Choosing to Open the Gate

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Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, closed off places, dark places, devotions, doors, emotional healing, gates, God's healing, healing, nourishment, opening up, secret places, spiritual healing, trust, unhealed, untouchable areas, vulnerable spots

Psalm 24:7-9 says, “Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.”

Gates and doors can be great things. They allow us to protect items we hold valuable, make us feel safe when locked at night and can create a sense of privacy, but they also can make us isolated and alone. If we never allow anyone to enter our own private sanctuaries, how can we love on people and be loved? How can we have a sense of family with friends and neighbors if our doors are always shut? Protection is one thing, but isolation is quite another. Psalm 24 encourages us to open our doors not so more people can let us down, but so our strong King of glory can come in.

I remember Anne Graham Lotz saying that our God is a gentleman and He simply won’t come where He’s not invited. So, even though I may think I want Him to burst through my walls and barriers, it’s actually up to me to open my gate and invite Him into my dark places. To me, that’s what the psalmist is talking about. I don’t think he’s writing about boundaries we have placed to keep ourselves and our families safe. He’s talking about our secret places of devastation and loss, the places we have closed off from healing. These verses encourage us to break our secret doors open and allow the true Healer to enter and fight for us.

Why were cities sieged in days of old? Why did armies sit around for weeks at a time not allowing people to enter, or exit a walled habitation? It was to starve them out. It was a horrible practice, but it worked. We need to realize that just as closed off cities created physical starvation, our hidden places create starving places in our spiritual lives. When we are not receiving nourishment from the God who created us, we are starving whether we realize it, or not. We are wandering around our walled cities grasping at anything to make us feel nourished when the only true nourishment can be found in Jesus.

So, let’s start by asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to us any gates that we have slammed shut. Let’s ask Him to help us open those gates to Him. Let’s open our dark places, our places where we have allowed none to enter, and ask the King of glory to come in. Let me assure you, He will.

You want a white knight? He’s it.

You want a Healer of all hurts? He’s your guy.

You want Living water instead of fake refreshment that leaves you thirstier than ever? That’s our God. That’s our Savior. That’s our King of glory. Let Him in today.

Seeking Hearts Ministries                   My Story

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Steadying Hands

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battles, burdens, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, encouraging, encouragment, God of hope, God's eyes to see, healing, holding each other up, hope, hope in God, inspire one another, perspective, steadying hands

“Every time I faltered, God steadied me. It’s just that He used other people’s hands.” This was in the book I was finishing this morning, the morning after I had received an e-mail that a friend’s father had given up hope. Her father’s disease is not life threatening, but it is super serious in regards to quality of life. He has been given an opportunity to turn things around and is skeptical. (I totally get that. I was one of those who were born saying, “Are you really my momma?” Don’t judge, some of us are just wired that way.)

When I woke up this morning, before my head even rose from the pillow I was reminded of Exodus 17. I was reminded that there was a time in Moses’ life where he was beat down, exhausted and needed some brothers to hold his arms up for the ensuing battle. Exodus 17:9-12 says, “And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.”

I knew in my heart of hearts that this was what I was called to do for my friend’s father. He was beat down. He had lost hope and was scared to hope again. But…now I know that I am called to hold one of his arms up for the ensuing battle. I’m going to e-mail my friend and see if she is willing to do the same.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 tells us that a cord of three strands is not easily broken and I often forget that. I’m honestly such a loner that I excuse myself from that verse by saying that the strand Solomon (the writer of Ecclesiastes) was talking about is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. In some cases it can be, but often I forget that my brother, or sister, in Christ really could use someone to raise their hands up. Notice I did not say that I should help them reach to me. I need to help them reach all the way up to the only True Hope…God Himself.

Lamentations 3:24 says, “The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.” We need to remind each other that our hope is the Lord, not what we expect Him to do, but the Lord Himself. Hope in something other than God is not sure, but hope in God is never wrong.

Sometimes, our arms grow tired and we need each other to help us reach out to our only True Source of strength and stability.We need each other, but often we turn away unconcerned that someone has lost hope. We think it’s just another casualty in this battle of life, sadly shake our head at their demise and pray it doesn’t happen to us. But, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to change our perspective. Let’s ask Him to give us His eyes to see those He would have us to encourage. Let’s look around in new determination and ask God today who needs their hands raised. There are many battles raging around us. Many have lost hope. Let’s see who we can inspire today.

