Enter His Gates (Fountain
Enter His Gates
Fountain & Water Gate
As with the Dung Gate these gates remind us of our need for spiritual purity and the need for Holy Spirit to have complete and total control.
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners. . . . But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” - Psalm 1:1-4
“Stop asking God to bless what His Word has called sin!”
John 7:38 - He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
- believe - to trust. You put your future in His hands and you give up control.
Until you give up complete control, you’re still lord. As long as you are lord, He is not Lord.
“He is either Lord of all or He is not lord at all.”
Galatians 5:16-26 - Passion Translation
James 4:1-5
“Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.”
Luke 8:16-17
“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.”
- Holy Spirit is exposing darkness in the earth right now.
Revelation 21:27
“But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.”
Joshua 7
After the victory at Jericho, surely nothing can go wrong? Joshua sends spies to Ai who return to tell him that he will only need a small force to defeat the enemy and take the city (v2-3).
But, to Joshua’s surprise, the relatively small Israelite force, which should have been enough, is defeated and 36 men are killed (v5) – how can this be? What on earth has gone wrong? Where is God?
A grim Joshua prostrates himself before the Lord and the Ark of the Covenant, joined by the elders of Israel (v6). Joshua pleads with God, that the Israelites will be a ‘laughing stock’ before her enemies because of this defeat, and implores God to do something for the sake of His name (v7-9). I am struck here with this concept of God’s name – basically Joshua is saying that this doesn’t look good for a people who are supposed to have God on their side. How often do we think about the consequences of our witness to others, when things go wrong for us as Christians?
Of course, we know from this account that the reason things ‘have gone wrong’ is because of Achan’s sin. How often have we heard others say: ‘if there is a God, how can He allow this to happen?’ People often want to blame God, but rarely take time to examine what is the real cause of their particular moment of distress
In verse 1, we see the phrase ‘devoted things’ used. The term ‘haram’ indicates anything dedicated to God. Devoted objects, such as the gold and silver of Jericho, were purified by fire (6v24) and became part of the tabernacle treasures. Cities and enemies ‘devoted’ to God were under a ban and were to be completely destroyed. My understanding here, is that basically Achan had stolen from God, and God had consequently withdrawn Himself from the Israelites. Sin blocks blessing, so sin MUST be dealt with.
Joshua, informed by God of exactly what had happened (v10-15), is told what he needs to do – he must root out the source of this sin. Achan is identified and confesses, and he and his entire family are stoned to death (vv25-26) – wow
Sin always has consequences. Sin always blocks blessing. Sin most often impacts on the lives of others. Sin must be dealt with
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners. . . . But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” - Psalm 1:1-4
“Stop asking God to bless what His Word has called sin!”
John 7:38 - He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
- believe - to trust. You put your future in His hands and you give up control.
Until you give up complete control, you’re still lord. As long as you are lord, He is not Lord.
“He is either Lord of all or He is not lord at all.”
Galatians 5:16-26 - Passion Translation
James 4:1-5
“Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.”
Luke 8:16-17
“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.”
- Holy Spirit is exposing darkness in the earth right now.
Revelation 21:27
“But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.”
Joshua 7
After the victory at Jericho, surely nothing can go wrong? Joshua sends spies to Ai who return to tell him that he will only need a small force to defeat the enemy and take the city (v2-3).
But, to Joshua’s surprise, the relatively small Israelite force, which should have been enough, is defeated and 36 men are killed (v5) – how can this be? What on earth has gone wrong? Where is God?
A grim Joshua prostrates himself before the Lord and the Ark of the Covenant, joined by the elders of Israel (v6). Joshua pleads with God, that the Israelites will be a ‘laughing stock’ before her enemies because of this defeat, and implores God to do something for the sake of His name (v7-9). I am struck here with this concept of God’s name – basically Joshua is saying that this doesn’t look good for a people who are supposed to have God on their side. How often do we think about the consequences of our witness to others, when things go wrong for us as Christians?
Of course, we know from this account that the reason things ‘have gone wrong’ is because of Achan’s sin. How often have we heard others say: ‘if there is a God, how can He allow this to happen?’ People often want to blame God, but rarely take time to examine what is the real cause of their particular moment of distress
In verse 1, we see the phrase ‘devoted things’ used. The term ‘haram’ indicates anything dedicated to God. Devoted objects, such as the gold and silver of Jericho, were purified by fire (6v24) and became part of the tabernacle treasures. Cities and enemies ‘devoted’ to God were under a ban and were to be completely destroyed. My understanding here, is that basically Achan had stolen from God, and God had consequently withdrawn Himself from the Israelites. Sin blocks blessing, so sin MUST be dealt with.
Joshua, informed by God of exactly what had happened (v10-15), is told what he needs to do – he must root out the source of this sin. Achan is identified and confesses, and he and his entire family are stoned to death (vv25-26) – wow
Sin always has consequences. Sin always blocks blessing. Sin most often impacts on the lives of others. Sin must be dealt with
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