Tag: #John 10:10

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Gateway In Him

God is favorably converging His faithful ones in divine purpose with others. Those who have walked through the pain of divine alignment with Him are now entering into outward expressions of His promised John 10:10 abundance.

The key verse Holy Spirited highlighted to me was John 10:9 TPT, which says, “I am the Gateway. To enter through me is to experience life, freedom, and satisfaction.”

The Word “Gateway” here literally and figuratively means a door. It represents power and authority with the ability to open and/or close an entrance. It can reference a house door, a palace door, a temple door or a door to the kingdom of Heaven. It can also reference a door of opportunity. 

In this verse, it references an identity of Christ and is “the Name of him who brings salvation to those who follow his guidance” (Thayer’s). 

So, in Him, we find our living passage into all that He is and has purposed for us in abundance. 

In Matthew 7:13-14 TPT He invites us to “Enter through the narrow gate because the wide gate and broad path is the way that leads to destruction—nearly everyone chooses that crowded road! The narrow gate and the difficult way leads to eternal life—so few even find it!”

In verse 13, the TPT study note links the narrow gate with the Golden Rule and says, “Love is the true gateway that leads to life, for God is love.”

We also see in Luke 13:24 TPT that “There is a great cost for anyone to enter through the narrow doorway into God’s kingdom.”

This narrow “door of the kingdom of heaven” is described as “likened to a palace” (Thayer’s).

Holy Spirit said to me weeks ago that “It’s palace time.” So, it’s time to take the arm of our lover, Jesus, as our Bridegroom, and be escorted into His kingdom abundance. 

This is the kind of abundance described in 1 Corinthians 2:9 TPT – “…Things never discovered or heard of before, things beyond our ability to imagine—these are the many things God has in store for all his lovers.”

So, these stored-up treasures are full-circle, rainbow promises that He’s about to fulfill as not only the desire of our hearts but His, too. 

Another key element of this forward holiness process is found in Deuteronomy 7:11, which Holy Spirit highlighted to me weeks ago. In this verse, God says that when we do what He instructs us to do, He will bless us. 

So, the blessings come through obedience in submission to Him. Not in our own way but in His. 

Holy Spirit expands on this precept in Deuteronomy 7:12-13a. The Message version says:

And this is what will happen: When you, on your part, will obey these directives, keeping and following them, God, on his part, will keep the covenant of loyal love that he made with your ancestors:

He will love you,

he will bless you,

he will increase you.

This kind of all-around kingdom abundance that’s found in John 10:10 means whatever is centered around God will be blessed. This is why His bride had to be delivered from self-centeredness, where we considered ourselves first, instead of God. 

It’s also why He had to grow us in our faith that pleases Him and why we had to be delivered from cycles of tormenting root-sin, like unforgiveness. It’s why we had to have our shattered foundations of hope restored. And it was God’s purpose in every other painful reset. 

He was blessing us all along to bless us even more to become an even greater blessing to His heart and others. 

God restores things He loves. 

So, let’s look at this kind of golden gateway blessing even more.

It’s blessing that is all-around excess, beyond what is anticipated, exceeding expectations, more than enough (Strong’s #4053, HELPS Word Studies). It’s superior blessing, extraordinary and surpassing. It’s eminent and comes with advantage and honor. 

For many, this will be a time of refreshing with expressions of His life, freedom and satisfaction. A time of overflowing joy and praise unto God (Ps 118:19) that will prove beyond our imaginations (1 Co 2:9 AMP). It will be a time of radiance (Pr 31:31 TPT). A time of reaping with saturated favor (Pr 11:25 TPT). And a time of coming before the King and being heard to see loved ones saved (Es 5:1-2; Ps 24:4-5 TPT).

The Psalmist in 118:20 TPT proclaims, “I have found the gateway to God, the pathway to his presence for all his devoted lovers.” 

In Revelation 3:20 TPT, Jesus offers Himself as our Bridegroom by saying, “Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me.”

