“COME TO THE GATES” – July 21

“Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called!  I am he; I am the first, and I am the last.  My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.”  Isaiah 48:12-13

Here stand the gates of the Kingdom of God. 

God is everything.

He is from the first to the last;
He is from the east to the west;
He is from the beginning to the end.

There is no place beyond His knowledge.
There is no place beyond His presence.

Every step that we take is because of His hand.
All that we lay our hands to has first been touched by Him.
All that we see is the result of His work.

The universe functions in obedience to His commands.

Star Trails Northern Hemisphere (Photo credit: Kiran Photographic)

What am I to say?

Woe is me!  For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. 

I am nothing; I have nothing; I can do nothing.
I am poor.

I have nothing that I have not been given.

All that I am;
All that I have;
All that I can do;

Comes from the Almighty.

It is here that we kneel at the throne of the Great I Am, in the blessings of the knowledge of our own poverty.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 6:3)

How many struggles have we wrestled through because we forget our condition?
How many worthless battles have we fought because we think that we are worthy or deserving?
How remedial our education has remained because we do not believe that our spirits really do exist in abject poverty.

Christ’s work within us flowers when we relinquish our false sense of entitlement and embrace the poverty of our condition.

Come back to the gates of the Kingdom. 

There is nothing too hard for Him.
There is nothing more desirable than His presence.
There is nothing more valuable than Him.
We have nothing to add; come and receive!

Come and behold the King of kings!

PRAYER: Lord, you are my everything.  I have nothing to add.  I have nothing that you have not blessed me with.  Forgive me for forgetting my condition.  Thank you for the poverty of my soul.  As I enjoy your blessing, remind me of my poverty.  May I never lose the gratitude of a blessed servant.  Give me eyes to behold you glory and greatness!  I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ.   Amen.