The Blessings of Knowing Jesus as The Door

Last summer, I went on a mission trip that the Lord sent me on, and I brought my niece along. We traveled to the places where the Lord directed us, hiking five to eight miles each day for two weeks across Arizona and Utah. Our mission was to walk the paths that the Lord led us to, exploring many national parks, canyons, mountains, and desert areas, and to proclaim liberty and blessings over the land. When the land that the enemy had stolen was reclaimed, we also, by faith, restored all the natural resources and regained the people. But first, we must secure the land rights that God grants us.

It is the same for every country and every nation: there is one thing to have an assignment for medical missions, and another to go in and share the gospel one-on-one with people to lead them to salvation. But for my assignments, they always serve as a reminder of reclaiming the land that the enemy had stolen. And that is the purpose our footsteps traveled towards — to claim what is rightfully ours through the authority and position we have in Christ. 

My niece and I had a wonderful time and got along well together. However, one of the things she loves to do is sleep in much later than I do. I need a couple of hours each day to spend with the Lord, but I'm trying to keep quiet. I would make my coffee, get my Bible and notebook, and go into the bathroom. The bathroom became my little secret place, my tabernacle with the Lord, where I ask Him what we are going to look up at today in scripture. What's the assignment?

Well, the Lord would usually give me just one word—to help me stay focused. It might be flowers, desert, mountains, sand, or salt. Then I would use my concordance to find that word in the scriptures and proclaim those scriptures throughout the day. It's like zooming in with binoculars to see where I am and noticing that word in creation.

The day I got the word 'flowers,' it was as if the desert had just lit up with cacti flowers everywhere. We were so in awe of how beautiful the desert lands were that we were on, and the different colors of the flowers and how they were almost crying out, saying, "Look at me, look at me. Take a picture of me." We took numerous flower pictures of various desert plants, and the beauty of it is that they were literally in full bloom for the entire two weeks we were traveling. It wasn't just a short time that you would expect with cactus flowers. They were everywhere.

The day I received the word ‘sand’, we would notice the variation in the sand's colors. Why were some of the mountain sands white, and other times red or sometimes even green? So those are the kind of things that would ask, "Lord, what are you trying to show us?"

What I wanted to share was a day when the Lord showed me the words ‘desert,' 'salt,' and 'river,' and where these words took me in scripture. What was interesting was the meaning of these three words in scripture. He took me to Matthew 5:13, which says, "You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?" 

Then He took me into Colossians 4:6 that says, "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."

While reading in Colossians chapter 4, I came across a few verses before asking the Lord to explain what Paul was talking about. In verse three, Paul wrote, "Praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word so that we may speak for the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak." Verse five reads, "Conduct yourself with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person."

As I pondered these verses, I presented the question to the Holy Spirit, "Okay, Lord, what are you trying to show me right here?" The word ‘door’ kept zooming in on me as I looked across the desert and the canyons. If you've ever been through Utah or Arizona, you know the highlight places, such as the Grand Canyon, which people like to visit. However, there are so many others. There are the Arches, Monument Valley, Canyonland, and Horseshoe Canyon. 

One of my favorites was the Antelope Slot Canyons in Page, Arizona. The beauty that seemed to call out to you was so majestic, so glorious. And yet, when going into the canyons, they felt like doorways.

As I read this, I thought, "Wait a second, why does this word ‘door’ stand out to me?" Why is Paul, a believer, using this word in the same sentence as speaking of the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned? 

When I was a child, the word 'door' was often used in reference to what Jesus was saying, such as "I am the door" or "I stand at the door and knock. If any man opens, I will come in." It was used more as a term related to a message of salvation. Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and He will come in and fellowship with you. 

The word ‘door is found in Strong's 2374, meaning a gate, a portal, or an entrance. Yet Jesus is personalizing the word as Himself, saying, "I am the door. I am the gate. I am the portal. I am the entrance." Jesus has told us He is the entrance, but to what? The entrance to the Father, the gate into the Father? “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man gets to the Father except by me. Anybody who tries to get to the Father another way is a thief and a liar" (John 14:6).

