Friday, May 6, 2016

Gateway of God


UV 1748/10000 Gateway of God


For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee
Psalm 147 v 13

The human mind is a gateway and not a getaway as most people seem to think. It is a gateway to help us understand who God is , how He rules, how He blesses. Prayer, praise and thanksgiving accompanied by a desire to live a righteous, God-fearing and God-loving life are the gateway to God. Jesus is the gateway to such a blessed life as He declared Himself to be the Door. Jesus paid the bill for our gates. As the great shepherd He is, He laid His body at the gate to the sheep. We get entrance to the kingdom of God through our faith in Jesus and the Holy Spirit is sent to strengthen the bars of our gates in a variety of ways. If we keep the door of our hearts locked, God will not enter our lives. Gates are located at a strategic part of a building, a home or a city. Gates are a metaphor for the protective barriers that the Lord erects in the spirit around us. When the hinges of our minds rotate on the Word, the Lord builds our home, builds a wall around it, places strong gates at the entrance such that no evil can come in and the inmates are protected from temptations wherever they go. The difference between an opportunity and a temptation is that the pain is experienced before the opportunity is availed while pain is experienced after one yields to a temptation. The Lord strengthens the bars of our gates so that we do not get tempted, if tempted, we do not yield.

The bars of our spiritual gates that determines what comes in, what stays and what goes out of our lives are strengthened by teaching, by leading of the Holy Spirit, by our experiences and the lessons life teaches us. The Lord desires that we avail opportunities and enjoy the blessings He sends our way. We should not be found wanting or sleeping at the time. He equally desires that we repel temptations and the tempter of our lives. He places evil detectors just as the police use metal detectors to detect bombs and other harmful substances in places that are secured. Just as bombs are camouflaged and hidden in cargo, shoes, bags, clothing, inner garments, evil is often disguised as good and makes many attempts to enter our lives to advance the design of the enemy to steal our peace, rob our health and kill our souls. The Lord assures us of all round security as long as we are focussed and hinged on Him. He gives us the freedom to go into the world and come back but we need to erect some gates that separate us from the world. The protective promises of scripture like Psalm 91 and Psalm 121 are gateways of such protection. The provision promises like Psalm 23 are the gateways of our material need in this world being met. The promotion promises are the gateways to the next level.

As long as we hold onto the bars of His gates and enter it with thanksgiving and praise, the Lord hears us, strengthens us, blesses, equips, enables, empowers each of us and our children, too and their children after them. The process of strengthening us is a lifelong process. He strengthens us so that we can endure much pressure, so that we do not cave in and give a free run to the dark forces of this world. Gates are not only for security for they add to the beauty of an edifice. The gates are the symbol of cities and nations: indicating where one country ends or one city ends and another begins. It carries the symbol or logo of the one living or working in an office or home. Our gateways indicate where our engagement with this world ends and where the kingdom of God begins. Heaven has gates of pearl indicating the significance the Lord attaches to gates. Our testimonies are the beautiful gates of our lives that attract others to enter the kingdom of God. The many hurts, setbacks, turnarounds, triumphs over trauma of our lives constitute the bars of these pearly gates just as irritation and hurt causes the oyster to secrete the substance that hardens into amazing pearls.

Prateep V Philip

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