Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener
podcast. I'm your host Danielle Townsend and
today on the podcast I am taking a lovely nature
walk. You might be hearing the leaves crunching
under my feet. it is officially starting to look
more like fall. The leaves are falling. Today
it's a pretty hot, like 83 degrees. So although
it's starting to look like fall, it doesn't exactly
feel like it yet. But we know whether or not
it feels like it in the moment fall is creeping
in. And I feel like that analogy can be related
to the promises of the Lord. You know, there's
sometimes when the Lord tells us something is
coming, you know, he's delivering on this blessing.
He's delivering on this promise. There's a shift
that's about to happen. There's all these things.
And a lot of times when God tells us that, our
surroundings look nothing like it. Oftentimes
when he tells us a breakthrough is coming, a
blessing is coming, a new opportunity is coming,
we're shifting into a new season. We're looking
around thinking, from where? What door? I see
nothing. My situation doesn't look like that.
It looks like it always does or maybe it looks
worse than normal. Trust what God says over what
everything around you looks like. Someone needs
to hear that. But today's topic is going to be
open doors. And by open doors, I mean open doors.
that are allowing the devil to have legal access
to your life. Y 'all, I'm speaking from experience.
There are a lot of doors and I'm not perfect
in this. I'm not saying that, you know, God shut
all those doors and I've never tried opening,
I've never done anything. I am not perfect. I
found myself not too long ago having to close
a door. And I feel like that's something throughout
our lives. God is gonna reveal to us. Hey, this
is not a door that should be open. You need to
close the store. But let me just explain to you
a little bit about open doors and how the Lord
has really revealed them to me. To give y 'all
a little bit of background, I wasn't always a
loving, forgiving, joyful person. I used to be
a very angry person. filled with mistrust and
resentment and you know I experienced a lot of
hard things and a lot of harsh things and I saw
a lot of things and in that brood a lot of anger
and frustration and resentment and let me tell
y 'all that the devil that was a playground for
him. because my lack of forgiveness, my lack
of joy, my lack of hope and faith in the Lord,
the devil was able to move in that. He was able
to develop strongholds in that. That led me to
sinful actions, that led me to say yes to temptations,
that led me to say yes to doing things that were
not Christ -like and distancing myself. from
the Lord. In short, an open door is something
that you, it may be a sinful behavior, it may
be something that is un -Christ -like that allows
the devil to get in. And then once he is in,
he develops strong, he gets a foothold in your
life that then turns into a stronghold. I've
talked on this podcast before about the fact
that when we are obeying the Lord and when we
are doing things that are Christ -like and trying
to move closer to Christ, the spiritual warper
actually amps up. So I am not saying that you're
being attacked because you're living a sinful
life. That is not at all what I'm saying. But
what I am saying is that when we have open doors,
we're giving more access to the enemy when he
does come and attack us. And I'll give you guys
some examples of the open doors I had. One big
one was unforgiveness. You know, I would say
I forgive people. Well, you know, I'm not. Rubbing
things in their face or holding them to it every
day But I recognize I was still hoping that they
got that they reaped what they sowed I was still
hoping that they felt guilt that they felt remorse
I was still at times like trying to expose them
and reveal what they did to other people Like
I wasn't actually letting it go. I wasn't turning
these people over to the Lord There were a lot
of areas where I was relying on my own control
and my own understanding other than the Lord
Impatience was a very big door for the enemy
to get access to me and my life was I was impatient
and waiting on God Takes time when you are doing
it God's way you're doing it the right way and
he's building a firm foundation which takes longer
When you sin, of course you're going to get it
quicker, but it's also going to leave quicker.
And it's also something that you're going to
have to sin continually to keep. So when you're
doing it God's way, it's going to take longer
and it might even be more painful because God's
going to make sure that you're prepared. Before
he puts you in that place or gives you that thing
and the lessons you go through the way that you
gain wisdom Doesn't always feel good. It can
actually make you very uncomfortable So God's
way is honestly at times harder Than the fleshly
ways than the sinful ways. So when you are impatient
the devil can get you to do a lot of things He
can just plant that seed he can whisper in your
ear and convince you that it is your own idea
He can present to you with the offer the opportunity
in your way to jump on it because of your Impatience
and y 'all for me. That was a big one. Lust was
a big one Insecurity like not knowing my identity
in Christ And I'm not saying that not knowing
your identity in Christ is a sin. I'm not saying
you're sinning by not knowing your identity.
