You’ve Been Given the Key
by Drenda Keesee
Imagine the most beautiful, most comfortable, most accommodating house you would ever want to live in.
Get a good picture of it in your mind.
Now, imagine walking up to the door, opening it, stepping inside…
And then deciding you will never go farther than the foyer.
You’ll just camp there. Forever.
Why? Why would anyone do that?
Good question. But as children of God…
…that’s what we do all of the time. God gives us the keys to all of His Kingdom—the entire house—but we camp out in the foyer.
Matthew 18:18 (GNT) says, “And so I tell all of you: what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
A lot of Christians live and die in the foyer—never taking the keys to the rest of the estate and learning what they’re about.
I’m sick.
There’s a key to unlock healing.
I need provision.
Unlock the door to abundance.
I’m so worried.
There’s a key to peace.
See, God isn’t holding out on you; He’s given you the entire estate. He’s given you rights as a citizen of the Kingdom of God. He’s given you His great and precious promises.
He’s given you the keys to everything you need in life.
The great Myles Munroe said, “Jesus gave us the keys to the Kingdom of God, but if you don’t know how to use those keys, or you don’t know what they’re for, it renders those keys useless. Just as he who doesn’t read is no better off than he who can’t read; he who has a key and won’t use it is no better off than he who doesn’t have a key.”
That’s why so many Christians are living just like the rest of the world—not experiencing life as God has designed it and not experiencing freedom.
Of course, satan is also working really hard to keep you from using your keys. He doesn’t want you in agreement with heaven. He doesn’t want you to discover how to use the keys God has given you and unlock any more of the promises of God. So he keeps knocking at the door and trying to draw you out of the house. He’ll tell you anything and everything he can to get you to take your eyes off of Jesus and take a little step outside of the door.
Fear.
The world is so scary and awful.
You’re going to get sick.
You’re going to run out of money.
Something bad is going to happen.
Unforgiveness.
I’ll never forgive them for what they did.
I’ll pay them back for all the wrong they’ve done.
Sin.
Just one look won’t hurt.
I’m just doing what I have to do.
Discouragement.
I’ll never get this right.
My life will never be better.
Distractions…
The list could go on and on. The enemy has so many tactics. And too often, we listen to his lies; we let him distract us; we turn our eyes to him instead of to Jesus. Then, not only do we take a little step outside the door, but we also hand him the keys God has given us.
What can you do? How can you stay in Father’s house? How can you stay in agreement with heaven despite what you’re hearing, seeing, or even feeling? How can you slam the door in the enemy’s face, take the keys God has given you as a believer, and live the life He’s designed for you?
~Drenda
ps…Are you looking for a good church? Be sure and listen on Saturday evening or catch the 3 services on Sunday for Faith Life Church!
Drenda Keesee’s contagious zeal and humorous personal experiences help make her ministry of spiritual, emotional, and relational wholeness one that will bless your life and spark a new fire in your spirit.
A wife of over 30 years and a mother of five children, Drenda has ministered at churches, seminars, and conferences, and through the mediums of television and radio, for more than 20 years.
Her books, The New Vintage Family, Better Than You Think, and She Gets It are available wherever books are sold. In these heartfelt books, Drenda shares her personal journey and the life lessons that have brought her to where she is today, as well as practical answers that all people need to live a joyful life.
Drenda and her husband Gary founded Faith Life Now, a ministry designed to spread the message of freedom in the areas of finances, faith, marriage, and family. Tune in for their weekly messages here. Faith Life Now hosts conferences worldwide and sponsors both Fixing the Money Thing, which Drenda co-hosts with her husband Gary and Drenda.
Through their own life experiences, the Keesee’s have found the principles from God’s Word to be powerful and effective. At one point, Drenda was a young, suicidal feminist with no hope of ever being “good enough” for her own standards of perfection. She never wanted the “inconvenience” of a husband or children, and she was on her own path to success. But the stress of trying to achieve perfection and perform for love left her broken and used. She had success, but it was nothing compared to the pain and loneliness it had also brought.
That’s when God got a hold of her heart. It was there—at her lowest point—that she found the One who accepted and loved her, faults and all. Since that transformation, Drenda has had a passion to reach women who find themselves where she once was.
She married Gary after attending college, and there she found herself in a personal boot camp of sorts. She says, “I cried and told God, ‘I can do anything but be a wife and mother.’” She committed to learning how to do it God’s way. Through the many years of raising their children and struggling to make ends meet, Drenda learned from their mistakes. “I didn’t know how to be a wife and mother, but God saved our marriage, taught us how to parent our children for success, showed us how to have financial success, and then the irony of all ironies, He called us to ministry.” It’s truly because of these life experiences that Drenda can now share so many insightful principles for people who are now going through the same struggles.