In Psalm 24:7, David commands, “So wake up, you living gateways! Lift up your heads, you doorways of eternity! Welcome the King of Glory, for he is about to come through you.”

If your response to Him is a resounding “Yes” then pray with me . . .  

Dear Lord, 

I praise You for all that You are, even as my Gateway-Bridegroom. 

Thank You for sharing intimacy with me, for loving me abundantly to become all You would have me be with You for Your glory.

I choose You as my Lord and Savior on earth and in Heaven. 

And I thank You for life abundant.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen.

This devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

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Finishing Up

God likes good endings.

If we pay attention, as we work right alongside Him, we can see that He’s finishing up loose ends to complete some promises He made to us awhile back. In this, we can remember that every finish line He brings us to is a victory marker for His grace of a new beginning. 

God has some surprise blooms for us as His ways continue to prevail. He’s giving us a new outlook as He lightens our loads and makes life more enjoyable.

I believe many will hear the echo of Matthew 25:21 NIV: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

As we have kept our eyes on Jesus and delighted His heart, He’ll continue to bring us into rewards. 

Many are stepping into the outworking of true freedom they’ve never had. What seemed to allude them their whole lives will finally be theirs. All the deep work was leading up to a better life and even public expressions of God’s glory.

I believe our Lord would say to His beloved, “Continue to step into the light and do not fear. I’m with you all the way.”  

It’s imperative that we remain faithful throughout. Because, when we slip into fear, we tend to do things our way, opting for impatience and taking the reins away from God. After all, we’ve been waiting a long time. And sometimes, it feels easier on our flesh to trust our reality of personal experiences more than God in the unknowns. 

But don’t fall for this temptation to give up on God.

Paul is quick to warn us through Galatians 3:3-4 NIV, saying, “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain?” 

The word “flesh” here means opposition to Holy Spirit. And the word “experienced” here means suffered. So, Paul is, essentially, asking the Galatians: After all you’ve been through, are you so mindless and unwise to think that you can turn away from God and still win?

Also, in Galatians 6:8 NIV, Paul reminds us that “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” 

It’s a John 10:10 choice of God’s ways over any other way, including our own. And we’ll be tested in this, as Holy Spirit ties up loose ends and escorts us more fully into the new He has for us (Ga 5:13).

Paul strongly encourages us to make the suffering we endured count for more than surviving prolonged pain. 

The heart of Jesus is that we trust Him to bring us all the way to His finish line in His way and time and enter into His outward blessings as our new reality, which is a beautiful and honorable reflection of Him (Ga 6:9).

Just as brighter lights and elevated roles await runners who cross the finish line of victory, God is turning up His light on those who were faithfully refined by His Glory fire in the last season and have completed their courses. They’ll begin anew and join others, who also aligned with God. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV has been on repeat lately and says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Even as I hear Mac Powell’s New Creation song (again on repeat), many are beginning to see distinct changes for which they have prayed. God is on the move and many will even experience physical relocations to new places, events and roles they’ve dreamed of for a long time as God’s grace comes into place. 

For many, there will be a sense of coming full circle, with relationship dynamics made better than before, because of the deep grace work God has done over the years in people’s hearts. Many will see, even more, that God has built them in wisdom and expanded their reach. 

Many will experience God’s kindness in new ways, new areas and on new levels. It may feel strange at first due to all the past hardships. But God desires that we leave it all behind and step into it as it awaits us, without hesitation; because this is the future for which we have prayed. 

Not only will you have help for the near future but also for right now. God is surprisingly stirring people to help with tasks at hand. They may even be people who wouldn’t have stepped up in the past but are now ready. Part of their motivation is God’s new grace making their lives easier, too. I believe we’ll see a lot more of this as He continues to bring us more into His wholeness.

So, we can keep expecting God’s best and continue to pray His protection over these helpers and ourselves as He progresses us.

To Him be all glory, honor and praise. Amen.

This devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.