The Key of David

I love it when I hear the responses of people listening to me teach, especially when I am able to demonstrate how some key verses have been either overlooked or misunderstood because we had not yet put on the lenses of God’s grace. Please understand that I am relatively new to this new covenant understanding of the gift of grace, so everything is appearing new and exciting to me as well!

One might ask, what verses have we overlooked or misunderstood? I am sure there are many to be rediscovered, but my newest revelation has come surrounding the message behind the key of David and the keys Jesus has given us to use here on earth.

If you are anything like me, I have heard numerous teachings on the key of David mentioned in Isaiah 22:22 and in Revelation 3:7.

“The key of David refers to his exuberant worship of God,” I’ve been told. “We must worship as David did, with all his might.” And what about the keys Jesus referred to in Matthew 16:19? Is this the same thing?

My search to uncover a deeper understanding of all this led me to another prophetic word given in Amos 9:11 saying, “On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages…” So, could this key of David really have something to do with the type of tabernacle he set up rather than how he responded in worship to the Presence of God? My hunt was on!

To really understand everything about David, one needs to first examine everything we know about this man after God’s own heart. We know David as the humble shepherd, the valiant giant-killer, the passionate worshiper, the courageous leader, the rejected king, and…a notorious rule-breaker of the old covenant!

What??? I can feel the shudder of romantic David-lovers everywhere! Now, hold on just a moment and allow me to explain.

There are several accounts of things David did in the time of the old covenant that were in direct conflict with rules and directions clearly given by God to Moses. The first thing that is mentioned in three of the gospels is the fact that David and his men ate the shewbread found in the Jewish tabernacle that was clearly for only the priests in the tribe of Levi to eat. (1 Samuel 21:6) David (and his men) broke the rules and lived to tell about it!

Another thing David did was when Israel was finally able to retrieve the ark of the covenant from the house of Obededom, we’re told that instead of setting up the entire tabernacle of Moses as clearly instructed by the law, David only set up a simple tabernacle in his residence, Zion, the city of David, just outside Jerusalem, while the rest of the tabernacle furnishings were still in Gibeon. (1 Kings 3:4,15)

What was he doing?

The other thing David did that was, I’m sure, a continual frustration to those around him still trying to follow all the rules, he worshiped freely in the Holy of Holies as if he were one of the priests in the tribe of Levi. In fact, there was no curtain to separate anyone who entered before the ark of the covenant in the tabernacle of David!

So how come he lived and others who tried that were killed or rebuked?

The key, I believe, has to do with the relationship David had with the Father before he became rich and famous. David discovered the love and heart of God while still just a shepherd boy all alone in the fields with the sheep. This humble man did not find God in a fancy temple or in the elaborate tabernacle of Moses. He learned to feast upon the love of his heavenly Father and it was this confidence that allowed him to kill giants, lead in battle, and eventually become a king over the land.

David did not care about the rules! He only cared about his love relationship with the Father. Does that sound a lot like the relationship Adam and Eve had with God in the garden?

This type of tabernacle is what Amos 9 says has been raised up and repaired through the sacrifice of Jesus! We know this because Isaiah 22:22 speaks of this future event to be accomplished by the coming Messiah and Revelation 3:7 describes it as finished.

So back to the keys. Jesus clearly tells Peter that he WILL give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:19) and then tells him that whatever is bound on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever is loosed on earth will be loosed on heaven. Why weren’t the keys given yet? Jesus hadn’t yet paid for them by His death on the cross!

How many of you, like me, were told that the binding and loosing had to do with binding demons and loosing people from them? Oh yeah! That was me! However, when I really started to examine those verses with my new glasses of grace on, I realized that this understanding did not line up.

When you look at the verse carefully it says whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven. If this verse is talking about binding demons, are there any demons in heaven? NO! They were all cast out from heaven down to the earth! (The accuser of the brethren described in the book of Job as standing before God was before the shed blood of Jesus which has freed us from all accusations of the enemy!)

Another thing I had been taught was that the word “heavens” in this verse was referring to the heavenlies where the principalities of the air reside. Oops! Wrong again. The word here for heaven refers to the place where God dwells and that is obviously heaven where our eternal home will be.

So when I started actually looking up the meaning of those other words, I discovered something. Bind means “to be in bonds, obligation, duty, begging God, to be in lack, wanting, forbid, prohibit.” Loose means “to loosen, break up, dissolve, put off, destroy, to rend, break asunder, break through, joined together as in a marriage, break forth into joy.”

When you put all that together, it becomes very clear that the keys Jesus was speaking of were designed for those who accepted Jesus to have the authority to open a door to full privileges and benefits of the kingdom of heaven. However, the keys only work when we have loosed ourselves from that old covenant view of a cruel, harsh God and begin to understand the true character of our loving Heavenly Father who has claimed us all as His seed…just like David did!

The choice is ours!

