- Details
- Written by: Don Goulding
This is the solemn pronouncement of the Holy One, the True One, who holds the key of David, who opens doors no one can shut, and shuts doors no one can open … (Revelation 3:7)
For thousands of years, men searched for the key. Music and laughter streamed from under the door, but outside in the stinging cold, judgement waited in darkness.
Abraham, Moses, and David hungered after the key. In Solomon’s day, the door was still shut. He had untold wealth, a thousand beautiful wives, and the finest intellect on earth, but none of those would crack the door. Solomon’s conclusion—“‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Everything is meaningless!’” (Ecclesiastes 12:8) (NIV)
Then, at the perfect moment in history, after men had exhausted every effort to open the lock, the key fell from heaven.
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)
The key slipped into the lock, the tumblers fell into place, and the door swung wide. Death stayed outside. And more than eternal life alone, the Messiah opened purpose and hope, growth and love. Every tumbler of life was released where it engaged Jesus.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross - through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:19-20)
It’s been one hundred generations since the key fell, and now it’s my turn on the timeline of history. What those before me sought with tears, I take for granted. I was born with the key in my hand, so I don’t even bother to fit it into the lock. Apathy is my most infernal curse.
I have the key. The Key! I have access to every answer, all of life is open to me for a twist of my wrist. Solomon with his wealth and brains didn’t have what I have—the key that opens life’s meaning.
But will I turn the lock and go in?
Therefore we must be wary that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)
Prayer: Lord Jesus, come unlock every part of my life.
- Details
- Written by: Don Goulding
… his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3)
Dani and I had to leave Zimbabwe for at least forty-eight hours to obtain new visas. We planned on driving north two hundred and fifty kilometers and staying in neighboring Zambia. The Zimbabwean government wouldn’t let their currency out of the country, so we drove to a lonely road near the border and, at the Lord’s prompting, buried the Zims we’d need on return.
After driving through the no-man’s land separating the countries, the Zambian guards examined our American passports with eager whispers. They demanded high fees in US cash, more than we were willing to pay.
Wondering if God was still with us, we drove back to the mango tree that marked the Zimbabwean border. A guard took pity on us and exchanged our Zambian money for Zims so we could pay to re-enter Zimbabwe. We’d only been gone an hour but, contrary to normal policy, he stamped our passports for new visas.
We dug up our money, bought dried fish for the mission station, then prayed for fuel. All the petrol stations were dry. After a half dozen inquiries, we were directed to the back of a hotel that sold from barrels. We filled up, but now our Zims were nearly spent.
God warned against staying at the hotel, so we drove to an intersection and prayed again. We felt the Spirit say, “Go left,” and followed a barely discernible gravel road. We arrived at some beautiful chalets on the Zambezi River, but without food.
A butcher weighed his smallest chicken, sliced off one leg, then the other, then a wing until it was affordable with our remaining Zims. The Africans in the local market laughed with me at the impoverished white man.
Sunset turned the sky burnt-orange as fireflies zipped across the midnight-blue river. And our three-quarters chicken was a gourmet meal. Life doesn't get any richer.
Navigating with Jesus is actually a fun adventure because he provides everything necessary for life and godliness.
Prayer: Lord, I’ll seek your provision to do your will.
- Details
- Written by: Don Goulding
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one can take away your crown. The one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never depart from it. (Revelation 3:11-12)
A friend of mine, Pete Schichtel, was a U.S. Coast Guard pilot flying a search and rescue pattern off the Florida coast. Twenty-four hours earlier, a hired boat driver abandoned two women while they were SCUBA diving. They surfaced to find themselves in the middle of an empty sea, no boat in sight.
“Lord, keep them safe,” Pete said as he squinted into the empty blue. “We need your help.”
The sun lowered to the horizon and time was running out. The victims could float with their inflatable dive vests, but they would succumb to hypothermia in the night, if they hadn’t already.
Halfway through a grid tack, Pete caught a glimmer of something in the water. Maybe a couple of floats used for commercial fishing. As he investigated, he realized it was the divers waving pink and green swim flippers.
“Praise God!”
A short time later, the survivors were pulled from the water by a helicopter.
I, too, am abandoned on the ocean. While I was busy exploring the world, Satan drove away and left me to drown. Now I’m bobbing on an empty sea with no help in sight.
Jesus prophesied about rescue, but how long will that take? Will I survive until he comes?
In the mean time, the only thing keeping me afloat is faith. The watery tracts pull at my legs, I’m swamped by waves and tugged by currents, and I cling to my small belief.
I tried the flotsam and jetsam of the world, but it sank when I put my weight on it. Faith is the only option left to me. To let it go is to yield to death without hope.
No one else can save me, only Jesus. I have to clutch faith in him to my chest, stop flailing, and wait. He promised he’s coming soon.
Prayer: Savior, strengthen my faith to hold on.