Tabernacle Prayer:
GO THROUGH THE GATE
This is the Outer Gate, the door that faces east. To get to this gate, you have go through the Tribe of Judah (Praise). You walk through praise and thanksgiving. You will also have to walk through the High Priest’s camp (Moses & Aaron). You must walk in our priestly office of prayer and intercession.
This Gate is the only door in. There is no other gate. There is no other door. The only way we can fully enter into the Manifest Presence of God is through the Gate of praise, thanksgiving and prayer. There is no other way. This is a place of humility, not a place of pride. This is also a place of decision. We can call ourselves “Christian”, we can call ourselves “believers”, but if we rarely enter through this Gate, how much of us has truly been surrendered to the Holy, Righteous, Eternal God?
This Gate is a beautiful Gate, a colorful Gate. The colors are red, blue and purple. Scarlet represents the Blood of Jesus. It also represents our humanity. The word “Adam” in Hebrew means “out of the Red Earth”. Red is the color of our flesh, our weakness, our humanity. Blue is the color of Heaven. Red is the color of flesh, that which is temporal. Blue is the color of all that what is Eternal. Both red and blue are primary colors and mixed together, a secondary color unfolds. It is the color “purple”, which is the color of Royalty. The Lord is calling us to become co-heirs, co-rulers with Him. The Lord is calling us to a holy “wrestle”. The Lord wants to change us, transform us from “Jacobs” (liar, deceiver, manipulator) to ISRAEL, co-heirs, co-rulers “Prince with God”.
The Gate is held up by 4 pillars. The pillars are named Matthew (Lion), Mark (Ox), Luke (Man) and John (Lion). As we enter through this beautiful Gate we remember all the stories in these 4 Gospels, the wonder and the majesty of the One who was sent as a Gift to us.
This Gate is a welcoming Gate, a beckoning Gate. Daily we must make the decision to go through this Gate. Daily we must make the decision to follow Jesus, follow the Lamb. As we approach the Gate, we may begin to feel a longing, an ache to enter in. There is a part of us that longs, yearns to be in God’s Presence. The Lord created us that way. Just as we long to be near those who we love, there is a longing deep within us that aches to be with the Lord. Daily we must make the choice. We have to make the decision and then walk through the Gate. The Gate could be a decision to spend the first waking moments with the Lord. We could make the decision to follow that loving voice deep within us, leading us, guiding us deeper into His Presence. We must make that choice, or we will miss it. We may miss God, our encounter with the Eternal, all-encompassing omnipotent God.
Today Lord, I choose to walk through the Gate. I choose today to walk through the door. I want to enter into Your Presence. I hear Your voice welcoming me in. Just as the Father was waiting, waiting waiting for his prodigal son to return home again, I see You at the top of the hill, at the Gate waiting for me to enter into Your Presence. You are waiting at the Gate……for me! For us! I hear You say:
“Return to Me.
Return to Me, My child.
Awake oh sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.
I have much to teach you. Return to ME My beloved one.”
Acts 3:1-10
“Now all the people saw him walking and praising God. They began to realize he was the one who used to sit begging for the Tzedakah at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple and they were filled with wonder astonishment over what had happened to him”.
I read this Scripture as I was “entering” into the Tabernacle Gate in prayer one morning. I started wondering, how many of us sit outside the Gate begging for crumbs where inside is the rich fullness of God’s Manifest Presence? There is everything we have longed for or long desired – and even beyond our wildest imaginations? Yet it remains inside the Gate. And yet we don’t enter in. Why don’t we enter in?
“You will show me the Path of Life,
In Your Presence is fullness of Joy,
At Your Right Hand
Are Pleasures forevermore” Psalm 16:11 NKJV
All we have to do is go through the Gate. We know and we acknowledge that in the LORD there is fullness, joy, healing, and restoration. Yet we still sit outside the Gate, never daring to enter in.
Or….
We enter into the Outer Court, but never into the fullness of God.
Why?
Too many of us have been rejected, neglected or ignored. Some of us have been abused. All of us have been lied to. Others told us that we have to “clean ourselves up” or stop sinning in order to enter through that Gate. We’ve been told we are not “worthy” to enter in. We aren’t “good enough”. We’ve been lied to by the enemy of our souls. We think and believe the lies of satan who mocks us, ridicules us. He tells us we aren’t “good enough” because of this weakness or that addiction. We are led to believe that we must meet certain requirements, or certain criteria before we can enter through the Gate, that Beautiful Gate. We are made to believe the Lord doesn’t want to have anything to do with us because of the filth of our sin. So, we continue to sit outside the Gate begging for crumbs when there are treasures inside. We don’t feel “good enough”.
Or….we are too sick or too weak to enter in. We don’t have the strength to get up and walk in. We are in pain, we are crippled, we lost our ability to walk. Life has bashed us over the head, life has beaten us up. Severe losses came our way and we’re filled with pain. We may be filled with sickness and our bodies are literally consuming us in pain. We suffer outside the Gate, not having the strength to enter in.
Then there are those of us who pass by the weak ones, ignoring those who are begging outside the Gate. Or, we give them our “crumbs” as we pass by. Our crumbs may come in the form of a little prayer, a “blessing bag”, or maybe even a hot meal. But do we ever bring them in through the Gate? Do we ever proclaim to them: “Silver and gold have I none, but one thing I do have: RISE UP AND WALK”. Do we take the time to minister to someone who can’t find the strength to enter into the Gate? Truly minister to them? Do we ever take the time to pour ourselves into someone in need, even to the point of carrying them inside the Gate?
Jesus is knocking on the door. “Behold I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). He’s on the inside of the Tabernacle, beckoning us to come in. He’s calling us to come in. He’s welcoming us in. It’s time to go through the Gate. We don’t have to be “good enough”. We don’t have to look a certain way or act a certain way. The Lord embraces us, even in the stink of our sin. He wants us, He’s looking for us. We don’t even have to repent. All we are required to do is make the decision to enter in, and then go in. Sin and all. Filth and all. Pain and all. Even crippling pain. Even the crippling pain of anger, bitterness and hostility. Even anger and bitterness at God. Even in unbelief. Even if we are struggling with what all of this is about and are unable to wrap our minds around it. We walk through the Gate, not sure, not understanding what we’re walking into. Yet we hear Jesus’ knock on the door and His welcoming voice calling us in. And we make the decision to enter in.
Today, make it your decision to walk through the Gate. Stop whatever you’re doing, or wherever you’re going. Take a side trip. Take the time to walk through the Gate. See what pleasant surprises are waiting for you inside the Gate!
“You will show me the Path of Life,
In Your Presence is fullness of Joy,
At Your Right Hand
Are Pleasures forevermore” Psalm 16:11 NKJV