Doors Of Opportunity
1. Open Doors
2. Failed Opportunities
3. The Plant Lady
4. Praying For A Door Of Utterance
5. An Opportunity To Praise The Lord
6. God Shut The Door Of The Ark
7. Door Of Opportunity Or A Chore We Don’t Want To Do?
8. God Opens The Door Of Service
1. Open Doors
Do you ever wake up with unusual thoughts on your mind? I’m not really talking about dreams, but just a name, or a line or phrase on your mind. Sometimes I wake up with a person’s name on my mind and it’s someone I haven’t thought about in a long time. I feel that God put that person in my thoughts for me to pray for, so I pray right then. I woke up during the night with the words, “The inhabitants of Dor”, on my mind, and I thought that I would look it up and see if it was in the Bible. When I started to look it up later I wondered if it was Dor, or Endor, so I looked up both words. “And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Bethshean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries.” (Joshua 17:11) These chapters in Joshua give the divisions of the land of Canaan. I wondered what was special about these places, so I read the next verse. “Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.” (verse 12) They had the opportunity to go in and possess their part of The Promised Land, but they couldn’t drive out the Canaanites. They missed their open door of opportunity. Let’s continue with a new series on, “Doors Of Opportunity”.
2. Failed Opportunities
The first chapter of Judges repeats the names of several places where the Children of Israel did not drive out the Canaanites as the Lord had commanded.
“1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?
3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.” (Judges 2:1-4)
In talking about Dor and Endor, you may remember Endor in the life of King Saul. “Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.” (I Samuel 28:7) When we don’t fully follow the opportunities that God gives us, it can bring trouble and sorrow to us and to others.
3. The Plant Lady
Back when I worked in an office we had a plant lady who came and watered the plants in the office. I was usually busy when she came and didn't talk with her much, and she was busy and didn't stop for conversation. I began to feel like God wanted me to witness to her, so on Monday mornings when she came I started telling her a little about going to church the day before. I tried to witness to her and I think I gave her a gospel tract, but I never asked her about her salvation. Then, one day a man came to water the plants. After a while I asked about the plant lady. It was his wife and she had died in her home one morning while getting ready for work. I was really saddened because I had failed my Lord, and now it was too late. My door of opportunity was shut. We need to take advantage of every opportunity we have to witness for our Lord. And if you have never put your trust in Jesus and asked Him to forgive you of your sin and save you, please don’t wait. One day your door of opportunity will be closed. In Paul’s writing he says, “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” (II Corinthians 6:2) We never know what tomorrow may bring.
4. Praying For A Door Of Utterance
Many times I have wanted to talk to someone about their salvation and I didn’t really know how to open up the conversation. I enjoy writing these devotions, and I try to give the plan of salvation from time to time. But, it is hard for me to be the witness I should be when I am with someone in person. I will often pray and ask the Lord to show me what to say, and to help me not say anything that I shouldn’t say. If I still don’t know what to say I try to hand the person a tract with the gospel message of salvation. The Apostle Paul asked that God would open a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ. What a wonderful prayer! I need to start praying that when God opens the door of opportunity for me, that He will also open a door of utterance so I will know what to say.
“2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
3 Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:
4 That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.” (Colossians 4:2-4)
5. An Opportunity To Praise The Lord
When Matthew goes over the prayer list at church he often asks if anyone has a special verse or praise to share. Today, I want to take this opportunity to praise my wonderful Lord. After having cancer in several places, my oncologist schedules me to have a CT Scan and a MRI about every 6 months to keep check on my health. I had both of these tests on Monday. I get stressed over the thoughts of having them, and then I stay a little apprehensive until I get the results. Tuesday morning I checked my health portal and it stated that I had a new message. The message assured me that there was no sign of any new disease on the scan. A heavy burden was lifted from my shoulders and I want to praise my wonderful Lord. Before the tests I don’t pray that there won’t be anything on the test, because that’s how the doctor found the last three places of cancer. If there is something of question there, I want it to show up on the test. I pray that if it’s the Lord’s will He will keep me cancer free. I have a lot to praise Him for, and I am so thankful for His loving kindness! “Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.” (Psalm 63:3-4)
6. God Shut The Door Of The Ark
Maybe one day I will be able to visit the Noah's Ark attraction in Kentucky. I think it would be very interesting to see the actual size of the ark that I have heard about since my childhood. I have seen comments about it from those who have been and they spent hours there and really enjoyed it. I have also seen comments from some who do not believe that the flood as told in the Bible ever really happened. Well, I believe in God and I believe that He created the heavens and the earth, and I believe the account of the great flood in Genesis really happened. There were many people in Noah's day who did not believe that judgment was coming, in fact, no one except for the 8 people in Noah's family chose to get on board and be saved from the flood. Noah believed God and he did all that the Lord commanded him. After they were safe in the ark God shut the door. Noah and his family may have heard neighbors and aunts and uncles or cousins calling to them when the rain began to fall and the flood waters began to rise, but it was too late. They had an opportunity to be saved, but they refused to accept God's plan of escape and He shut the door. We can read the book of Revelation and see that God will one day judge the earth again. I feel sorry for those who do not believe and ask the Lord to save them. God has offered His plan of salvation and Jesus is the only way to be saved from the awful judgment that is coming. Please don’t refuse God’s opportunity to be saved.
"13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered." (Genesis 7:13-19)
7. Door Of Opportunity Or A Chore We Don’t Want To Do?
Pastor Rick Byerly is teaching through the book of Jonah on Wednesday nights and it has been very good. One of the points he brought out was that Jonah had the opportunity to preach to a people that was ready to turn to God. Jonah didn’t want to preach to his enemies. Instead of following the Word of the Lord he followed his own self-will and tried to run from the presence of God. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach, but he went away from God and it carried him continually downward.
“3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.” (Jonah 1:3-5)
Jonah told the men that he was the cause of the storm and they should throw him overboard. Could it be that Jonah thought he would rather drown than go preach to his enemies? Jonah continued going down but he did not drown. Jonah was swallowed by a whale. “I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.” (Jonah 2:6) After going as far downward as he could go, Jonah cried out to God and the whale spit Jonah out on the land. Jonah went and preached at Nineveh and the people believed and turned to God. Are we ever like Jonah? Do we sometimes look at opportunities from the Lord as chores that we don’t want to do?
8. God Opens The Door Of Service
Our scripture reference today is I Corinthians 16:9, "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries." Paul recognized that God had opened a great door of service. When I was a young mother I often watched how God was using people around me to do great works for Him. I felt that because I was always busy taking care of my children God couldn't use me. Now that I look back on those years, I see that God was using me in the most important role of my lifetime, as a Christian mother to train up my children in the way they should go. I prayed that God would help me be the mother I should be for them, and I prayed that He would save them and use them, and that was my door of service. Now that they have grown and started their own families, I want to be the best grandmother that I can be. I am thankful that God has given me the opportunity to serve Him in different ways. He has opened different doors of service for me and I may not be the best in these positions, but I try to give God my best. I often heard that the best ability is availability, but recently I heard that the best ability is dependability. When God opens the door of service let's strive to be faithful in what He has called us to do. As we grow older we often find ourselves facing different opportunities of service, and we should try to be faithful in whatever door the Lord opens for us. "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." (I Corinthians 4:2)
