“13That very day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives. 14With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large and small—along with birds of every kind. 15Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. 16A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.” (Genesis 7:13-16 NLT)
 
Did you catch it? Do you see what the Lord did? I know that this scripture is familiar but there is something that we consistently overlook. Noah did all that God commanded – Noah and his family and all of the animals entered the ark, “Then the Lord closed the door behind them.” Why didn’t God allow Noah to shut the door? Why did the Holy Spirit make a point of letting us know that it was HE who closed the door? Think of the symbolism – think of the evil that God shut out and left to die, and the righteousness that was shut in and protected. Think of the image in relation to your own life and the “doors” that you would like God to close. Perhaps there are doors that YOU are trying to close, but can’t. The Arc is a picture of salvation and God closing the door is a picture of His work for us. Pray for God to close the doors that need to be closed in your life. 
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I was reading through the daily scriptures for this week on my YOU Version Bible app when I came across this gem hidden deep in the Book of Proverbs, “5An open rebuke is better than hidden love! 6Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.” (27:5-6 NLT)
 
On the surface we see the truth of this wisdom and we can also relate to how difficult it may be to give – or to receive. When we take it into the realm of our relationship with Jesus Christ, however, we can take this advice deep into our spirit. In plain words, Jesus Christ will rebuke you, chastise you, close doors and even say “no” to your prayers and selfish desires. Jesus Christ is committed to removing all of the things in your life that are not good for you – that will hurt you, or lead you further away from Him. We do not always recognize this and grow frustrated or angry with Him; not caring to remember that He only wishes to take away that which will harm us. Satan, on the other hand, behaves in exactly the opposite manner. Satan will “kiss” you over and over as he works to convince you that WHATEVER you desire is good for you and that YOU know best what you need. Much like he did in the Garden of Eden. Pray to God for the ability to discern HIS voice. 
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​18“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’b If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ John 15:18-25 (NLT)
If anybody ever tries to tell you that Jesus never preached hate - point them to this teaching. Jesus is teaching about the unique relationship that we have with him and by extension, the relationship that we - and the church universal - has with the world. He is making a point about how the follower of Christ is, in fact, VERY different from the world around him or her. In fact, as we read, He uses the very strong language of HATING the world and expecting the world, in turn, to hate you back. We learn elsewhere in scripture that you cannot love the world and follow Jesus - the two, as they say, are mutually exclusive. We either love Jesus and hate the world - or love the world and hate our Savior. So where do you stand? 'Cause as you can see, there is NO room to stand on the fence.