God desires to visit me and you. In fact, God chooses you and me to visit with Him.
He loves us and desires to fellowship with us more than we desire to fellowship with Him and be close to Him.
I can shut the door to God and hang out a sign on my spiritual life that says, “Please come
back in an hour or two when I am not so busy. Right now, I am covered up with things here on earth.”
If I am not careful, I can even put Him on hold for several days by not fellowshipping with Him through prayer, worship, or reading, digesting, and applying His word. I can even ignore fellowshipping with brothers and sisters in the Lord growing distant from them.
This may sound strange, but I can even “lock” Him out while reading the Word or praying because I am doing those things without a real heart for Him. Half my heart is in the world while the other half is doing religious things of my own choosing to amount to nothing of value to the Lord.
But God wants all my heart not just half. He wants to purify my heart and condition or transform my heart to receive and live consistently by His Word and Ways.
At times, my relationship with the Lord can become routine, mechanical, and distant rather than possessing a seeking and hungering relationship with Him and experiencing His presence
When these things are lacking, He keeps knocking on my spiritual door to bid me to re-invite Him in so He can speak to my heart and renew, refresh, and restore me to the man He desires for me to be.
It is the heart where He wants to implant His “new wine” of revelations. Therefore, He wants my heart…..
· to seek Him,
· to hunger and thirst after Him,
· to be wise in Him,
· to be disciplined by Him,
· to know His wisdom, knowledge, and discernment,
· to consume His Word and Ways, and
· to not turn aside or abandon Him.
He comes to dine with my heart and to address my heart condition. He wants to tell me that He loves a pure heart (Proverbs 22:11, NASB). For out of the purity of heart, the speech will be gracious to my brothers and sisters and others and Christ’s life will be manifested (Proverbs 22:11, NASB). In addition, I will have a better vision and awareness of His presence, His assignments, and His call and purpose for my life.
Christ tells me,
Blessed are the
pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
(Matthew 5:8, NASB)
But, He also would a
Look!
I stand at the door and knock.
If
you hear my voice
(my call)
and
open the door,
I will come in,
and
we will share a meal
together as friends.
(Comment: Another translation says it this way - I will sit down and we will have supper)
Revelation 3:20, (NLT)
As I write this, I am reminded that He is always at my door knocking and wanting to enter and sit down and have a conversation with me. He is my Shepard, my Light, my Strength, and my Refuge. He desires to draw closer to me for He has much to say.
But I must ask myself, do I hear Him calling? Do I hear His knock? and if I hear His knock, am I too busy in this life to go and open the door? If I do not open the door, what will I miss that He wants to tell me? What He wants to put in my heart? And to think, that He says, “if you let me in, I will sit down with you and have supper with you.”
In other words, if I let Him in, He will feed me not physical food, but spiritual food from His Word containing His revelations and His words of encouragement, exhortation, and comfort which will nourish my spiritual and physical life.
If I am hungry for Him, all I must do is to hear His voice and His knock on my spiritual door, open the door, invite Him in, and allow Him to sit down and speak to my inner man (heart) and fill me with Himself.
I must understand that His visit to me is just not to bring me a Big Mac, or a Whopper with French fries, and a large coke. This is a FAST FOOD NON-NUTRITIOUS SOULISH DIET.
No, His visit with me is to serve me meat and potatoes of spiritual understanding, wisdom, and discernment on how to live and move in His presence. The spiritual course of food He wants to serve me is heavenly, not earthly. The Message Bible says it this way:
You serve me
a six-course
dinner…..
Psalm 23:5, (Message Bible)
Let me repeat - This is just not a fast-food nutrient deficient lunch or supper of high calories, sodium, fat, and preservatives of little to no nourishment.
His treat to me is a six-course dinner of spiritual delights that fills my spirit and soul with timely and heavenly food from His throne which will sustain me through the many trials and tribulations I face here on earth.
The importance of hearing His knock and opening my spiritual door brings blessings of immense proportions. If I delight in His presence at His table and receive from Him, then I can be assured that He will give me favor and prosper me accordingly. The Psalmist says,
But his delight in the
Lord of the Lord
and
in His law he meditates
day and night….
And in whatever he does,
he prospers.
(Psalms 1:2,3)
Not only do I receive His prepared six-course dinner (feast), but I have dinner right in front of my enemies of my soul. As well as receiving God’s anointing to refresh my mind and heart which causes my cup of blessings to be completely filled and overflowing (See Psalm 23:5). What a mighty God I serve!
Satan can do nothing but watch me eat the Savior’s spiritual food and grow stronger and stronger to repel and resist him and his demonic powers when they come knocking on the door of my mind and heart.
The victory over Satan has already been accomplished by the shedding of His precious blood by His hanging on the Roman cross over two thousand years ago. I just need to apply the dinner revelations to further Satan’s retreat and cement defeat.