All of these are scriptural passages about journeys Jesus is claiming to have, but what if there's another layer involving a door? 

What I'm getting at is that on our trip, if anyone travels with me and asks, "Well, what are we doing today? Where are we headed?" All I would say is, "We're at point A and we're going to reach point B. I can't tell you the path in between. It might be a straight line, a curve, or have many stops along the way. We will get to point B, but the journey is really what we're about and what the whole trip is for." So, as I mentioned at the very beginning, while I'm having my quiet time and my niece is still asleep, I'd ask, "What's the journey, Father? Where are you leading our steps?" And it would be one word.

This word, which is mixed with salt and door, struck me: how do we connect that? What does this door represent? I've often been taught that understanding the door means Gentiles are also being brought into an adoption to be children of God. However, what if it's not just about us going out and sharing the gospel, but about revealing the gospel that's within us, the Christ in us as the hope of glory, as the mystery of the door? 

See, when I look out across this desert land, I see the canyons, valleys, mountain tops, and rivers. You see so much vastness and breadth. I thought about what God told Abram before He made a covenant with him and changed his name. “God took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5).

By faith, what will we see? Claim the flower. Claim the river. Your footsteps will not walk this path again, so claim today. When I looked up a few verses containing the word 'door,' I found it to be the key to speaking the mysteries of Christ, as I read in Colossians 4:5.

We read in Acts 14:27, "The door of faith to the Gentiles." 1 Corinthians 16:9, "The door for effective service." 2 Corinthians 2:12, "The door in the Lord." Revelation 3:8, "The door opens with power, word, and name." 

The word 'door' could refer to 'the gate,' 'the portal,' or 'the entrance.' What's on the other side of all of that? What's beyond going through the door? When we receive Jesus as our personal Savior, we're taught to hang on, and everything about our future is about getting to heaven. But what if heaven is the door that brings us into the earth?

If we turn to John 10:9, Jesus says, "I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture." 

Jesus is the door, and I receive Him as my personal savior. I've interpreted the word 'saved' as being delivered—I have my ticket to heaven. But what about this, "and shall go in and out and find pasture?" See, this is Jesus talking right here. There are more blessings connected to this door than what we're seeing. Yes, it's all about Jesus, but there's an unveiling in the relationship of what Jesus wants to offer us.

God created seasons and feast days on His timeline for us to follow. The third feast season is called Tabernacles or the Harvest time. There's Passover, there's Pentecost, and then we go through the wilderness of the summertime, and then we enter the fall times of the Tabernacle season. The Tabernacle season is the culmination of the gathering. It's the Feast of Booth. It's the time of the indwelling, of spending oneness with the Lord, not just as your savior, not just as your healer or your provider, but as the lover of your soul, your husband, and the intimacy of a wedding. 

This is a ‘door’ that becomes a name, a nature, and our identity that's filled with power and authority because you're married to the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, as the resurrected. It's a promise that He's giving to us right now to go in and to go out. You see, if you're going into heaven, you are seated with Him right now in heavenly places. But then, when you come out, where are you coming out to? This is all while you're in your natural body. This is a great mystery of beauty and glory for us today.

I want to discuss these mysteries a bit. I want to discuss the words 'saved' and 'pasture,' which often refer to a specific verse where Jesus is speaking. Because you see, we have blessings that are still unfolding, blessings that God wants to pour out on us, but when we're limited to thinking that I can only have this much and then I'll get the rest on the other side, we're not truly seeking Him. We're just looking after our small area, hoping to hold on, and then someday cross over to heaven. 

God is seeking a community of people who say, "No, I want the fullness of running the race now, the finished work of Jesus Christ now in my life to reveal to the world the goodness in all of the mysteries that God has provided for us."