O, God of all hope, we pray today that you would inspire each one of us to look around with Your eyes and see who You would have us to encourage. Give us wisdom in how to raise their hands for their particular battle. Help us to be Your mighty warriors, willing to go into someone else’s battle to help them come out victorious in Your Name. 

Seeking Hearts Ministries

Infection

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bitterness, doctors, healing, Holy Spirit, Infection, medical, thumbs

Infection

–       Infection, poison, bacteria, these are not things I like to think about. In fact, I avoid discussions regarding medical issues as much as possible. Maybe that’s why it took my oldest son a whole year at college to figure out it might be a field he enjoys! So, why would I want to bring it up now? Why discuss an issue I avoid at all cost?

Last week, my right thumb (yes, I am right-handed) started feeling tender. I thought I must have bumped it on something, but for the life of me I could not remember doing so. No big deal, right? I continued on my merry way never dreaming of the poison teeming under my skin. By the time I went to the doctor five days later, I had quite an infection that hampered me in ways I never imagined. After all, it’s just my thumb, right? The pain crippled my whole body and at that point it was a matter of getting out what had developed from a microscopic issue that wreaked havoc.

Hmmm…surely there is nothing in the church body that I could relate to this, is there? Surely there is nothing I could possibly think of in my own life that I have let seep down into the marrow and wreak havoc?

Hebrews 12:15, says, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;”

Any root, any infectious seed of bitterness toward someone can cause in my spiritual life what happened in the physical. Think about it, when we allow a word, an unkind look, a thought to take root, that seed, that core, that infection can grow to massive proportions. Believe me, it is never worth it.

On Thursday, or even Friday, if I had taken the initiative to go to my doctor, I would have never felt the pain that I felt the next week.

Bitterness is the same way. If I take an issue immediately to the Savior and say, “I am so upset. Please don’t allow me to let this issue to go into my life and cause harm,” He will help me. Psalm 62:8 tells us to pour out our heart to God. He is a refuge to us. We are not our own power source. Only God can do this. II Corinthians 10:5, tells us to take our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. We have got to ask the Holy Spirit to take those thoughts from our minds and place them into the hands of Jesus. Not just once, but EVERY TIME the issue pops up.

But, as I’ve already told you, I did not go to the doctor early, I waited. By the time I went to the doctor, I could not function normally. Tasks that normally would have taken no effort were impossible. I tried to do things with four fingers, but let me tell you, opposable thumbs are a big a deal! Then, the pain was just so bad, I couldn’t even try.

The Body of Christ is the same way. We try to function around someone or something that is infected but we cannot do the same things that we were made to do. God placed certain parts (people) in our church for certain tasks that only they can do, but when there is infection, the tasks cannot be completed. We might get by for a while, but eventually the pain is so unbearable that the whole Body is affected.

What do you do when you wait? What do you do when the infection has built up and the pain is unbearable and you don’t even want to address the issue because it is overwhelming? You see that the whole Body is affected, but what do you do?

You still go to your Great Physician. You still pour your heart out to Him. Is it painful? Yes. Is it necessary? Yes. To be completely healed all of the infection must leave. The process will be longer because the root is deeper, but we want to be healthy, so we lay it out for the Holy Spirit to draw out the filth and heal us to the marrow of our bones.

Proverbs 12:12, says, “…the root of the righteous yields fruit.” Jesus told us to bear fruit and that we will be known by our fruit. We cannot hide our infection no matter how tightly we wrap it up. No matter how much padding I had on my thumb, if you had touched it, I would have cried. Why? It was unhealthy. No matter how tightly we wrap our roots of infection, of bitterness, if someone touches our “sore spot”, everyone will know it. The Body of Christ cannot function this way. I Corinthians tells us that we are all fitly joined together in the design that our Savior has created. If one of us hurts, we all hurt. If one of us is infected, we are all infected.

Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to purify and restore us. Let’s allow Him to prick our hearts regarding deep-seated prejudice, strife and gnawing relationship issues. Let’s pray for Him to draw out the poison that has been sucking the very life out of our families and churches and whatever we do let us not close up our own wounds, but allow our Savior in His time and when He says we are healed, to bind us up and restore us as whole brothers and sisters in Christ.

Shoo! Who knew that a throbbing thumb could teach?