July 22 –Receive, Find, and Access Granted

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV)

Today’s passage is one we have considered previously but it is good and necessary for review. This is a training exercise we should do over and over and over again. So doing, it will become a natural response in times that we need God’s help. This is from what is called the Sermon On The Mount. Jesus was speaking to and teaching his disciples and many more who had gathered around him to listen to him teach. He was also speaking to us and this is a promise for us today. A promise we can take to heart and live by.  We all have needs throughout our life and Jesus knows that. We all are looking for the truth and knowledge and guidance. We all come to places where we might find our way closed. Jesus tells us to Ask for what we need and it will be made available; Seek what we are promised and we will find it; Knock when the door is closed and it will be opened. We can be thankful and rejoice to know that God responds to us when we ask, seek and knock. He is always there to respond.

196

April 23 –The Keep Doing So Factor

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.” – Luke 11:9-10 (NASB)

In need? Ask. Receive. Lost? Seek. Find. On the outs? Knock at the Entrance. This is a promise. But these are not promises we will receive substantive goods. Not promises of material prosperity. Jesus is emphasizing the effectiveness of prayer. A threefold promise. The triple exhortation is as follows: ask, seek, knock. Arranged in an escalating scale of intensity. Ask. Asking suggests humility and a mindfulness of our need. When we asks, we expect an answer. This demonstrates a faith in God the Father. Having such a faith makes the prayer warm and personal. Seek. Seeking is asking plus acting. We must be active in striving to obtain the fulfilment of our needs. For example, as we pray for a deeper knowledge of the Bible, we should also diligently search and examine the Scriptures. Knock. Knocking is asking plus acting plus persevering. We are doing the knocking again and again until the door is opened. Another translation would be “continue to ask, to seek, to knock.” We continue knocking at the door of the kingdom-palace until our King, who is at the same time our Father God, and our Savior, opens and supplies whatever is needed.

196

March 9 –He's Waiting and Ready

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20 (NASB)

We look again at a familiar verse and promise. Context is important and that is true here. This is a part of the message which our Lord Jesus sent to the assembly of believers in Laodicea in the first century. It was a specific invitation to the individuals in that church. The common interpretation of Christ’s knocking on a person’s heart, is not in the context which demands that Christ was seeking to enter this church that bore His name but lacked a single true believer. This poignant letter was His knocking. Jesus said that if any one person realizes that Jesus is waiting to be invited into his or her life, Jesus is ready and willing to respond. This is, of course, true of any local professing church. Christ must be invited to come in and become the center of worship, adoration, and love, but it is also true of the heart of man. Jesus wants us to be aware of His nearness and He has so much to share with us every day – at any hour of the day. Today, let's each open the door to our lives and invite Jesus to be with us.  

197

April 19 – Asking and Knocking

“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”  - Luke 11:9-10 (ESV)

Most  of us have no problems coming up with lists of things we need.  But finding help to satisfy those needs may be difficult.  When Jesus was on this earth and teaching, he offered promises and directions that were specific to getting what we needed.  Our verse today is one of those promises.  It is really simple but it requires us to have faith.  Jesus was describing how willing He was to help us.  His instruction was, “Ask.”  If we ask, it will be given to us and, “Knock.”  If we need someone’s help and attention, we knock on their door and hope they open it.  Jesus was telling the people that He was more willing to give what was needed and more willing to open the doors we knock on than an ordinary person who actually might have to be pestered and nagged a bit before they respond.  Our Heavenly Father is more willing than our neighbors or friends to respond to our needs.  If you ask for Jesus, you will receive Jesus and all you need.  If you knock on a door, He will open the door to what you need.

-193-

February 10 – Worried About Welfare of Loved Ones

“For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened…If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”  -  Matthew 7:8, 11 (ESV)

Our verse and promise today comes from the Sermon on the Mount as it is commonly called.  It could be the first major recorded discourse Jesus gave about living in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Facing needs in our lives is to be expected. Our resources run out and need replenishing. This is true whether physical, spiritual or material resources.  The promise in verse 8 give us encouragement to know that God provides for those who ask, seek, and knock for resources.  Even in extreme cases as Jesus expounds on these promises with examples from every day life.  How do we treat our neighbor, our son or daughter when they are in need?  We follow God’s example and we give those in need, especially those we love and are related to, an abundant supply of what they ask for.  So, certainly God will do that for us. We know that because we who have shortcomings in character, are selfish and greedy yet still provide for our own.  God who's love for us is infinite will most certainly do that as well and Jesus is who we have learned from on how He respond to our needs.

Next: Worrying about what serving will cost us.

# # #

July 6 – An Ear to Hear

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”   Revelation 3:20 (NASB)

This verse from The Revelation of Jesus Christ is often used as an image that Christ is knocking on a person's heart door, asking to come in. Christ does seek to be invited into our hearts but more accurately in the context, this verse is a lesson in the manner that Christ was seeking to enter the church at Laodicea. That church claimed the name of Christ but did not have a single true believer (Read: Revelation 3:14-22).  It is a reminder of the invitation from our Lord to those who claim to be Christians but have not accepted Jesus as their true Lord and Savior.  In this verse the promise is for the church that this letter was sent to.  If one member would recognize his spiritual bankruptcy and respond in saving faith, He would enter the church.  The promises of God are given to those who are true believers and hear what the Spirit says to them.  Just claiming to be a Christian without knowing Christ as Lord and Savior is not the way to know the promises of God.  

# # #

March 9 – Waiting and Ready

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:20 (NIV)

The Bible promise we read in today's verse is a familiar one to many but it is worth repeating. It is a part of the message which our Lord Jesus sent to the assembly of believers in Laodicea in the first century. It was a specific invitation to the individuals in that church.  It is a promise for individuals believers today in much the same way as when John recorded it.  Jesus said that if any one person realizes that Jesus is waiting to be invited into his or her life, Jesus is ready and willing to respond.  Jesus wants to be a part of our lives first as our Savior and also as our teachers, guide, and friend. He wants us to be aware of His nearness and He has so much to share with us every day – at any hour of the day. Today, let's each open the door to our lives and invite Jesus to be with us.  

July 22 – Ask. Receive. Seek. Find. Knock. Opened.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

The verse we are reading today is from what is often called the Sermon On The Mount. Jesus was speaking to and teaching his disciples and many more who had gathered around him to listen to him teach. He was also speaking to us and our promise today is one we can take to heart and live by.  We all have needs throughout our life and Jesus knows that. We all are looking for the truth and knowledge and guidance. We all come to places where we might find the way closed. Jesus tells us to Ask for what we need and it will be made available; Seek what we are promised and we will find it; Knock when the door is closed and it will be opened. We can be thankful and rejoice to know that God responds to us when we ask, seek and knock. He is always there to respond.