Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20 KJV
I enjoy watching Police Dramas and the popular show Bluebloods is my favorite. I especially love scenes when Detective Danny Reagan stands outside the bad guy’s door shouting. “Police! Open Up or we’re coming in!” Then two seconds later he kicks the door open yelling, “Put your hands where I can see them!”
In some ways Jesus Christ is like Danny. He has collected all the evidence against us and has obtained a search warrant from the Judge of the universe. But there the similarity ends, because Jesus hasn’t come to arrest us and His plan is not to slap us in handcuffs and drag us down to the station. Even though He is able to knock down even the heaviest door, Jesus chooses to stand outside and knock. That gives us hope in three ways. First, we know that God has our address. He knows where we are and cares enough to come to our door. He has not forgotten us. Secondly, Jesus wants to enter our home. He has been knocking since He came to the manger of Bethlehem and He kept at it all the way to the cross of Calvary. Now He wants to sit down at our table – the one with a few spaghetti sauce stains and a chip or two on its corners. He didn’t come to see how perfect our house is. He came for us, and He is waiting just outside this morning to see if we will hear His voice and open our door.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:30 NLT
This morning I just wanted to express my overflowing gratitude for God and for you who have prayed for our nursing home outreach. Since reopening the three homes I visited pre-Covid only 2 of them have returned to somewhat normal attendance. One facility which is nice but understaffed has been so unresponsive that though I was earnestly praying for people to come I was ready to give up our meetings. Then two weeks ago God began His answer by having a sympathetic staff person get involved who brought in 8-10 people. At the time I posted here about my excitement at God’s answer but I was totally unprepared for yesterday’s amazing experience.
It began an hour before I was scheduled to come when one of the residents called my cellphone. This would normally have been my week to sing for the memory care unit but Lucy let me know they had me on the calendar for a different room. A bit confused I prepared some extra devotional newsletters to give out and loaded my things in the car.
On entering Watermark Assisted Living the lady at the desk directed me towards a meeting room on the first floor I had never seen before. In a bit of confusion I carried my guitar and music stand around a few corners till finally I walked into a room jammed with more than twenty residents and family members from every ward including my special memory care friends! So today I simply am posting to give God glory and say thank you to every one of you who have prayed, commented and encouraged me along the way. No matter how long I have been following Jesus, He never seems to run out of new ways to amaze me by his far beyond – overwhelming – and infinitely more way of answering prayer!
If I had to choose one book out of the entire Bible as my favorite it would be the book of John. Of course every book in the Bible is unique. For example, most of the Old Testament tells us about God’s covenant and holiness; while in the New the other Gospels tell us what Jesus did. When we get to Acts we learn how the church came to be and later the Apostle Paul shows us what it means to live as a Christian. But John, from its very first verses tells us about Jesus.
In Chapter One He is the Word of God In Chapter Six the Bread of life Chapter Eight He tells us He is the Light of the world And In Chapter Ten He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life By Chapter Eleven He tells Martha He is the Resurrection and the Life Chapter Thirteen reveals Jesus as Lord and Master Chapter Fourteen the Way the Truth and Life Chapter Fifteen He is the Vine and we are His branches And finally to Thomas in Twenty He reveals He is Lord and God
But of all these amazing titles, I find the most amazing is Friend.
No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15
When our oldest son was just a baby we lived in a tiny third floor apartment. The two features we loved most about it were that it was cheap and that it was furnished. But it was so small that you could walk through its three rooms in less than ten steps. Three for the kitchen, three more for the living room and a bit less for the bedroom which over looked the street. One hot summer afternoon our one year old son Chris woke from his nap while my wife was working in the kitchen. The window was open just a crack to let in whatever breeze might be stirring to let in some air. For some reason Chris decided that it was much more interesting watching the cars below on the street than in going to see his mom. As he climbed out, Nancy heard the sound and turned and saw our son out on the roof toddling back and forth unafraid and unaware of the danger. Being the cool headed woman that she is Nancy, looked out and smiled at Chris, then spread her arms wide and called gently. “Hi honey! Come give mommy a hug!’ Chris lit up when he heard his mother’s voice and walked back to the window and embraced his mother. As our friend, God is exactly like that. He clearly sees the danger we are in teetering on the edge of eternity because of our sin. We have all climbed out the window of His will to try and get a better look at the world. But our almighty Creator does not panic. He does not shout orders or demand instant obedience. He knows we cannot obey in fear and that in fact we will be even more likely to fall off our tiny ledge of safety. Instead the Master of the universe spread His arms open wide to us on the cross and called. “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Now that’s some amazing kind of friend! Won’t you rush to Heaven’s window and reach out for His everlasting arms!
Oh what a friend we have in Jesus All our sins and griefs to bear What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer
I hope you like our good friend Matt Maher’s version of What a Friend. It is one of my favorites!
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