Neh 3:13 Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Dung/Refuse Gate.
The Valley Gate depictss walking with God, in Christ Jesus.
Ge 26:19 And Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
De 8:7 For the LORD thy God brings thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
Ps 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
As Jack dug deeper, as he grew and renewed his mind daily worshipping, praying and reading the words of God, he began to heed to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Digging deeper means he had to practice living according to the word of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit. He started to see visions. The following is an account of what happened to him.
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Hearing from God, enter through the narrow gate
I have always wanted to hear from God as many others (prophets) before me did. Today I woke up late again by 15 minutes. It has become a habit! Anyway as I read God’s words and pondered upon their relevance to me, I told God (in my prayer) that I was not sure what all these readings meant. I had been reading books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah all of whom are Old Testament prophets. How should I interpret them? How should I understand what Jesus had said about the narrow gate?
After praying for awhile I continued to close my eyes, wrinkling my forehead (in my most focused frowning state) and concentrate real hard on my question to God. What happened after that came almost as normal as any everyday event. In my mind I saw the picture of Jesus (as perceived by me) pointing to a Bible, carrying a lamb in His arms, pointing to a gate, bending down and binding the wounded lamb. The pictures are not in exact sequence of what I write down now. But while seeing the pictures, Bible verses from the New Testament came to my mind as follows.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6
“I am the door of the sheep.” John 10:7
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” John 10:11
“My sheep hears my voice, and I know them and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:27-28
In short, whoever believes in Jesus becomes His sheep and follows Him, entering the kingdom of heaven through Him alone. He came to the world not to harm but to bind up the wounded and heal the broken. He came to save and He will keep them saved until the end! What more shall I fear? Yes, back to the Bible. This is the key to hearing God.
P/s: I am pleased and relieved that I too can learn to hear from God. For a long time I thought I was the most unspiritual person around.
DAY 14-15: HE IS MORE CONCERNED WITH MY BEING THAN DOING
In my previous discovery, I found that Jesus was concerned with the sinful causes and not the Law because without the causes there would be no need for the Law restrictions. No wonder the Apostle Paul was adamant that we live according to the Spirit and not according to the whims and fancy of the flesh (living in the physical, emotional and mental realm). The way to living Biblically (spiritually) is through the Spirit and inner life/character.
That explains the importance of living before God and seeking to appreciate and benefit from God’s presence through worship, praise, thanksgiving, prayers and reading the Word of God daily.
After Matthew 5, I have started reading and applying Matthew 6. I bear in mind the last verse in Matthew 5. Jesus said, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Having the privilege of being made a child of God, it makes sense that my Father in heaven wants me to be like Him.
Matthew 6:1-8: “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.” “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.” Jesus continued to teach how God wants us to be like Him. He used the two examples of doing charity and praying. The world likes to show off and do these good deeds in public for men to see as they live before men. They have no God to give accounts to. Christians have an all seeing God to Whom we give accounts. Our Father sees in secret, into the true motive of the heart. So there is no need to put up a show.
My application: These two days I have not had the chance to do a good deed other than trying to cook a Spanish rice dish for the benefit (or misfortune) of my wife. She is grateful regardless whether the dish is edible or not. So I guess the good deed is more on her part than mine. I managed to pray in private as I got up before she did. However she knows I am doing this project. So the praying in secret requirement is not exactly being complied with. The fact that I am writing this also means that I am not doing the good deeds in secret. On the other hand I just assume no one reads and knows as this is my personal blog.
AAA Jack
March 11, 2009
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