Revelation 3:8

I know your works. Because you have limited strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name, look, I have placed before you an open door that no one is able to close.

We have all had doors shut in our face. Just when we thought we were about to enter something promising or find an answer we needed, a door closed to prevent us from entering. While closed doors can be very discouraging, they are also a sign of direction. If God isn’t in it, your answer is not behind it. When He is directing you, He places an open door that no one can close before you.

God knows our works. If we have been disobedient to His word or have denied His name, He will direct us to a door of repentance before He places us in front of a door of opportunity. He knows our limited strength, and He will become the strength we need to move us along in the process. If big doors don’t open, trust the small doors that do until you get where you need to be. We gain something through every door God opens for us that we need for the next door, so do not despise the day of small things. You never know where an open door might lead.

If you are praying for direction today, trust the open door God places in front of you. If He has closed a door, realize that He is not behind that one. If God is not in it, you don’t want it! You can trust Him to direct you because He wants you to succeed. He is not setting you up for failure, nor is He giving you false hope. He may take you on a detour, but your success is important to Him. Trust the doors He opens, and simply walk away from the ones He closes. He is our guide, and we must know Him, follow Him, and trust Him. May He open doors for us in the new year that help us grow, flourish, and advance His kingdom.

Have a blessed day!

Luke 2:26-32

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he saw the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, he entered the temple complex. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform for Him what was customary under the law, Simeon took Him up in his arms, praised God, and said: Now, Master, You can dismiss Your slave in peace, according to Your word. For my eyes have seen Your salvation. You have prepared it in the presence of all peoples – a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory to Your people Israel.

The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus. This same Holy Spirit that spoke a promise to Simeon speaks to Christians today. He will reveal things to us from the Father that glorify His Son. The Holy Spirit promised Simeon that he would see the Messiah, and He brought the fulfillment of that promise to him. Simeon did not have to go looking for Jesus. Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Simeon in a routine practice of the day.

When we go about our daily business doing what God has called us to do, we can expect God to reveal Jesus to us through His Holy Spirit. We need only take Him at His word and believe He is working in our lives, and He will reveal to us the miracle He is working in us, through us, and for us. Simeon saw the Messiah in the ordinary, daily routine of the place where God had called him to serve. This passage illustrates to us the importance of serving where God has called us to serve and doing daily what He has called us to do.

Simeon was guided by the Holy Spirit to enter the temple complex at the very moment Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to be circumcised. This was not a coincidence but the providential hand of God leading Simeon to encounter the fulfillment of the promise He had made to him.  God knows how to get a miracle to us! We encounter those miracles when we submit to the yielding of the Holy Spirit.

Seeing Jesus was such a blessing to Simeon that he was ready to die. He was old in age and had learned to follow God’s leading. Now that he had witnessed the Messiah with his own eyes, he could think of no greater blessing God could bestow on him. He had lived out all his dreams in seeing Jesus. 

We don’t know how much longer Simeon lived after this point, but God used him to speak a prophetic word over Jesus so His parents could hear. He acknowledged Him as God’s salvation, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory to God’s people. His words would have confirmed what Mary and Joseph were told by the angel. 

Are you serving where God has called you to serve? Are you using the gifts He has given you?  If you are not, you may be missing miracles and promises. Don’t take for granted the daily, ordinary, routine things of life or those nudges from the Holy Spirit. You never know when your miracle will walk right into your presence and reveal Jesus to you. 

Have a blessed day!

John 1:18

No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son – the One who is at the Father’s side – He has revealed Him.

Without a revelation of God, we mistakenly identify Him with ourselves and with the voice of our own desires. This is exactly why the people did what was right in their own eyes in the Book of Judges. We cannot comprehend God – what He looks like, His nature, His character, or His desires – unless He reveals Himself to us. We were created in His image, and we are reflections of Him. Our fallen nature, however, tends to try to create God in our own image, and we see Him as a reflection of us. To fully understand ourselves, we must first recognize God for who He is – holy, wholly other, and different from us.

God sent His Only Son, Jesus, into the world to reveal Himself to us. Jesus came to change our way of thinking and to show us the Father’s great love for us. He came to give us a bigger vision and to turn our hearts and our eyes beyond ourselves and our own works to catch a glimpse of a greater kingdom in which we were created to live. He came to give us a righteousness we can never obtain on our own, even with our best efforts.

Jesus has revealed God to us in His death, burial, and resurrection. No one else could reveal God to us in this way. God placed the judgment of our sins on His Son – the perfect lamb – and buried those sins. After three days, however, this sacrifice returned a new creature with a glorified body, demonstrating the forgiveness and power of a God that could never be created in the image of man. Jesus is at the Father’s side today interceding for us – those for whom He died.

He who died for you today prays for you. What you need to overcome any problem you face today is a greater revelation of the Father. Look to Jesus. Surrender to His Lordship, knowing He intercedes for you daily. Ask Him to reveal the Father’s love and will to you in your life. This will lead you to the center of His perfect will, where you will truly thrive and not merely survive this earthly life. You were created for more, but you will find it only in a revelation of the Father through His Son. By looking away from yourself and toward Jesus, you will walk in places you could never dream or imagine, so pay attention to what He is saying to you today.

Have a blessed day!

Mark 1:2-3

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way. A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight!”

This verse is a reference to the ministry of John the Baptist, who came to the Jews just before Christ. John’s message was one of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Prior to this, God’s people had depended upon the blood of animals for the forgiveness of sins. With this mind-set, sin was excused as long as you presented an annual sacrifice. If you did your duty of providing your own sacrifice each year, you were considered to be righteous and forgiven.  John’s message challenged this theology by instructing people to repent for the forgiveness of sins.

Repent here is the Greek word, metanoia. It means “to change your mind.” John the Baptist urged the people to change their minds about their sin and to ask for forgiveness, rather than to continue with the attitude that the sacrifice would make everything okay. Indeed, a change of mind was needed for Jesus to bring salvation. Why would they need Jesus if they could take care of everything themselves? John’s ministry was to show them they could not take care of everything through animal sacrifices and to instruct them in a new way of thinking that would embrace the concept of grace.

Before grace can touch our lives, we may have to change our way of thinking about some things. If we are relying upon self-effort in any area, the path for Jesus has not been made straight. We must learn to let go of damaging attitudes, negative thought patterns, and self- sufficient mentalities that drive us away from faith and into fear. We cannot take care of things on our own, and we are in need of forgiveness. We are in need of a Savior and the grace He has to offer. Make the path to your heart straight for Jesus to come today.

Have a blessed day!

2 Timothy 2:1

You, therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

We often look at those we consider to be strong and admire their abilities, even wishing we had the same qualities that make them strong. Paul urged Timothy, however, to be strong in the grace of Christ Jesus. Rather than looking to our own strengths, we are to rely upon the finished work of the cross as our strength to endure difficult times.

There are just some things in life that we cannot do by our own merit. One of those is salvation. We must rely upon Christ and the sacrifice He made for us to have a right relationship with the Father and to inherit eternal life. The law exposes our sin, and we are left guilty before a holy God. The blood of Jesus, however, cleanses us from sin and imputes His perfect righteousness to us. Through any trial or temptation we face, when our own strength fails us, the grace of God still holds us.

When you’ve come to the end of your rope and don’t know what to do, rely upon the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He has an answer. When you’ve done all you can do, simply stand in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. When every door has shut, there is still one open to Christ. When you can’t be strong by your own merit, be strong in the love He has for you. He loved you so much that He gave His own life for you, so you can count on His grace to get you through whatever difficult time you now face. His grace gives you strength to continue in the faith and to finish your race. His grace is stronger than you are, and it has the power to take you far beyond anything you could ever imagine. Submit to Him in weakness, and watch grace take you to a whole new level!

Have a blessed day!

Matthew 2:22-23

But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that He will be called a Nazarene.

God continued to speak to Joseph concerning Jesus. I find it extremely comforting to know that when God calls us into something, He doesn’t abandon us to take care of things on our own. He continues to guide us and speak to us to make sure we fulfill His perfect plan. Joseph could not go to Judea because Herod’s son ruled there. Nazareth seemed the best place to raise his new family. Sometimes, our only option is exactly the place God wants us to be. While it might not be our preference, it is the place where God will work and bring forth His glory.

The name, Nazareth, has an uncertain meaning. Indeed, when God brings us to a place, His reason may be uncertain to us as we are required to trust. Three possible meanings derive from the root word. The first means branch. Isaiah 11:1 states from Jesse’s root, a Branch will bear fruit. The second possible meaning is that the name is a tribal name used by resettling groups on return from the exile. The third possible meaning is watch, guard, or keep, indicating it is a town that is preserved or protected.

When God settles us in a place, we can expect all three. We will be branches within the Branch, bearing fruit in God’s kingdom. As we become involved in a local church – or tribe – we may begin to take on characteristics of that tribe as we settle from our own places of exile. Finally, we are in a preserved and protected place while God nurtures and matures us to take on the role He has destined for us. Our Nazareths are our growing places, and we may find multiple reasons God has us there in the long run.

If you are wondering why God has you in a certain place today, consider it your growing place. There may be multiple reasons God has you where you are, and these may be revealed over time. While things may seem uncertain for you, God knows exactly what He is doing. You either go or grow, so if He isn’t telling you to go, dig in and grow – gain everything you can from it.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Maturity and growth are signs you’ve been there.

Have a blessed day!

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed his glory, and the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

God entered our world as a baby. He took on human flesh and lived as we did in this world. He knew the joys and sorrows of human life, as well as the temptations and struggles. Yet, He was the very Son of God living among a fallen people in a fallen world.

Jesus was full of grace and truth, yet the world despised Him. The fact that He was crucified proves the world does not love or accept grace or truth. The world is full of selfish ambition, and when grace and truth get in the way, the world will seek to destroy it. Apart from Christ, we cannot know grace or truth, nor can we fully appreciate it.