But what I am saying is when that is a weak point,
when you don't have faith in who the Lord says
you are and the value that you hold, you start
to fold for certain things that bring you comfort.
And that is an open door. Not having faith in
your identity as a Christian. You know, I can
tell y 'all when I I used to get my value from
attention from other people If it was people
complimenting me, if it was people who were attracted
to me and wanted to date me, it wasn't so much
about, like, I just love to have the eyes on
me. I love to hear the compliments. I love to
hear the attention. And I would find myself,
even when I knew I wasn't supposed to be getting
on dating apps, or I wasn't supposed to be wearing
those outfits, I wasn't supposed to be, you know,
going to that environment, I would find myself
getting on those dating apps and wearing those
outfits and putting myself in that environment
just to have validation. Just because I knew
I would get looks and I would get comments and
I would get things like that and then that's
a spiral That's what I'll say is that can turn
into a spiral you can end up stepping into lustful
activities You can end up developing relationships
with people and connections with people that
the Lord, you know was intending you to go down
that path and also you can start to rely on those
external sources for Comfort and validation that
you should be getting from the Lord Jesus Christ
One big one y 'all who have listened to this
for a while. No, I have a sobriety conviction.
I do not drink I do not smoke. I have a 100 %
sobriety conviction. I'm not saying that Everyone
else has that conviction. There are many people
out there who can comfortably have a drink You
know Jesus stepped on wine Jesus drink wine.
I'm not saying that having a drink in itself
is a sin Drunkenness. Being a drunkard is when
it becomes sinful. And I will tell you right
now that if you are going to drugs or alcohol
to cope with your emotional problems, to solve
your boredom, to help you relax, to help you
not get angry, to help you not crash out, that
is an idol. Because Jesus can provide those things
for you. I know from experience. and idol worship
is a big way that the devil is going to get access
to you. If you place anything above Jesus Christ,
that is an idol. Okay? I know it might bring
you comfort. I know you might feel like that
is your way out, but I'm telling you, Jesus Christ
is a better way. Okay? Because once you are drunk
or once you are high, you are no longer in your
right state of mind. When you would normally
be able to hold back when you would normally
be able to say no when you would normally be
able to Discuss things rationally or view things
rationally. You're no longer in that headspace
and the devil does not play fair He will literally
wait until you are in a vulnerable space like
that to come in and to take advantage of you
to gas you up To get you frustrated to get you
amped up Some people are not willing to admit
But I know that there are a lot of people out
there willing to admit that there are things
that they have said Or done when they are drunk
or high that later on they were like dang if
I was sober I don't think I would have acted
that way. I don't think I would have crashed
out that way I don't think I would have done
this that way There's so many people who drink
or smoke for boldness pray to the Lord for boldness
Okay, do not start relying on a substance for
character building. That is another way that
the devil used to get at me and I know that's
a way that he is getting at other people. A lack
of gratitude and the lack of appreciation for
where the Lord has you at now and that can kind
of tie in with impatience, right? You know, there
is and I believe it is in Philippians chapter
4 where Paul discusses that he has learned to
be content. No matter where he's at in life if
he is in the valleys or if he is on the hills
if he has everything Supplied to him or if he
appears to be lacking or in a drought He has
learned to be content and put his faith in the
Lord, you know Philippians 413 I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me a lot of people
just look at that scripture But if you look at
the context of it Paul is saying, despite my
circumstances, even if it doesn't look like I
have any provision, any support, even if it looks
like I'm in the lowest of lows, I trust that
if God wills it, his will shall be done. I trust
that if God is calling me to accomplish something,
to be something, to do something, then he will
give me the strength to do it. He will give me
the supply. You know what I mean? There are just
a few examples of open doors. I know a lot of
people, you know at one point in my life I struggled
with communication, intimacy before marriage.
