It is an honor to have you as a member of our subscription service! Share today. #13 My Heart Undressed | No 3rd DoorJANE PHINNEY: I am still of the mindset that if God said it, I believe it. It’s settled, even if I don’t totally understand how everything will play out. He is God.
Listen to the podcast version: NO 3RD DOORBack in the mid-60s, I occasionally watched “Let’s Make a Deal” with my grandma. In his day, Monty Hall made the show exciting as you played right along with the contestants. The effect of the bargaining appeal drew onlookers into the moment emotionally. As game shows go, there was a lot of dramatic hype & sounds effects & music to spur contestants on. If you were chosen, you traded something you brought with you, for the opportunity to explore “greener pastures” behind 1 of 3 doors. Door number 1! Door number 2! Door number 3! Which will YOU choose??? The audience would succumb to a cheering frenzy, while waiting to see if what was behind the chosen door was the grand prize, a secondary “so-so” reward, or an impractical valueless dud. If your choice was the latter option, you were “zonked!” Many Christians, specifically those professing to know Jesus Christ through a born-again salvation moment, unknowingly live their lives with this game-show-3-door mindset. An authentic believer will testify that God’s sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the greatest gift they’ve ever received –the Grand Prize. They will also agree that overtly choosing anything connected to Satan reaps life-altering destruction. Getting spiritually “zonked” can leave you feeling emotionally crushed & trashed. For the most part, we are aware of evil because the Holy Spirit lives in us. Therefore, Satan usually employs a “back door” approach to temptation. He appeals to our flesh (memories of our Before Christ days) & the draw of the world to say, “There IS another option. Let’s make a deal.” I’d like to make note that most Biblical lessons & truths are presented in stark contrasts…the grand prize versus the trash (in game show verbiage). Two doors. Two options. Life/death, light/darkness, heaven/hell, Spirit/flesh, love/hate, right/wrong, freedom/bondage, wisdom/folly, truth/lies, humility/pride, riches/poverty, sheep/goats, the beginning/the end, good/evil, mercy/judgment, narrow/wide, good fruit/bad fruit, law/grace, & the Spirit of God /the spirit of the anti-christ…just to name a few. Observing this teaching pattern was the foundation for my long-ago spiritual lesson of No 3rd Door. In practicality, the 3rd door would best be described as a compromise. It’s the human blending of the best (God) & the worst (Satan). The results aren’t the greatest, but you still have something to show for your bargaining efforts. Spiritually speaking, this manmade alternative can best be described as MY WAY. I first saw this as a spiritual discovery in principle…until God showed me that MY WAY was my default protection plan. I struggled with this erroneous belief pattern, particularly in situations where I felt vulnerable. It included physical needs (trusting God’s timing for food, clothes, paying the bills), relationships (trying to help people not hurt so much), serving (over-extending myself to the point of physical detriment & wrong priorities that affected our home) & safety (going overboard in making sure things were ok & not taking any risks). MY WAY will rationalize why the situation warrants your control. MY WAY will settle…for less than God’s best. MY WAY will deduce why you should get what you want. MY WAY is self-focused & can be motivated by people-pleasing or immediate gratification. When we are tempted to ignore the truth in the Word & disregard God’s voice, when we do our own thing, when we won’t let go of our agenda, when we fight the conviction of the Spirit, we are playing into the enemy’s hands. Satan can use our spiritual pride & independence for his purposes to blot out our testimony & rob God’s glory. MY WAY is not neutral. MY WAY is not without consequences. My WAY is why we need lifetime sanctification. God shows no partiality when dealing with sin. Christ Jesus died to put an end to the power of MY WAY. He was resurrected to give us His Life so that we don’t rely on the false hope of MY WAY. When we yield & submit, He directs our steps. Even when He requires that we wait. Or it doesn’t look like everyone else. Or the right thing to do is uncomfortable. Often faith can seem sightless…right down to the wire. I am still of the mindset that if God said it, I believe it. It’s settled, even if I don’t totally understand how everything will play out. He is God. I am not. And neither are you. I find solitary comfort & hope in the truth that Jesus, THE WAY, replaces the need to default to MY WAY. In I John 5:12 it says, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” I can’t say it any better than that! The End Times Chronicles is a reader-supported publication. 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