While sitting and listening to Him fill me with grace, love, and truth, I begin to feel like a victorious conqueror ready and prepared to go forth as conqueror and press the Kingdom of Light right into the heart of darkness. In fact, I am a conqueror for He says,
Conquerors
will sit alongside me
at the head table,
just as I, having conquered,
took the place of honor
at the side of my Father.
That’s my gift to conquerors.
(Revelation 3:5)
I say to him, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty (Rev 4:8, NASB). Just by opening the door and inviting Jesus in, I can sit with Him at the head of His table in the presence of my enemies right beside the Father - His gift to me.
I ask you, besides Christ Himself and salvation, is there any greater gift to me or you – to sit in the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
In the New American Standard Bible, it says, “…to sit down with me on My throne.” Not only does he grant overcomers and conquerors to dine with Him, but He calls them to sit with Him on His throne. I am speechless!! I am undone!! “Are you kidding me – to sit down with Him on His throne?”
And to think, if I do not open the door to Him, I will find myself dining at McDonald’s or Burger King, feasting on a Big Mac or Whopper with French fries and a super-sized large coke instead of sitting at the King’s Table.
Folks, this has to be a no-brainer. I need to hear Him, I need to hear His knock, I need to open the door, I need to feast on Him and what He is serving. I need His substance in my heart, spirit, soul, and body. I need everything Jesus has for me!
I want you to know that I got up today and began to enter a downward spiral of feeling bad - accusing myself of things that were negative and not good. I begin to beat myself up for no reason at all. In short, I did not feel like a conqueror.
It didn’t take long to realize this was the enemy “hitting” on me “big time.” As I went to the word and began meditating, Jesus came to me and said, “Let me in, I am at the door. I need to come in and talk with you.” It did not take long to open the spiritual door because the knock was loud. I told him, “I also need to talk with You, Lord Jesus! Please come in and let us sit down and talk.”
This is how this message came to me, and I believe it is also for you. As soon as His revelation came, I began writing this message and what you are reading is His word to me which I share with you.
I repeat what David tells me as paraphrased in the Message Bible:
You serve me a six course
dinner right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.
Your beauty and love chase
after me every day of my life.
I’m back home in the
house of God for the rest of my life.
(Psalm 23:5-6, (Message Bible)
When I got out of bed, my head was drooping until I invited Him in and begin to eat His six-course dinner of revelations to my heart and spirit.
It was not until then that my cup started overflowing with His strength and blessing. I begin to experience His love chasing after me.
That evening, I went to dinner with some friends and after dinner as I was walking out of the restaurant one of the people handed me an envelope and said it contained money, and it was for me.
When I got home, I opened the envelope, and there was a $102.00 blessing, an appetizer. Two days later, I received the whole six-course dinner plate - a mountain blessing of $7,200. What if I had not opened the door and invited Him in? He tells me,
How blessed is the one
You choose and bring near
You to dwell in your courts…
by awesome deeds you answer us.
(Comment: I opened the door for Him to come in and He took me into His court of blessing).
(Psalm 65:4)
My brother and sister, I ask you,
· Has He knocked on your door and have you been too busy to let Him in?
· Has He come to dine with you, and like Martha in the Bible, you have been so busy preparing and serving Him food that you have not been able to listen (like Martha’s sister – Mary who chose to sit at the feet of Jesus) to what He is saying to your heart? He came to serve you dinner so you can observe, listen, and apply His revelations to your walk with Him.
· Have you been so busy with religious activities that when the knock comes, you say, “Please come back tomorrow, I have to get this Sunday school lesson ready for Sunday School? Or, I have to get to church tonight, there is a special speaker.”
· Has he come to your door, and you invited Him in, and you were able to hear what He revealed to your heart, but two days later, a week later,
a month later, or even a year later, you are not walking
in the dinner revelations He served you?
My friend, Jesus does not just come to our spiritual door once, or twice, or maybe three times. He is our friend, and friends will come often to our door. He comes and visits us many, many times. How many times we hear His voice and open the door and receive Him only you can answer for your own relationship with Him.
After you read this message, stop and listen. Maybe He is now knocking on your door and wants to share His life in a deeper way with you. Maybe He wants to revive or restore and share His love with you, or make your cup run over with blessings and favor, or give you “new wine” of revelation to your heart.
I know for myself, I prefer His six-course dinner of spiritual revelations rather than the McDonald and Burger King specials of earthly delights which is basically soul food. And all I have to do is open the door and say, “Welcome Jesus, please come in.”
So do I prefer this, the non--spiritual soul food of the world
Or, do I prefer this - the six course dinner of the Lord Jesus.
Father in Heaven, I give you the glory, honor, and praise. Please Lord, let my ears be awake to listen to your knock on my spiritual door. I want you to come in and serve me the heavenly revelations that you have for me so I can better serve and love you. Lastly, purify my heart so I can better see you in all my life situations and my relationships with others. In Jesus Name, Amen and Amen.
Rich Arnold
Servant of the Lord
311 Adelaide Ave SW
Hartville, Ohio 44632
330-704-9306
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