That is a big one, a really big one. The first
one that the Lord really called me to start working
on was gossip. Gossip is an open door for the
devil. There is power of life and death in the
tongue and when you are gossiping about someone
you are speaking death over them. Alright, participating
in witchcraft, looking at zodiacs. I'm telling
y 'all right now the manifestation ideals that
you are your own creator that is making yourself
an idol. Putting yourself before God. A lot,
a lot of new age spirituality ideals. Putting
your faith in angel numbers, putting your faith
in the stars, putting your faith in astrology.
putting your faith in horoscopes, tarot cards,
divination, all of those things, which are sinful,
which scripture does tell us not to do. But we
find ourselves being subtly tempted into it because
there are the thing with deception is it's not
all lies. Deception is truth with lies sprinkled
in or lies with some truth sprinkled in. And
that is how new age really gets you, is it takes
relative truths. It has part of it truth and
then adds in a lot of lies and a lot of deception
And since there's that little bit of truth that
catches your eye, you know You see it all the
time with tarot readers as a former tarot reader
I'm telling y 'all straight up psychic mediums
all of that. They will tell you a couple serious
things that you're like who else could know that
because monitoring spirits that have been watching
you and your family since you were little generations
back they whisper into the ears of your psychic
mediums okay but you'll hear just a couple truths
and because you hear those you're willing to
eat up and believe all of the other lies that
the demonic monitoring spirits are dropping in
you're coming into agreement with all of these
things that are untrue some saying right there
that is an open door putting your faith in anything
outside of jesus christ out of the heavenly father
putting your faith in any of these man -made
creations will become an open door for the devil
to access you okay like y 'all there are so many
you cannot serve two masters putting money putting
financial provision Before what the Lord calls
you to do before God The second you start prioritizing
money over Jesus Christ is the second you start
signing contracts that say that you can't say
the name Jesus Christ Is the second that you
start promoting things and saying things and
doing things that are leading other people to
separation So right now y 'all I'm just giving
you I Had I'm telling you I had so many open
doors in my life that the Lord had to help me
close over time Like it wasn't night and day
that all these things were shut. It has been
a process. But these are just an example of open
doors that we ourselves create. You know, oftentimes
we don't think that holding someone unforgiveness,
gossiping, lying and slandering is a big one.
Lying and slandering is not an act of God, is
not Christ -like. That is the work of the devil,
okay? Making assumptions and passing them off
as truth. That is not Christ -like I'm telling
y 'all right now that these things are open doors
for the devil to move at you So when he does
start attacking you when he does start coming
at you he can go through these open doors So
many of us when we are facing warfare are so
focused on where it is coming from who the devil
is operating out of We want to say oh, well the
devil is using this person to attack me So this
person is the bad guy and I'm gonna focus on
how do I defeat them? And how do I do this and
how do I do that? But we forget that God allows
and we'll use all things for our good. And we
forget that the devil has to come to the Lord
before he attacks us. We see that in the book
of Job that the devil had to get permission from
God to attack Job. So you best believe if God
is giving the devil permission to come at you,
there is something that you... can get out of
this. There is something that you can learn from.
There is something that you can grow from. But
you have to humble yourself. That's the big thing
here, y 'all. I'm talking humility. The Lord
had to truly humble me because I was not walking
in humility. I was not willing to humble myself.
I believe that everybody else was the problem
and I refused to take accountability for a very
long time. And that is another open door. um
that the devil will use is lack of humility when
you're in your ego when you're in your pride
when no one can tell you nothing when you have
an excuse for every single action yeah lying
stealing all that stuff is bad yeah getting angry
is a sin all of that but you have a good reason
no you don't no you don't i understand that you
feel you have a good reason But the fact that
you are defending the action right there is the
lack of humility Okay, Jesus was tempted just
like we were tempted just like we are tempted
There is no temptation that we are facing these
days. That's one of our other brothers and sisters
in Christ has not yet faced Okay, and someone
needs to hear this today. Stop making excuses
for your open doors and take accountability for
your open doors. That is humility. Humility isn't,
I used to think you were humble if you were able
to just like live below your means and like live
with little income or, you know, do that and
still find joy because, and you know, I thought
I was super humble because I was like, oh, I
don't need all these expensive things. I was
living this kind of lifestyle. But I wasn't humble
enough because I was defending my sinful actions.
And someone today needs to hear that you need
to stop defending your sinful actions. You need
to stop defending the open doors and take accountability
for them because once you take accountability
for them, you can actually close those doors.
If you are defending those doors being open,
you're going to find reasons to continue leaving
them open. They're not going to be closed and
the devil is going to keep coming in. So if the
Lord is allowing you to face these attacks, what
is he trying to show you right now? What is the
open door that the devil is coming through? Like
I said, y 'all, we so heavily want to like focus
on where is the attack coming from and like how
can we stop the attack? How can we stop? How
can we expose? How can we do all this? But we
totally bypassed the lesson and all of it. We
want to throw the lesson out of the window. And
we need to stop and start asking, OK, but how
is the devil getting this much access to me?
Again, guys, I'm not saying that being sinful
is the reason why the devil is attacking you.
OK, I've said before and I'll say it again. That
the closer you get to Christ and the more Christ
like you actually get. Like the more the attacks
usually pick up because now you are definitely
more competition for the devil. So I'm saying
that like actually warfare oftentimes picks up
when you are doing the right thing. But doing
the right thing doesn't mean you're perfect in
the way that you're living your life. Pursuing
relationship with Christ doesn't mean that you
have no open doors. And once you're pursuing
relationship with Christ and humbling yourself
before him, is when you're actually going to
start being receptive to what do I need to work
on and what do I need to fix. I hope you guys
are still following along with me. I know that
this can be a lot to understand, like this can
be a lot to really digest. And I do recommend,
if you need to pause this, write things down.
If you need to listen to this back, listen to
this back. You know, the Lord really, it took
me a while to really grasp all of this. And I
feel like sometimes I'm still grasping it. but
someone needs to hear that today too is like
your intention and You following the Lord and
you reading the scripture and all of those things
is great, but that doesn't mean that your life
is perfect There is always an area where we can
develop You know, the Lord is always trying to
grow us and we need to be open to that growth
so I'm telling y 'all today that like Your first
step is really humbling yourself and admitting
that you are not perfect, admitting that whether
or not you feel you can defend these open doors,
you shouldn't be defending these open doors,
right? So now that you've stopped making excuses
for these open doors, you can start recognizing
that having these open doors in general is unhealthy,
and it's not something that Christ calls us to
do. So now that you've recognized that this is
something that is unhealthy and should not be
in your life, the next step is How do we remove
this door? How do we close the store? And that
is one that you're gonna need to pray to the
Lord about. Because closing that door is gonna
look different for each person. Each person has
different coping mechanisms. They have different
reasons for why that door is open. Sit down with
your Bible. Be prepared to fast if you need to
fast. Pray to the Lord for humility daily. Pray
that he humbles you. Pray that you have humility,
okay? like that is a really big one here is pray
for humility because it can be really tempting
when you're looking at these things to like start
wall putting walls up and to start defending
what you're doing and why you're doing it and
i know from experience like i i felt a real conviction
of idolizing money over my relationship with
the lord and at the time i felt that conviction
i was in a space where i had like no money to
my name and I had been living in my car and I
felt like I was living the most humbly I ever
had. And I was like, of course I'm looking for
a financial opportunity. Lord, do you not see
my living situation? I was so in my ego and so
in my pride trying to find any single way to
defend it. And it was when I was in that space,
it wasn't when I was taken out, it was when I
was in that space, that the Lord was able to
start closing those doors for me. And I'm not
saying it was totally fixed in that moment. It
was a process. You know, the Lord took me through
having different stages of like financial provision,
each stage recognizing how idolatry was being
presented, but in different forms. Understand
too that it's not a night and day process. Sometimes
it takes days, weeks, months, years. But I'm
telling you right now that what works for someone
else in closing those doors is not going to be
the exact blueprint that may work for you, which
is why you need to create a game plan with the
Lord. Okay? You need to be open to deliverance.
You need to be open to fasting You need to be
open to denying self because that's a big thing
with closing these open doors is denying self
and fasting is a wonderful way to practice that
Because these open doors come from Comforts right
trying to comfort ourselves trying to give ourselves
something to hold on to trying to give ourselves
some kind of peace So you need to be open to
self denial denying yourself, denying your flesh.
You also need to understand that the Lord is
not going to just develop these things in you.
