Recently we were having some work done at the parsonage. The worker who was painting the front door that had faded made a remark that the door was stubborn. He had to put 6 coats of paint on it to get it to turn out right. A few days later I encountered someone who said that they had a closet door that was stubborn in that it would sometimes stick and be hard to open.
          Twice within a couple of days I encountered the words “stubborn door”. Usually when something like this happens God is trying to show or teach me something. I asked God what He was trying to teach me about stubborn doors. Here is what I have discovered so far about these words.
          In Revelation 3: 20 we read that the Spirit of Jesus is saying, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and fellowship with him, and he with Me.” This scripture is the picture of Jesus knocking upon the door of a person’s heart. He is wanting to come into that heart and gain fellowship with that person in the joy of salvation or restoration if the person has backslidden. There are several factors in this scripture that show how the door can be seen as being stubborn.
          First the door can be seen as stubborn if the person is listening to the loud noise of the world so much that they don’t hear the knock of Jesus at the door. The knock isn’t a thunderous banging on the door or Jesus kicking down the door. Jesus just steadily knocks so that the person, if they will only hear the voice of Jesus who is calling to them, will respond and open the door.
          Another aspect of the door being seen as stubborn is that the person DOES hear and recognize the voice of Jesus but refuses to open the door. This is usually because of their sin that has caused broken fellowship with Jesus. They are afraid, ashamed, and trying to avoid Jesus. This is when that person needs Jesus the most but many times that is when they stubbornly refuse to open the door and let Jesus in. Jesus patiently keeps on knocking and calling to the person so that they will open up the door and receive Him. 
          The last aspect of the idea of a stubborn door is that Jesus said in John 10:9 “I am the (only) door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved,” The world has created many “religious” doors that are contrary to the idea that Jesus is the only door (way) to salvation and Heaven. When we stubbornly insist that there are other doors/ways to get to Heaven then we refuse to hear the voice of Jesus and open the door of our heart and let Him in.
          The danger of not dealing with the stubborn door is that we leave Jesus outside of the door of our heart. Therefore we are lost and have no fellowship with Him. How terrible to listen to the noise of the world so much that we don’t hear the knock and the sweet voice of Jesus. Even worse is to recognize His voice and stubbornly refuse to open the door of our heart to Him or choose to open the wrong door.
          The Holy Spirit is sometimes described as oil in the Bible. If the door of your heart is stubbornly stuck then ask God to apply the oil of the Spirit so that it will easily swing open every time that Jesus knocks upon it.
 In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs

​My wife and I decided to go out to eat one night. I mentioned a restaurant that someone had told me about in another town 30 miles away. We debated about driving that far but then decided to go. We got there and were seated and looking at the menu. Our waitress came and got our drink order (Water and tea).
          When she came back and took our order, I asked her if there was anything that we could pray about for and with her as we blessed our meal. She looked at us almost shocked. She said, “I think that God has been trying to reach me. I prayed this morning, God if you want me to follow you then send me a sign today. I think that you are my sign. I think that you are the answer to my prayer.”
          I quickly told her about Jesus and gave her a little Jesus from my pocket. As I prayed, I prayed that Jesus would become very real in her life and that she would receive Him as her Lord and Savior. As she walked away to place our order Michelle and I looked at each other and immediately knew that God had sent us to this restaurant on this very night when this girl was working so that He could use us to answer her prayer. How cool is that?
          This was not a coincidence or anything short of God caring enough about this girl’s journey to send her an answer to her prayer to let her know that He did love her and that He did hear her prayer. Also that He did want a relationship with her. My heart leaped for joy in knowing that we had followed His urging and wound up being used by Him for His glory.
          I wonder how many times that we miss the blessing of being the answer to someone else’s prayer because we don’t follow the Holy Spirit's urging. God wants to use us as His hands and feet, His heart, His eyes, His ears and everything else. We need to put ourselves in a position to listen more closely to the Holy Spirit and obey the directions that He gives us. We may not know what is happening until it is revealed to us how He has used us but we need to carry on in faith.
          Don’t miss your blessing by not being a blessing to someone else.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs 

Our adult Sunday school classes have a system where the members usually put a dollar or so into an offering each week. This offering allows the class to buy flowers or cards for members that are sick or if the family loses a loved one. The Sunday school class also uses the money to help meet other needs that may arise.
          One Sunday one of the grandchildren of one of the Sunday school members saw him pull out a dollar and put it into the Sunday school offering basket. The youngster asked, “You mean that we have to pay to come to church?” The grandfather did his best to explain to the young man about the offering and all.
          I think that we should start teaching the children at a very early age about tithing and special offerings lest we lose the importance of this commandment for the Bible. The Bible reminds us to, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse (Church)”.  If we don’t teach our children the importance of this principle then they will not know or understand why we give money to the church.
          I think that we should approach the subject not with the mindset that we have to pay to come to church but rather – It pays to come to church. When we come to church and are committed to all aspects of the church then the rewards are greater than the cost (Tithes & offerings). When a person is a member of a church they are loved (agape) like family. There are resources, and connections that cannot be found in other places.
With a relationship with Jesus the believer will have the promise and hope of making Heaven their eternal home when they pass away. The Bible reminds us that if we don’t tithe then we are robbing God and thieves don’t inherit the Kingdom of God. We don’t PAY to go to church or to Heaven, we tithe and give offerings in obedience to what God has called us to do.
A true believer of Jesus Christ will want to give of their tithe and offerings not out of obligation but out of a thankful heart for what Jesus has done for us in paying our sin debt by His death on the cross. We give the money as a love gift and offerings to help the church keep functioning and thus increase the Kingdom of God.
The Bible also reminds us that, “God loves a cheerful giver”.  So be cheerful and generous in what you give to the Kingdom of God. It is not some sour puss effort we do in order to appease an angry God. It is a joyful investment in Christ’s church and the Kingdom of God.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs

       I heard a statement that has taken me a little bit to unpack. The statement was, “I have to be selfish in the morning so that I can be selfless the rest of the day.” The person explained that they had to be selfish in the morning by blocking out everything except their prayer and devotional time with Jesus in order to be equipped to follow Jesus’ example of being selfless. WOW! There is a lot of meat on these bones.
          In order to face the trials and issues of the day we must intentionally be selfish and block out distractions in order to get equipped from the source of our power and strength- Jesus. If we don’t do that then we will probably spend the rest of the day being selfish instead of selfless. We must pay the price of being filled with the Holy Spirit in order to allow Jesus to work through us each day.
          A former District Superintendent used to say that he had made a commitment that he would not eat breakfast until he had had a devotional/prayer time with Jesus. This man’s nickname was “Baby Elephant” because he was a large human being. For him to give up breakfast before he spent time with the Lord was a big sacrifice. But he also said that the rewards of getting spiritual food first far outweighed the desire for physical food.
          How about you? Are you willing to make a commitment of some kind to be intentional about spending time in devotional/prayer before you begin your day? It may mean getting up a little bit earlier or rearranging your schedule. But what a blessing to enter each day with directions and guidance from the Lord and also be equipped with the Holy Spirit to overcome any and all fiery arrows Satan will shoot at you that day.
          How about it? Will you die to yourself each morning in order to be selfless the rest of the day. After all- it isn’t about you it is ALL about Him (Jesus) anyway.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs