The Doors Which Do Not Open

We will never begin to unlock the mysteries of God if we don’t open the door to Him.

Even when a door is under lock and key, the Lord can pass through. For that which is incorruptible and eternal is not bounded by what is not. Even though some homes locked their doors in response to our knocking, we know that the Lord is faithful to pursue each heart in His desire to be known to them. However we also know that the Lord respects the locked door and will not force anyone to open up without at least a faithful glance. We are so grateful for all the many doors which have been opened and reflect on the verse from Malachi 3:10, noting the incredible blessing that God has in store in response to our obedience, not only the doors but the floodgates of heaven will open with blessings.Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, said the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Knock and Talk Report: Summary of the last 3 weeks.

Outreach 1:

The clouds were ominous and the forecast confirmed that it would not be an evening with an empty promise. Yes, it rained heavily but not until our one team was able to give out 4 bible sets that night.

Outreach 2:

There were two teams of two on this outreach. The evening was humid but praise God we were able to give out altogether five sets and three Old Testaments. One gentleman we spoke with said he would only take what his rabbi gave him.  Yet at another door a mother and her teenage daughter greeted us and as the mom took the Tanach in her hands, she slowly scrolled a few of the pages with her fingers, in an almost reverent manner and then, with thankfulness, agreed to take the New Testament.  At another home a young father took only the OT but was very grateful and surprised that it was free. Another woman opened her door just wide enough to see her free gift waiting for her and then willingly took it in.  At another home, a man in his late 30’s answered and joked with us asking how we managed to find where the Jewish homes were.  He laughed when we explained that we would walk and look for the Mezuzahs on the door posts. Wouldn’t it be remarkable if believers were so easily identifiable?  What should speak out clearly is our love, attitude, faith and fruit of the spirit. Let’s put those items on the doorpost of our heart and give glory to the Lord for them. The gentleman took in both the Old and New Testament, humbly confessing that he had not read either. He asked that we return another time when his wife would as well be at home.  That last visit concluded our evening.

Outreach:

On this outreach, we handed out 2 full sets and 3 Old Testaments. While in the parking lot we saw a gentleman with his prayer book in hand and as we approached him he kept smiling.  He said he did not need anything but when we said we could give him a Tanach in French, he gladly received it. Our conversation could not continue because of the heavy traffic around us at the time. At another door, a man in his 40’s answered. He said he had not read the Tanach but just then, his friend came to the door and agreed to receive only the Tanach with the bookmark and thanked us for it. A woman at another door was ready to abruptly close it on us when we quickly shared, by the Spirit’s leading, that we were not of another religion, but that we were spiritual and relational in our approach to God.  She smiled and listened to what we were offering and accepted the Tanach as well as the Isaiah leaflet. We left her while she was in her front garden, admiring her flowers and thanking God for them.

We then approached another door where two men and a woman received us.  They listened intently and one of the men took the Tanach with a smile, said thank you and wished us a good evening.  We also were able to hand out four Isaiah 53 leaflets to those who said no to the free bibles.

Here is the report from Calgary, Alberta.

Outreach 1:

Once again we were greatly blessed this week, as we gave out 4 full Bible sets. Amazingly not one Jewish respondent declined our offer! As if that wasn’t enough of a blessing, we came to a home that had been previously owned by Jews and they had left the mezuzah on their door frame. A Chinese Mandarin couple had recently purchased their house and when the woman met us at her door, she showed great interest in this Jewish Messiah as we shared the Gospel. She invited us to return next week to hear more and receive an all-English Bible. At the two other homes we visited, one locked their door as we knocked! We thought maybe there were only children behind the door so they might not have been willing to open up in their parents’ absence. We are ever grateful that this ministry does not go by the reputation or experience of Knock and Lock !

At another door, a Russian Jewish man accompanied by his grandson, answered and immediately accepted the full set of Scriptures, the Isaiah 53 leaflet, as well as the prophecy bookmark. Not being fluent in English, he didn’t talk very much but showed interest in the topic of Yeshua’s name in Hebrew meaning salvation. We pointed to Isaiah 49:6, the Jewish Redeemer that would be the Light to the nations. We also expressed how God was faithful to His people in bringing them back to the Land, and as mentioned in Isaiah 66, that many Gentiles in turn would join the Jewish nation putting their trust in Messiah! An Eastern European Jewish lady also gladly accepted all the materials we had to offer. We asked her if she spoke Hebrew. She explained that she knew a bit but mentioned that she would gladly pass on this material to her son, since he was presently studying Hebrew! Another young Jewish man also accepted all the material we had to offer. We were able to share with him some of the prophecies pertaining to Israel’s return to the Land. We contrasted the difference between prophecies pertaining to the Messianic Kingdom and those of the suffering Servant. We proposed that it was Yeshua appearing twice; once to atone for sins while the other would be for His receiving of the Kingdom. Another very kind middle aged Jewish man originally from South Africa, happily received the full set of Scriptures and the Isaiah 53 leaflet, and expressed much interest in our material and our claim that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. All Jewish respondents thanked us for our visit. 

Outreach 2:

We were able to visit 8 households this week! Three full Hebrew Scripture sets were accepted! Two respondents refused our offer of Scriptures, while another spoke through his closed door, then locked the door after we identified ourselves. Last week’s Mandarin lady happily received our English-only Bible and wrote our phone numbers in her new Bible. She said she would call us if she had any questions! We encouraged her to start her readings with the Gospel of John. The first man to accept our offer thanked us for passing by, as his 2 polite children accompanied him. We were able to share our enthusiasm, that Adonai would soon faithfully return the Land of Israel to her people. He also accepted the Isaiah 53 leaflet. Another young Jewish lady gladly accepted the full set of Scriptures with her Gentile husband beside her. She was concerned that we were targeting her community, but felt reassured when we mentioned that we also offer English-only Bibles to Gentiles, and that our intention was to bless our Jewish neighbors, so that we in turn would be blessed by God!  Her husband identified himself as a born again Christian so we can pray that he would be able to continue sharing with his wife that  Yeshua is  the Jewish Messiah.  Their son enthusiastically got out his Hebrew Bible and turned to Daniel 9:26 where we showed that is was predicted that  the Messiah would be cut off before the City and Temple was to be destroyed! She thanked us for the offer of Scriptures as we left them with greetings of peace!

The last lady was a Messianic Jewish lady that gladly accepted the Scriptures and explained that she was in contact with Orthodox and Conservative Jewish Calgarians and that she would pass on the Scriptures to them! She took both our phone numbers.                 

We will be resuming the outreach only this fall, since our team will be out of town travelling until then!

We greatly value your prayers as we see the Lord answering our heart’s desire, that His Holy Name would thus be exalted amongst His people!