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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Lock (03/06/06)
Lock – what an interesting and thought provoking word. One sense of the word invokes a picture of safe-keeping such as locking the door of our homes to ensure our families safety. Just as the majority of us lock our vehicle doors to prevent carjacking, especially if we are carrying the precious cargo of our children.

In today’s society, we frequently hear the term lock-down. This is the result of a tragic situation that is happening more frequently as individuals decide they have the right to extend deadly judgment on co-workers, fellow students or estranged spouses. Swat teams are used in these horrific tragedies as they lock-down buildings and enter to determine the situations.

But as Christians this term can refer to our hearts. Throughout our lifetime, the Lord will ask one question of us. Is our heart open to Him or is it in a lock-down mood? Those who have accepted Jesus often feel the question was answered once and for all at the time of our salvation. But the truth is this is an on-going question that we should hear throughout the remainder of our life and walk with the Savior of our soul.

Is our heart locked and have we seemingly thrown the key away? Do we deny Him access into those places that we never want to look at and definitely do not want others to see in us? Often we don’t realize that we have shut the door until we are in a place of severe drought and famine. We struggle to find the Lord in our worship and quiet times. Yet no matter what we hear in sermons, books, tapes or songs, the dryness within us makes the Sahara Desert resemble the Garden of Eden.

Or is our heart opened to our Lord Jesus? Is there a hunger or desperation in us that craves a deeper walk with the Lord? In that desperation, we will open up and receive His entrance with great joy. Even as the door is flung wide, we are aware of the fact that as He enters, His dealings will mean confronting sin, repentance and dying to self. A deeper relationship means idols are destroyed and attitudes are adjusted. But the reward afterwards is wonderful.

Desperation often comes from a variety of circumstances. Sickness, the need for answers, financial problems, desires for a changed life, acceptance, love, forgiveness are just a few of the areas that will open our heart for a deeper bond with the Lord. Victory in warfare, deliverance from horrible situations, and emotional needs are other situations that bring us to our knees and a place of surrender. With each heart, it is a different need and walk. None of the Father’s children will ever have the same identical walk as another. We are each as unique to Him as our children are to us.

That fact in itself should bring joy and gratefulness within. He will never deal with one child in the same manner as another; through they seem very similar. He knows our heart and our breaking point. He knows the issues we hide deep inside when no one else on the face of the earth has a clue. No matter how close we are to a friend, or spouse there are always parts that only the Father can see. This should bring a deep comfort and sometimes even a sense of apprehension of being exposed. He knows me and He know you even better than we know our self.

This is true throughout His Word. The woman with the issue of blood was desperate enough for divine healing to push through a crowd just to touch the hem of His garment. Mary Magdalene was delivered of seven demons and set free. Eleven disciples left all they knew to follow Jesus and continued to serve Him until their death. Abraham stepped out of the place he knew as home to follow the instructions he had heard deep within his spirit. Noah built an ark to protect his family from the coming judgment. From Genesis to Revelations, we see people willingly opening the door of their heart for a deeper relationship with God.

Are we willing to open our heart before Him today? He stands at our heart’s door and knocks. He longs to enter and help us overcome strongholds and set us free. Are you desperate for more of the Lord? If so, un-lock your heart and open the door wide.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Jan Ackerson
03/14/06
Wow, this is quite a sermon!
Jessica Schmit
03/17/06
You had many great points that you made in this piece. Try to make them without sounding like you're giving a lecture or a sermon. You write immpeccably. Keep it up. Great job!