Three Doors to Open for the King (Part 3)

Yesterday we celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In this week’s devotional series, we’ve been talking about the doors we need to open for the King as he arrives. We first opened the door to our hearts. Then we opened the door to our pain. Today, as we approach the New Year, let’s open the door to something new.

My eyes welled up as I began to think about why Christmas is so important to me. Yes, of course, it’s important because it is the birth of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. But the pastor was talking about “core memories” that shape us and I began to think about why I love Christmas décor and gift giving.

I remembered that my mother, because of our impoverished situation, was unable to give me any Christmas gifts when I was a child. Because of our situation, with great anticipation, I looked forward to Christmas morning when my mother and I would drive to my grandmother’s house where there was a beautifully decorated Christmas tree and I’d receive the doll I wanted from my grandmother or a new game from my aunt.

Instead of thinking about the joy I received at my grandmother’s house and how God rescued me from a difficult childhood, my focus on Christmas Eve was on what I did not have growing up and I began to spiral into a small pity party that only I was invited to.

Fortunately, my doldrums did not last long. Isaiah 43:18-19 says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

In the upcoming New Year, we need to open the door to a new attitude.

What trials and dysfunction has God pulled you out of? Do you dwell on past heartbreak, abuse or poverty rather than on the new life you have in Christ? God wants us to forget the former things, to have a new attitude and press into the abundant life he has provided through Christ.

The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that we are new creations. The old is gone. But our tendency is to slip back into the old memories that take us so far down that we have trouble digging our way out of the pit. Instead we should showcase a shiny new life that God has miraculously created out of rubble.

We should open the door to a new life.

When we receive Christ, we simply can’t go back to the ways of the past, but sometimes we try to do it and it doesn’t feel comfortable, does it? We need to bury the old life, never to unearth it again. Romans 6:4 says, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” However, I believe it’s next to impossible to live a new life without Christ at the core of our being. Connected to Him daily. Surrendered daily. Christ focused throughout our day.

Are you struggling to live in your new life in Christ? Then perhaps, there’s a faulty connection.

Open the door to something new in 2016.

In Psalm 40:3, the Psalmist said God put a new song in his mouth. God loves for us to be open to a new assignment. He took me from a television career to a life of serving him in ministry, but within that ministry, there have been numerous new roads. It is never dull when we allow God to guide our steps.

Are you willing to release the old and open yourself up to something new? I am a curious girl and long to know and do new things. God is still in the business of creating new callings, new projects and new people in Christ. Claim Isaiah 48:6-7 where the Lord says, “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today.”

Are you ready for God to reveal the hidden things? Think of them as beautifully wrapped gifts from God, waiting to be opened.

One of my favorite Christmas hymns is “O Holy Night” and when pondering the concept of opening up the door to something new, this line from the song comes to mind:

“A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices; For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.”

Jesus’ birth brings us something new on the horizon. Do you not perceive it? Open the door to the new life he offers. Forget the past. Press into the future he has designed for you and know that matter what comes, good or bad, you can do all things as Christ walks through the door with you, holding your hand.

Today, I am preparing for Christmas with my family. There are many presents under the tree and stockings to open. Instead of sadness, I feel joy for the new life I have been given. The old is gone. The new has come and I rejoice in this gift from God. Instead of tears of sadness, tears of joy flow freely.

Will you open the door to something new?

“See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you” (Isaiah 42:9).