THE GOD WHO OPENS DOORS AND THE GOD WHO SHUTS DOORS
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"...He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens":"I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it;...."Revelation 3:7-8
1. THE GOD WHO OPENS DOORS SO THAT NO MAN CAN SHUT IT
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"This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains ; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. " Isaiah 54:1-2
"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. " Isaiah 43:19
"He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up;So He led them through the depths,As through the wilderness.He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.The waters covered their enemies; There was not one of them left. "Psalms 106:9-11
"Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? " John 18 :10-11
The God we serve is a God who opens doors for us . And when He opens a door , no man can shut it. We may try to open doors in our own strength and fail because they are too strong for us. Sometimes we may succeed in opening a door in our own strength only to find that somebody has closed it again . When we face such situations we should allow the Lord to open these doors. His mighty strength and power will open doors so that no one can shut them again . He will go before us and break down every hindrance and break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron . We should not struggle in vain in our own strength against these strong barriers , but instead allow the Lord to open the doors for us. The Lord opened the Red Sea to make His people pass through it. But He closed it when the Egyptians tried to use the way He had opened for His people . The doors that the Lord opens for us cannot be used by our enemies . The way of escape for us will become a way of destruction for our enemies .
When God opens a door for us we do not have to fear whether anybody will close the door that God has opened for us . Sometimes we live in fear of men and of the devil even after the Lord has opened a door for us . We live in constant fear and worry whether the door will be closed again by anyone and we begin to suspect everyone that they might do something harmful to us. The Lord does not want us to live in such fear and worry. He wants us to live in assurance and confidence that the door He has opened for us cannot be closed by anyone.
On the other hand when the Lord opens a way for us , we should not try to close it . Sometimes the Lord may lead us in a difficult path . At such times we should not try to escape from it . When Jesus faced the cross , he did not run away from it . Peter tried to put up a resistance and cut off the right ear of the high priest ’s servant . Jesus told Peter to stop it. Jesus was willing to drink the cup which His Father had given him. He did not call the cross as a cup given by the devil or his enemies. He called it a cup which His Father had given him. He was willing to follow the path in which His Father was leading him. Even in our own lives we should not try to escape from the path of suffering when the Lord leads us through it . We should not close a door that the Lord has opened for us.
2. THE GOD WHO SHUTS DOORS SO THAT NO MAN CAN OPEN IT
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"Daniel answered, "O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king." Daniel 6:21-22
"Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. "Acts 16:6-7
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD . "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways nd my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55 :8-9
"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbas 16:25
"All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits." Proverbs 16:2
"A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. " Proverbs 16:9
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. " Proverbs 14:12
The God we serve is a God who closes doors. And when He closes doors , no one can open them. When Daniel was thrown into the lions den, the Lord sent an angel and shut the mouth of the lions . The Lord shuts the doors through which the enemy tries to destroy us . He will also close doors and paths which are harmful to us. We should have discernment to recognise when the Lord has shut a door in our lives . We should not struggle to open a door which the Lord has closed for us . His thoughts and ways are higher than our ways and thoughts . Sometimes we may not realise the dangers awaiting us in a certain path and we try to enter it. But the Lord prevents us and closes that path in order to protect us . We should recognise that and submit to the way of the Lord . We should not rebel and struggle to enter a path which the Lord has closed for us.
Sometimes the Lord closes a door because it is not according to His will and purpose . When the apostles attempted to preach the Gospel in Asia and Bithynia they were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to go there. It was not the plan of God for them to go there at that time . Therefore we should be willing to accept the will and the purpose of God when He closes a door in our lives . We should not become disappointed and bitter against God when He closes a door that we wanted Him to open for us. We should trust that the Lord works everything for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. We should earnestly seek God for His revelation so that we can realise it when the Lord has closed a door for us and submit to His will.
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