
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| Anyone there? Will you answer My knock? |
God was giving Belshazzar a message in an unconventional
way, but all the same, He was knocking on the heart of a king to take notice of
what was about to happen.
When the Lord
wants to reveal something to us, He “knocks” on our heart door in hope that we
will open it and let Him inside us.
“Behold, I Jesus stand
at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come
in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)
There are times when the Lord uses other methods to get someone’s
attention like in Belshazzar’s case, but now we have His Word. I believe that this has been a time when God
has tried to get you to open the door of your heart to Him. He has been placing people and things in your
path but you haven’t gotten the message.
Maybe you’re knees have been knocking because you are
afraid to approach the throne of Grace, but God wants you to know that He is
waiting at the door for you. All you
have to do is open it like you have to so many other things in your life.
Keep at it …
 |
| Ask, Seek, Knock |
We are at the point of our outward journey where we
should be continually at Heaven’s door asking, seeking and knocking for God to
reveal our next steps.
Jesus has given
us permission to approach His Kingdom door. In the Bible He spoke these very words:
“Ask, and it will be
given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For
everyone who asks, receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it
will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8 & Luke 11:9-10 NKJV)
In other words, God wants us to stay at the gate and keep
asking, seeking and knocking until we know His will for our journey. There’s
nothing spooky or scary about the Lord wanting to get a message to you. He’ll use whatever method it takes to get us
to listen, so why not open the door to the prompting of the Holy Spirit?
The Other Side of the Door
When we were children our parents taught us to be careful
not to open the door of our homes to strangers, no matter how convincing they
sounded. If someone we didn’t recognize
knocked on our door a flag would go up alerting us to danger.
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| Who are you? What do you want? |
As we have grown that practice has not been kept, and many
times as adults we have opened doors that we wished remained closed.
Unfortunately, there is another one who has been knocking
on our heart’s door and many have given him easy access by their “ghoulish”
activities.
Of course, I’m referring to
letting satan have entrance to our heart through the gateways of our ears, eyes and actions.
If we allow satan to come in through the gates in our life,
he will undoubtedly be seeking and knocking on our heart door until he wears us
down emotionally. When that door is
opened, it’s hard to close without a struggle.
That’s why it’s vital we know who is on the other side of the door.
Door #?
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| Pick a door any door ... but be careful. |
There have been occasions when I have spent more time
knocking on the door to Heaven in seeking God for His grace, mercy and favor
regarding a situation in my life.
Recently it seems to be non-stop as I seek direction for my own journey.
I feel as if I’m on a game show having to pick what’s
behind a door and selecting the wrong one each time. Conversations tend to be three fold … God,
myself and the devil saying pick a door!
On one side of a door I’m writing and teaching about the favor of God. The reverse side pleas are going toward Heaven’s door while trying to avoid
opening door number three – satan’s.
The Door All Face
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| Wait, I believe, let me in, please God! |
There will come a time in our life that this journey will
end and there will be one more door.
Some call it death’s door, but for believer’s it will be the door to
eternal life. This time it will be us
standing outside Heaven’s door and asking God for entrance into His home.
For those who have already trusted Him as
their Lord and Savior here on earth, the door will never be closed, because the
gates have already been opened to us.
Those who refused to open their heart door to Christ here
on earth will have His Heaven door shut to them forever.
There are no second
chances once your journey here on earth is completed.
Look at what Jesus Himself said to those who think
differently,
“When once the Master
of the house (Jesus) has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand
outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,” and He will
answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you…” (Luke 13:25 NKJV)
On October 31st, this day of celebration, many
fail to realize how dark the world really is.
They don’t see things as they really are because satan has convinced
them that his door leads to happiness, when in fact it leads to death. The deceiver
has believers so smoked that they revel in festivities and decorating for satan
more than they do the birth of Christ or His resurrection. It is the number one celebrated holiday for
American’s.