The truth is that we are all sinners and in need of forgiveness by a holy God. Grace is His forgiveness given to an undeserving people. Jesus brought us both. We receive forgiveness through the work He did on the cross, and God gladly accepts us as His children when we submit to His Son. To reject Jesus is to embrace the world and all of its selfish ambition and corruption. To embrace Jesus and reject the world, however, is to receive hope for a better kingdom and a better life.

Thank God today that Jesus brought both – grace and truth. If Jesus had brought only grace, we would all have a license to sin, and we would be no different from the world. If He had brought only truth, we would still not have forgiveness or hope for eternal life. Because He brought us both, we can live differently from the world and know for certain that our hope is secure in Him. He lived among us and knows our sorrows. He understands exactly how difficult it is to live in this fallen world, and He gives us hope for a world where there will never be sin or pain again. That is the best Christmas present we could ever hope to receive, and it is the reason we celebrate it today.

Have a blessed day!

Matthew 2:7-9

Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him.” After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was – the star they had seen in the east! It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.

The wise men’s journey proves that God’s guidance will always lead you to Jesus! If you are truly searching for Him, you will most certainly find Him! These Gentile kings did not understand the law or the details of Jewish tradition, but they knew something spectacular was happening, and the heavens were declaring it. They knew enough to search to find what it was. Herod, on the other hand, was the man in charge of Israel, and he knew nothing at all.

If Herod really wanted to worship this new king, he would have followed the wise men, himself, and found the baby. He wanted the wise men to do his “dirty work” for him so he could destroy the threat it posed to his own throne by killing the baby. An evil heart never seeks to worship; evil only serves to steal, to kill, and to destroy for its own selfish gain.

A heart of worship will forsake everything to pay honor to Jesus. A heart of worship will present its gifts to Jesus. A heart of worship will seek until it finds the Christ. An evil heart, however, will seek only its own self-interest, which will directly oppose that which is good. 

What is your heart in the matter today? Do you have a heart of worship that truly seeks Jesus, or are you more concerned about protecting your own territory and following your own agenda? Are you committed to giving Christ your all, or are you committed to carrying out your personal schemes? A heart of worship always finds Jesus. An evil heart is self-destructive.  Pray for a heart to seek Jesus as these wise men did, and commit to worship Him. God will lead you straight to Him, where you can be completely fulfilled by giving your all.

Have a blessed day!

Matthew 2:12

And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

1 Corinthians 10:13 promises that God will always provide a way of escape from temptation for us. That is exactly what he did with the wise men after they had worshiped Jesus. To go back and report everything to Herod would place the baby in danger, and God provided a warning and another route for the wise men. We would be wise to follow their example.

Many times, we know there is danger or temptation lurking, but our weakness or our curiosity draws us to that place. Whenever we sense temptation or danger, we should heed God’s warning and take another route. In taking God’s alternate route, we protect our destiny and God’s purpose in our lives.

The alternate route may not always be the easiest or the shortest route. In fact, it may not even make sense to take that route under normal circumstances. God would not warn us, however, if His alternate route were not absolutely necessary. We may never know the full extent of the protection we encounter when He redirects us. We simply must take a new route in faith that God knows what He is doing.

Has God redirected you or altered your plans in any way? Is there a place where you know you should not return? Rest in full assurance that your new path is a road to victory. God will protect His true worshipers, and He will make sure your destiny and His purpose are fulfilled according to His plan. Trust this new path, knowing that God has gone before you and prepared your way.

Have a blessed day!

Luke 2:15-16

When the angels had left them and returned to heaven the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the feeding trough.

On an ordinary night, to an ordinary people, news of the extraordinary appeared. The shepherds knew they had to go right away to Bethlehem because God had made the proclamation known to them. They didn’t worry about the sheep but went straight to Bethlehem to find the baby. Having known of the promise from ancestors who believed for centuries, they would now see the fulfillment.

When they acted upon the news, they found exactly what the angels said they would find – Mary, Joseph, and the baby in the feeding trough. God promised it centuries earlier, and the angels proclaimed the time was now. They saw the evidence after they acted upon it. 

In our own lives, God may promise something that doesn’t materialize right away. We often have to wait long periods of time before we see that thing happen, and many of us even give up hope. Then one day in the midst of our ordinary lives, God sends word that His miracle has happened or is about to happen. Will we believe Him and go where He leads or shrink back in disbelief? Those shepherds would have lived lives of regret if they had disregarded the message. Christ would have still come for the world, but they would not have been able to participate in the glorious arrival. Don’t let disbelief hinder you from experiencing the miracles of God in your own life. He still works in extraordinary ways for and through ordinary people, including you.

Move straight into what God has told you to do today. Even if you have experienced failure in the past, God will bring about exactly what He has promised! Don’t let regret ruin your destiny. Run straight to your Bethlehem to see what God says is true!

Have a blessed day!