I don’t know if you’ve noticed that all of our teaching this year has carried the idea of “unlocking” something. Our first series in 2017 which began on January 1, 2017 was entitled, “Unlocking Your Bible”. I’m praying many of you are still on track to read more from your Bible and even better, to comprehend the meaning and significance of scripture.
Next we began a series entitled, “Unlocking Your True Identity”. This series will take us up to Easter. I hope by now you can say, “I am adopted, I am heard, I am loved, I am gifted, I am appreciated, I am an ambassador, I am called and finally, I am victorious.
Then, beginning Easter Sunday, I will launch a new teaching a series entitled, “Unlocking Your Purpose”. This will be a practical and enjoyable series and my prayer is that you will have a deeper understanding of why God placed you on planet earth. Let me quickly tell you why “Unlocking” is significant.
Before we entered 2017, I was reading my Bible and I came to the verse from Matthew 16:19 where Jesus was speaking to his disciples and said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
Holy Spirit began to encourage me that the year 2017 would be a year where individuals in our church as well as our church corporately would experience the unlocking of doors that have been locked for years and kept us from our preferred future. He was urging me to embrace the understanding that there would be keys given us that when placed in the locks and turned, doors to storehouses of Papa’s blessing would come flying open.
He also showed me that the keys were figurative and emblematic of deepened revelations of God’s love, grace, kindness, prosperity and joy. These keys are Biblical principles we have never understood before. So these keys are not literal, physical keys but important and strong points the Holy Spirit would lose in our hearts that give way to greater faith, strength, joy and favor. These keys would not only open doors for our benefit but every bit as important, for the benefit of others.
I believe that God the Father is extending to you keys that will open doors of rich opportunity, healing, wholeness, salvation and holiness. I can hear the chains falling as the locks are released and new freedom and provision is opened to us.
Holy Spirit also showed me the brokenness of fear, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, disappointment, physical and emotional sickness, shame, guilt, addictions and many other hurts, habits and hang-ups that plague our souls being driven behind barred doors and these keys locking the doors preventing any escape. Like Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty I’m free at last. Get ready for greater dimensions of freedom to be experienced by you and those you love.