The Knot part 3
This one take a little bit of explaining. Matthew 18:18, "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Binding and loosing. Tying and untying. But what we seem to think this verse means is, "If I bind something on earth, God will follow me lead and bind it in heaven!" But come on. That's clearly backwards. We don't create God in our image. He created us in HIS image. Look at this verse in the Berean Literal Bible, "Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." We don't bind and loose in the hopes that God will follow our lead. We are able to bind what HE has already bound. We are able to loose what HE has already loosed! The work is finished. And it is what it is. Look at Jonah. He wasn't particularly happy with what God wanted him to do, because his own sense of "justice" was a lot harsher than the Lord's. He didn't want to tie the knot that God was tying. He wanted to do this his own way. And we know how that worked out for him (not very well). So what's my point for today? My point is... obedience is a trust issue. If you trust that God has your best interests at heart, if you trust that He knows the end from the beginning, if you trust that He has tied the knot that cannot be untied--look at Revelation 3:7 (NLT), "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open." If you trust that God can make a way where there is no way... you'll stop trying to go your own way. You'll be able to shift your mindset to the place where you can respond to the Way of Grace with the Walk of Faith. Instead of always thinking it's all on you... you'll be able to rest in the arms of your heavenly Father. And let me add this to that: "Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means 'rock'), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven" (Matthew 16:18-19 NLT). Again, don't get it twisted. If you forbid something, that doesn't mean God automatically will. It means that, with the keys to the Kingdom... the key of David... we can forbid what HE has forbidden and we can permit what HE has permitted. We can bind what HE has already bound and we can loose what HE has already loosed! It's not about making heaven like earth. It's about bringing heaven TO earth! That's what God promised us--the days of heaven on earth. That's what's available to us right now. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. It's within our reach. And we have the keys of the Kingdom--which is the revelation of who Jesus is. Who WE are. Which is who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. Jesus tied this knot around us on the cross and drew us all into Himself. He planted Himself in all of us. That's a done deal. And now that we know that the knot is tied, and cannot be untied, we don't have to worry about it slipping out of our grasp. When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on, right? Well... lucky for us it is GOD who tied the knot, and it is God who is holding on to us, and it is God who will never ever let us go!