Alexander Graham Bell, the eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator is credited with inventing the first practical telephone. He was a man of remarkable persistence who never accepted defeat or failure. He said: “When one door closes, another opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

God has made a way for us
The Bible is full of open doors. God has promised to open doors for us so we need to look for the open door. If you feel intimidated – look for an open door. If you feel isolated – look for an open door. If you feel weak and discouraged – look for an open door.
Don’t just look at the problem. Don’t just look at the obstacle. Don’t just look at the enemy. God is creating a way out somewhere. God is creating a solution for your difficulty. But you have to look for it. You can’t just stare at what’s wrong – you’ve got to see what God is doing right. Sometimes we get so focused on how awful the problem is that we miss God’s solution when it comes by.
Remember what happened when Moses sent the twelve spies into the Promised Land to check it out? Ten of them came back complaining about the problems and difficulties. All they could see where the giants, the walled cities, and their own weakness. Only Joshua and Caleb saw the open door. “Let us go up at once and possess the land” – This was the Promised Land. God had promised it to them. Whatever the difficulties, God had guaranteed them victory. They were on the winning side and defeat was not an option.
Help in every situation
Sometimes we get so concerned about the problems, that we miss God’s solution when it comes. It may seem like the obstacle you are facing is insurmountable, a huge brick wall is surrounding you, there is such a mountain to climb, such a vast ocean to cross.
This is the message Jesus Christ gives to people who have lost their confidence, to people whose strength is slipping away: “Look for the open door”. It is a message of encouragement from the Great Physician. He’s making a promise to each of us. He’s saying that in every situation you find yourself – no matter how dark, no matter how desperate – He will create an open door. He will create a way out. He will create a solution.

Little strength, limited resources
Jesus gave a promise to the church at Philadelphia, “I have set before you an open door.” He noted that they had “little power”. This may sound like a rebuke, but it wasn’t. It was merely a statement of fact. Compared to the other churches, they had only a little power, limited resources. They were small in size, and had little clout.
This was not a high-powered church. It was not a well-oiled, high profile, hotly wired mega-church. They have no respected community leaders on their church boards. There were no celebrities attending their church, nor any successful businessmen to underwrite their budget. They lived from hand to mouth – God’s hand to their mouth.
We have access to the Lord
We live in the day of the mega-church. Large, towering churches dominate the landscape and make the headlines. For those who worship and serve in smaller congregations, that can be discouraging, even intimidating. We must remember that spiritual success is not dictated by the size of the church’s buildings, budgets, and parking lot. Rather, it is determined by having great faith in a big God.
What matters is not how big or small the church is. What truly matters is how big your God is. It is far better to be a little church with a big God than to be a big church with a little God. Little churches accomplish great ministry when they serve a holy, true, and sovereign God – a big God who can open big doors. Faithfulness to God opens great doors. Even for the smallest churches, the weakest saints and the most ordinary people.
Jesus is the Door
Jesus said He was the door. He is the only way to enter the Kingdom of God. Today there is much talk about religious tolerance, about the multi-faith approach to religion and about there being many ways to God. One bishop said recently that Jesus was the most tolerant person ever. No, he wasn’t.
He taught us that there was only one way to God “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…There is no other way..Nobody comes to the Father but by me…” John 14:6.
The apostles said the same thing in Acts 4:12: “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under Heaven by which we must be saved.”
He is our gatekeeper and protector
In Bible times the shepherd was the door. At night he led his sheep into the fold where they could rest, secure from beasts of prey. He himself took up his place in the opening and thus became “the door”.
No prowling animal could get in so long as he was there. And restless sheep could not stray off into the night. In the morning he stood aside and called his sheep out, counting and examining them, and led them in the way he wanted them to go.

Beware of false teachers
The thief and robber could not come through the door because the shepherd was there. The thieves and robbers could never enter through the door, so they have to climb over the wall and enter the fold through deception.
But even if they did get in, they would never get the sheep to follow them, for the sheep follow only the voice of their own shepherd. The false shepherds can never lead the sheep, so they must steal them away.

There is only one doorway and path to salvation, and that is Jesus
Jesus said that “the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that you might have life.” John 10:10. Satan is a thief and a liar. Satan comes to steal your joy, to steal your peace and steal your assurance.
He comes and promises you much and pays you little. He promises you joy and pays you with pain, he promises you life and pays you with death, he promises you health and pays you with sickness. He is a murderer who will kill your vision, murder your zeal, and destroy your enthusiasm.
Jesus does not simply teach the way or point the way, He is the way. Our Lord’s statement, “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me,” wipes away any other proposed way to Heaven – good works, religious ceremonies, costly gifts, etc. There is only one way, and that way is Jesus.
What it means to be saved…
As the door, Jesus delivers sinners from bondage and leads them into freedom. They have salvation! This word “saved” means “delivered safe and sound.”
It was used to say that a person had recovered from severe illness, come through a bad storm, survived a war, or was acquitted at court. Some modern preachers want to do away with an old-fashioned word like “saved,” but Jesus used it!
The statement “are thieves and robbers” (not “were”) makes it clear that He had the present religious leaders in mind. They were false shepherds nor did they have the approval of God on their ministry.
They did not love the sheep, but instead exploited them and abused them. The True Shepherd came to save the sheep, but the false shepherds take advantage of the sheep and exploit them.
The question is: Are you saved? Do you know what it is to be delivered? Do you know what it is to be a child of God? Do you have peace with God? Do you have the assurance that you are right with God and have entered in through the door?
When you go through “the Door,” you receive life and you are saved. As you go “in and out,” you enjoy abundant life in the rich pastures of the Lord. His sheep enjoy fullness and freedom. Jesus not only gave His life for us, but He gives His life to us right now!

Come to God right now
If you have never entered into God’s family, if you do not have the assurance that you are a child of God then I urge you to do so right now. Jesus and the Word of God urges you, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Matt 11:28. “Come for all things are now ready.” Rev 22:17. 

SALVATION PRAYER
I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. I admit that I am a sinner and I want to be right with You. Please forgive me of all my sins. The Bible says if I confess with my mouth that “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, I will be saved (Romans10:9).
I surrender my life to you; please guide me in all my ways. Thank you for the eternal life I now have with you in Heaven.

—by Nico Bougas