Devotional Bible Study: Jesus Is Knocking At The Door | Revelation 3:20.

Welcome to Day 24. for one of our short powerful devotions from the 31 Bible Verses About Practicing The Presence Of God. This short devotional is based on Revelation 3:20.

Read Revelation 3:20.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me."

Have you seen The Light Of The World painting by Holmon Hunt?

I first came across it while participating in the Alpha Course by Nicky Gumble. It changed the whole course of my life. I had been seeking to know more of God but I was stuck. I asked many church ministers was there more of God to know. They told me I was looking for heaven on earth and that was not possible.

But God is so good! I found a book by A.W.Tozer that spoke about the Holy Spirit and I realized that was what I was missing. I needed to know more about the Holy Spirit and know Him in the same way as the disciples of Jesus had come to know Him at Pentecost. It was during this time that I was invited to take part in the Alpha Course and my life has been forever changed.

A fun fact about me......one evening during the course a wonderful clergyman called Sandy Miller prayed with a young gentleman from our church to find a wife. At the same time, I was praying for God's perfect husband for me. Guess what happened??

I married that man and now we are involved in church ministry!

O.K back to Revelation 3:20 and the Light Of The World picture.

The painting depicts a Biblical scene, in which Jesus says "Behold, I stand at the door and knock". Hunt painted the door as an ancient and overgrown door with no external handle. The Pre-Raphelite artist created three versions of this image. The original (completed in 1853) is displayed in the chapel at Keble College, Oxford. A smaller pastel version (completed in 1856) hangs in Manchester City Art Gallery. The most famous and largest version (completed in 1904) hangs in St Paul’s Cathedral in London. The door in this painting doesn’t appear to have a handle on the outside. Hunt explained in his book Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood that this was deliberate. The handle is on the inside and can only be opened from that end. This is to represent that Jesus gives us a choice to open the door and to let Him in.

What is the meaning of Jesus knocking at the door?

I have always loved Revelation 3:20 and I heard it many times during my teen years but it would have been used in reference to Jesus knocking on the door of your heart, the door of an unbelievers heart. It was used as an evangelistic tool. But that is not the correct meaning in the context of this bible verse.

To be fair it is true that God is calling all of us to know Him but the context of Revelation 3:20 is that it is been spoken to the church of Laodicea. The people in this church were Christians already but they lacked a passion for God. They had grown lukewarm.

Revelation 3:20 is part of a longer passage. It forms part of John’s vision of a message sent to the church of Laodicea in 3:14-22.

John had a vision of Jesus speaking to seven different churches starting in Revelation chapter 2 and ending in Revelation chapter 3. These churches are the church in Ephesus (2:1-7), Smyrna (2:8-11), Pergamum (2:12-17), Thyatira (2:18-29), Sardis (3:1-6), Philadelphia (3:7-13), and Laodicea (3:14-22).

All of these churches are imperfect but the Christians in the church of Laodicea were been warned about their spiritual temperature which was classed as 'lukewarm'.

Revelation 3:15-16.

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.16 So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth."

Join me below for a short devotional about Jesus knocking on the door of your heart and join me for prayer too at the bottom of this post.

This is The Light Of The World painting by Holmon Hunt. Pin it to your Bible study board on Pinterest to save for later.

SAVE ME FOR LATER ON YOUR BIBLE STUDY BOARD!

Short Devotional: Jesus Is Knocking At The Door

Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart.

Will you open the door to Him?

What is your spiritual temperature?

Are you full of passion with a yearning desire to spend time renewing your mind through reading the Bible and listening prayer?

Do you long to practice the presence of God throughout your day just like Brother Lawerence did? You can read all about that HERE.

Jesus knocks at the door

This is The Light Of The World painting by Holmon Hunt. I love this portrait of Jesus.

Did you notice that the door in this painting doesn’t appear to have a handle on the outside?

This was deliberate. The handle is on the inside and can only be opened from that end. This is to represent that Jesus gives us a choice to open the door and to let Him in.

Jesus is seeking you. He longs to spend time with you, to dine with you but He is a gentleman.