Use the Keys

 

Ephesians 6:11(NLT)
“Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”

1John 4:8 tells us that God is love, and it also says that a person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God. Human beings are God’s creation. We were made from His love and He expects our lives to be the very essence of His love. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His masterpiece, His finest work, and He created us to do the good things He planned even before the foundation of the world. In case you didn’t know it, God has a plan! And because He knows the end at the very beginning, His planning skills are off the chart! He’s brilliant beyond brilliance, and magnificent beyond magnificence. His plan is so magnificently brilliant that we can behave poorly, make all kinds of mistakes and bad calls, and spend our whole lives on ridiculousness, and none of that will alter His plan one bit. He hopes that we will go along with His Will so that we can receive all the blessings that come with it, but this is a choice that He leaves completely and utterly up to us.

God commands us in Ephesians 5:2(NKJV) to “walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” To walk in love is to first understand what love is. Christ is our example of what it means to live in Christ-like love, so we need to always keep our eyes on him. To walk in love conveys the reality that love is action. It is not stagnant or stale. It does not sit around and wait for action. Love is defined by the nature of our God, and by its very definition, love motivates, creates, and changes things for the better. Love does not push or shove. God tells us in 1Corinthians 13:4-5(NLT), “4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.”

God makes it clear to us in 1Corinthians 13:4-5 that love has a beautiful nature and a high standard of care, compassion, and do-rightness. God didn’t make this difficult for us to understand. In truth, it’s easy to comprehend how love behaves, and we’ve been empowered by God to duplicate love’s behavior and actions. We should all aspire to love in the way that God has instructed us, and we most certainly should stand flatfootedly on what He has said and not invest in a significant relationship where someone loves us less.

Deep down, most of us realize this. We know that we deserve to be loved well, but in some cases, the person we love begins to behave as if they don’t love us. They abuse us. Sometimes they push and shove, physically and/or emotionally, and it’s painful and heartbreaking. When domestic violence and abuse imprisons our existences, we don’t feel as though we have a key that opens the door to our freedom, but indeed we do. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 16:19(NLT), “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.” Jesus Christ has given us access to the Kingdom of Heaven. We have the key! And no one can ever take it away from us.

The act of abusing another living being is not logical, rational, or natural. Abuse doesn’t come from the Kingdom of Heaven, but from the realm of darkness. It is confusing and chaotic for both the abuser and the person being abused. Trying to make sense of it by anything other than darkness and oppression isn’t possible. However, what you can do is make sense of your own life, because the truth of God’s Word makes it crystal clear that your life is supposed to make sense. When things are chaotic, Jesus Christ has given us a heavenly approach, and it’s not complicated, we just have to use the keys!

Everything is spiritual
John 4:24(NLT) tells us, “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” God is Spirit, and everything He does and everything He creates has its origin in His spiritual realm. From this, we can know that everything begins with the spiritual. Through prayer and faith, we draw it down and transfer it into our physical or natural realm on earth. So, to use the keys, you must be aligned with who God is and who He has made you through Jesus Christ. To do this, there are three things you must believe wholeheartedly in your mind and heart. The first of which is in Hebrews 11:3(NLT), “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.”

Everything, from the rooter to the tooter, came from something that cannot be seen with physical eyes. We cannot see faith and we cannot see the Spirit of God, but through His faith, God made everything, and we can see His handiwork of creation. Hebrews 11:3 affirms that everything was formed at God’s command. Therefore, everything is spiritual, because everything in the entire universe was made by God. If we understand and believe this, we are poised to take possession of our peace, love, power and authority in Christ.

The Spiritual is more real than the natural
We must never forget that God is our Creator, and He created everything. Often, people think of this world as being more real than the spiritual realm of God, but nothing could be further from the truth. 2Corinthians 4:18(NLT) says, “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” This three-dimensional world is temporary. It will not last forever, but God’s Kingdom will never end. The Spiritual realm of God is more real than the world our physical eyes see. This is the second truth we must wholeheartedly believe. When this is firmly anchored in our hearts and minds, we’ll understand that the keys that Jesus Christ has given us are infinitely more powerful than anything this earth has to offer.

God’s Spiritual Armor never fails
Weapons made by human hands and techniques developed by human intellect will not defeat a spiritual enemy. The fight is a spiritual one. Ephesians 6:12-13(NLT) tells us, “12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” You are a spiritual being having an earth experience, not the other way around. Many of us are in a spiritual battle, and we don’t even know it. We’re trying to fight a spiritual war without God’s spiritual armor, and that won’t work.

The keys give you access to the wealth of heaven, but if used on the wrong door, they can also give you access to the exact opposite of God’s blessings. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9(NKJV), “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” Jesus Christ is the door you want to enter. Your willingness to stop leaning on yourself and others, and to lean solely on him is what allows you to walk through that door.

Confusion and chaos are the enemy’s territory, but Christ has given you the keys to victory and peace. Make a commitment to cooperate and give your full attention to him. Use the keys with faith! Say what he says and think what he thinks about you. Speak good things over your life and do the loving and kind things that Christ does. Build yourself up in his strength by feeding your mind the scriptures. Stay off social media and stay in the promises of God’s Word. Let the power of God work through you and trust that you will accomplish more for your life through your faith in Him than you ever could without it. ■ 

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

“Use the Keys”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.