In John 10:9 Jesus cleared stated that He was the door and if we will go through Him, He said we could go in and out and find pasture. Do you know what that means? “Go in” says we have access to heaven’s benefit package right now here on earth! We have that privilege to enter into the Father’s presence boldly to receive all that He has for us and then “out” indicates we are to take these gifts and treasures from heaven and distribute them abroad on the earth! “Find pasture” tells us that if we rest in what Jesus did for us, we will always be nourished and cared for in this life.

Isn’t that exciting?

I love what Hebrews 4:9-11 says. “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered into His rest has himself also ceased from his own works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall…”

Our “works” has to do with trying to please God by striving or trying rather than just receiving the gift of righteousness from Jesus and resting in the Father’s unceasing love for you. How you think about God will affect how you receive from Him. Our diligence comes in the form of keeping our minds locked into the new covenant of freely receiving His gifts rather than trying to perform in order to earn them. Performance binds up the flow of gifts from heaven while resting in the goodness and perfection of Jesus in us allows the manifestation of the Father’s love to flow in our lives.

We have been so blessed by this revelation. I pray that the eyes of your understanding will be opened by this as well!

Bless you!!!!

Law vs Grace

I recently had some rather intense exchanges with a friend who had come to believe that the establishment of the new covenant did not change the requirements of the old covenant. Instead she believed that we must continue to fulfill the law to show our obedience to God.

As passionate and honorable as that might seem, I had to explain to her that our best efforts in law-keeping will always fall short of the perfection our holy God requires. That is why Jesus came. The ministry of condemnation as Paul calls the old covenant had to be fulfilled by Jesus so we could step into this new covenant of grace.

Once our judgment was fulfilled and completed upon the body of Jesus, we were extended the grace and favor of God. All we have to do is believe what Jesus has done and accept this amazing gift of God.

It’s that easy!

Jesus became our sin so we can become His righteousness. Jesus took our judgment and condemnation so we can walk in grace and favor.

The Father is not mad at us! He loves us and is excited to see us rule and reign here on earth as well as in heaven. This is who we were created to be. It is our heritage to grow into the image of Christ by believing and agreeing with all He is!

This revelation of Jesus has reignited my life and my joy. This truth can do the same for you!

Let it be, Lord!

She Got It!

Recently I received a most unusual phone call. My friend on the line was laughing hysterically and had been laughing non-stop for the last hour. Between her belly laughs, she was able to tell me how the Lord had suddenly dropped this gift of joy on her after a discouraging word given to her by another believer.

The week prior to this, she and I had spent a day together while attending a special event at another church. That afternoon over lunch, I attempted to share with both my friends sitting with me at the restaurant booth about the magnificent gift of grace we all had been given through our new lives in Jesus. All of us had heard this before, but unfortunately, much of our joy had been robbed throughout the years as we walked in a mixture of law and grace taught to us by well-meaning believers.

Only in the last several months had my husband and I finally received some clear understanding on what it means to be free from the old “rules and regulations” of our faith so we could fully embrace the transforming gift of God’s lavish grace and peace upon our lives. Once our performance mentality is gone, everything about us changes as well. We just need to receive God’s goodness and walk in His joy!

As I explained these things to my friends, they were challenged and had a hard time really comprehending what it was like to be free from the “rules of religion” and walk only in the joy of our salvation. Pastor Scott Schang, author of the book, “The Rhema Code” describes it in this way.

“What is it that causes people to question their salvation wondering if they are loved and if they measure up or not? What is it that causes that initial passion at conversion to fade away and reduce them to go through the motions of Christianity, but without fire and conviction? Is the answer more prayer, better church attendance, more Bible reading, more sacrifice, less sin? How about more fasting or greater discipline? Surely there must be something missing!”

“Maybe the prevailing thought of needing to become better instead of living from ‘already being better’ is thrusting people into an unattainable ‘pursuit mode’ that sounds right but really is counterproductive and in fact, an error in thinking, leaving many stuck in a confusing attempt at ‘serving Jesus’.” (The Rhema Code, page 72)

Many of us get stuck in this idea that we need to earn the favor of God by our performance here on earth, but the truth of the matter is we already have His favor! By us thinking we need to somehow impress God (or others) by our behavior or actions, we are in effect saying that the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins was not enough to make us worthy of God’s grace. We think we must add to what Jesus has done.

Impossible!

It is a gift we only need to receive and then fully believe as we follow the paths He lays out before us. His goodness and continual mercies follow us everywhere we go! The only hindrance to this is when we really don’t believe Him and His promises.

This is what my friend was struggling with when she heard the gentle voice of the Lord asking her why she was so stressed out over the discouraging word she had received? He explained that He had chosen to confound the wise and give His truths to babes. At that moment, the joy of the Lord washed over my dear sister and she suddenly understood that she was, in fact, the object of the Lord’s lavish grace. No more guilt and condemnation! She was free!

Between her laughter, she continued to tell me, “I got it! I got it!”

And she did!