Knock down the gate.
James 4:7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Today is the day I finally figured out Jesus’ statement to Peter: “ and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” (Matthew 16:18). (Note: please tell me if I’ve missed the point!!)
I’ve always wondered how “gates” are used as weapons against the church. It didn’t make sense. Well, of course that shouldn’t make sense! Gates can only keep you in or out. They’re not “weapons”.
Satan is a con artist, appealing to our base instincts, lying to us about how attractive we are, how much fun we’ll have, how good we’ll feel. “Come to me baby, I’ll make you feel special!”
NOBODY gets conned without deciding to accept a lie. “Did God say you’d surely die?” The serpent was 100% truthful. Man made up the lie that he could actually be like God. He walked through the gate and closed it behind him.
That gate swings both ways. To “resist the Devil” all we have to do it draw near to God. He is NOT hiding from us! In fact, He provides everything we need to cleanse our hands, purify our hearts and make room for Him in our lives. Of course I’m going to cry and mourn when I find out that I deceived myself. Of course I’m going to cry after being unfaithful. But I’ll be filled with JOY when I’ve blasted through that self imposed gate and submit my life to Jesus!
Father, give me the courage to knock down that gate! Show me what I need to cleanse from my heart in order to make room for YOU!