Hanging skeletons from a tree, ghosts, RIP signs
scattered throughout a yard is a door that Christian’s have opened to the
devil, and he has them trapped in thinking these things are OK and glorify the Lord. If the devil can keep people on death’s side,
they will never see God's door or experience eternal life.
When did these things become true, noble, just, good,
lovely, praiseworthy, virtuous or pure?
Aren’t we supposed to think on these things instead, as Christ said?
(Philippians 4:8 NKJV)
“Every choice we make is a door.”
God has given fall as the season of harvest, blessing
and favor, but we cannot expect Him to open those doors of Heaven to us if we
insist on hiding behind satan’s door thinking it’s OK for believers. It’s time to close that door beloved and
never open it again.
Are you ready to hear Jesus say, “I don’t know you” because you disregarded His door and walked through
another based on society or worldly traditions?
What’s Behind Heaven’s Door?
My mother used to tell us kids that we couldn’t visit a
place too often or we would wear out our welcome. Have you found this to be
true?
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| It's me. I'm here again Lord .. |
The great thing about making a connection to God’s place
is that you can never wear out your welcome.
You can keep talking and He will continue to listen, answer prayers and
ask you to stay in fellowship with Him no matter how many times you need to
knock on His door.
When I first became a worship leader I spent many more
hours than usual in my prayer closet; sometimes it was on my knees, others
walking around my property. What I found
was that when I knocked on Heaven’s door, even if I didn’t get quick answers to
my questions, there was always a peace that fell on me once inside.
No matter what I bring before the Lord, my concerns never
fall on deaf ears. I can expect His mercy and blessings on those I’ve brought
before Him, then thank Him for His unlimited favor that surrounds me.
So I’m going to keep knockin’...
This Week’s Challenge:
Knock on Heaven’s Door
It would be easy for me to say that this week we’re all
going to knock on the door to Heaven and ask God for whatever …, but that’s not
our assignment.
Many of you will have lots of visitors this weekend or
perhaps you are planning on attending an event.
That’s where our challenge lies; bring someone to Heaven’s door. It’s a door they may have never faced.
One time I had the opportunity to bring someone to the
threshold of Christ’s door at a Christmas party. I had people tell me it wasn’t the time, but
it was for that young lady. Her life changed that day because the Holy Spirit used
me to show her the door to Heaven. It’s a day I’ll never forget.
With a soul in mind, ask God for guidance in directing
you to the person He wants to bring to His door this week. I know He will, because I have already prayed
for you in this matter. Thank and praise
Him for His favor in selecting you to be the Light for this person and
allowing you to take part in their journey to Him.
Hear me Lord I’m knockin’ on Heaven’s door!
I keep talking ‘cause You answer, Lord
So be listenin’ for me …
I keep talking ‘cause You answer, Lord
So be listenin’ for me …
Click on the word link for just the feature song.
This is part of the Album. Feature song is at 4:30 seconds.
Until next time, you’ll find favor at
Heaven’s door.
“Welcome to my house, Come on in.”
– Jesus Christ
What's New this Week: Knocking on Heaven’s Door
![Knockin' On Heaven's Door [Music Download] - By: Avalon](https://g.christianbook.com/g/ebooks/covers/w185/d/dlf125560-cp_w185.png)
Music Download from Avalon
Maybe you don’t know the Living God that I know, but would like to have this kind of favor in your life also. Click on the above tab “Tell Me About Jesus” for more information on becoming a child of the Savior.
Content and Image Copyright from Favored1. Do not copy. A.N.A. logo by
J.C.Penney, Inc.
Scripture reference was
taken from the New King James Bible Version provide by Bible GatewayImage credit: Google Images Creative Common License if not specified.
Image: Doors Rembrandt-Balthazar Jesus Ask Stranger 3 Doors Pulling Door Heaven's Door Knock Teens
Disclaimer Notes: Results may vary due to lack of belief.
Heaven, Daily Favor Blog, Favored1, Challenge, Christian Living, Avalon, Salvation, Prayer, Bob Dylan
Revised: 3/30/17; 6/10/17; 3/2019