He's going to give you the opportunities to do
these things. So closing that door is going to
look like being presented with opportunities
to open that door wider or shut it. Like when
I really started recognizing that I had idolatry
and I was praying to the Lord to help me like
close out. idolizing money over the Lord. He
gave me opportunities where there like for example
there was someone who presented to me exactly
what I thought I needed in that moment and exactly
what I was waiting on the thought I was waiting
on the Lord for. This was a counterfeit situation
but it would require me to go against what I
know God had called me to do. It would require
me to sin. It would have required me to go against
my morals. It was the perfect opportunity. for
me to either deny it, say no, close that door
and that was a situation of me putting the Lord
before finances, or say yes, get that short -term
provision and put more distance between me and
the Lord and open that door up wider. If someone
needs to hear that today, that like these things
aren't just you pray about it and they're developed,
the Lord gives you opportunities and you use
the wisdom that you get through prayer and reading
scripture. These are tied together. You can't
ignore scripture. You cannot ignore the Bible.
Okay. Gives you the knowledge on how to navigate
through these situations. Okay. So prayer and
scripture reading is so important. Now, like
I said, these doors don't close immediately overnight.
It's a process. But you will notice the more
that you start denying the opportunity to open
that door, the easier it starts to get and the
more habitual it starts to get of putting the
Lord first and saying no to these things. Y 'all,
there's some things that like... some doors I
close that I thought I closed like a year ago
and every so often I still see like the opportunity
pop up the devil doesn't have new tricks he still
tries to bring up the old things that's another
thing too be prepared for even a year or two
years three years down the road the devil tries
to get you to open that door again but you say
no you know there are some people who have made
comments where they're like, wow, you react so
differently to things now, like you're like a
totally different person. And because they didn't
see the process to them, it's a night and day
change. But to me, it's like, yeah, I had to
go through about like 50 different opportunities
to go backwards. I had to go through a lot of
different crying sessions, a lot of different
prayer sessions, a lot of different self denials
to get to this point. It wasn't overnight. It
was developed with the Lord and it wasn't my
own strength. It wasn't my own understanding.
So I'm telling y 'all today and speaking to y
'all from experience. I'm not, you know, trying
to be on some hilltop and speak down at you saying,
you're giving the devil too much access. Close
the doors. I'm telling y 'all that I was someone
who I was getting attacked so heavy. And I was
like, God, I thought you said no weapons that
form against me would prosper. I thought you
said, like, you were going to take care of me
and guide me and get me through this. And he
revealed to me, he's like, yeah, but like, I'm
trying and you are going to make it out of this.
This is an opportunity for you to learn. And
this is an opportunity for you to see how many
doors that you are still giving the devil access
to your mind, to your spirit, to your decision
making. Because although I'm a new creation in
Christ, it doesn't mean that all my actions were
immediately Christ like And let me tell y 'all
the more I started closing those doors The more
I started seeing that the attacks the weapons
that the enemy was forming weren't prospering
The weapons were still forming But because I
was putting on the armor of God and because I
wasn't opening as many doors and freely letting
him in and giving him access The storms that
he was bringing weren't shaking me as much I'm
not saying the storm stopped coming, but they
stopped being as effective And someone needs
to hear that today that that is what closing
these doors is doing is it stops giving the enemy
so much effectivity. You're wondering why these
weapons are forming or seeming to prosper. I'm
telling you right now the open doors may be the
very reason why. And I'm telling you right now
that the solution isn't to get in your ego and
your pride and to defend these doors, but it's
to humble yourself and understand that no matter
the reason why you are opening these doors, these
doors shouldn't be open period. And you need
to find a healthier way to handle things. and
that healthy way is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
I think this is it for today's episode. I honestly
wish that there was a little bit longer, but
I really feel like this is where we're supposed
to cut it. This is where we're supposed to end.
There's not much more I feel the Holy Spirit
is really guiding me to say on this episode.
But I do pray that this short episode has blessed
you and given you a new understanding and helps
you to grow in your relationship with Christ.
Thank you so much for listening. I'm your host,
Danielle Townsend. This was the Salt Not Sweetener
podcast. I do ask that you subscribe to the podcast,
share this episode with people that you know,
people that you feel might need to hear this.
Get the podcast pushed out there. Thank you so
much. I love you. I'll see you guys next time.
God bless.