Power often comes in small packages.
Like this overlooked nugget...
‘The evil bow before the good and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.’
Proverbs 14:16 KJV
That said...
It's easy to skip past wee chunks of life changing power like this.
Gems our Father scatters across our path every day.
And so...
If we read this proverb carefully, the questions arise...
How do we make this happen?
How can this become a reality in our lives?
How can the weak become strong?
Thankfully there is a way.
It flows through the gate of the righteous.
A secret gate hidden in plain sight... in a similar way to how the LORD scatters nuggets of gold all across the face of the earth...
For anyone to find them.
Yet despite such finds being available to all, few ever see them or bother to venture outside to pick them up.
Watch Aussie Gold Hunters if you doubt me.
In this fascinating TV series...
Couples, families. Small miners. And detectorists go out every day and simply pick up pieces of gold lying about in plain view.
Pieces our Father in Heaven leaves for anyone.
Yet,
If these seekers don't take out a detector and start seeking...
GOD won't scatter gold across their path.
Because it's true...
He rewards the seeker.
(Hebrews 11:6)
And it's the same with our Proverbs nugget above...
Only if you stop and enter the gate the LORD tells you to go through will this proverb release it's power into your life.
The power to reverse the gains of the evil against you.
Which gate is it?
The Gate of the Righteous.
David makes tells us exactly which gate the LORD means here...
"Open to me the gates of righteousness:
I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord:
This gate of the Lord, into which [ONLY]* the righteous shall enter."
Psalm 118:19-20 Darby
This side of the gate, the worldly or carnal side = no power.
The other side, the Godly side =
Safety.
Peace.
Power.
Here the enemy cannot touch you.
Why not?
Because...
He cannot enter the Gate of the Rightous.
On the other hand...
If you enter by faith and by your Halakha (see below) maintain your entire daily walk there... you’ll begin enjoying privileges some Christians miss out on their whole lives.
Because,
Inside these gates of righteousness.
These impenetrable walls of glory that evil cannot assail...
You become garrisoned by the MIGHTY: The armies of heaven, the various judges GOD sets in heavenly places, the great cloud of witnesses... which GOD places around those who remain ‘inside the gate of the citadel’ all their lives.
Inside this gate (which is a REAL gate, though invisible)...
Your reputation will become known among the righteous armies of GOD. And once inside, a great wall opposes your enemies. They can’t get to you.
Then divine authority is released on your behalf.
Here's an example...
A den of drug dealers moved in and began operating next door to our family. We started getting woken up at all hours of the night by deals done in the house next to us.
It was as if a dark plague came up on us and our neighbours.
And come the weekends...
Parties.
All night. Full blast.
Wretched prep for Sunday morning meetings.
And even after politely asking these new neighbours to quieten down they wouldn't listen to me.
Instead...
Their drug dealing accelerated more and more.
So what to do?
Activate the nuclear option as follows...
Cursed the activities of these drug dealers in the Name of Jesus Christ.
Appealed directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. Asked he would arrest the wicked for their activities. Prayed He'd remove the blight they'd brought to our family and our neighbours.
Spoke out LOUD the decree of the LORD in the midst of the battle while quietly trusting GOD would answer us without fail... as He is faithful.
So what happened?
Strangely.
And marvelously...
In a matter of a few months they were gone.
Removed.
Dawn raid.
Caught red handed.
Imprisoned for eight years.
In the slammer.
And here's the funny thing...
My lad read about it later in the local paper.
He said they were the largest drug dealers in the nearby city. The police had been after them for years. And they found guns too. “Hmmm, how about that.”
Praise GOD for His power.
It's all His glory.
Here's a warning though...
Decreeing a curse against the enemy like this is dangerous. That is, if you try it while on the wrong side of the Gate of the Righteous that is.
Why?
Because the wrong side of the gate you have no protection.
Your protection is not what you think either.
It's not...
The armour of GOD.
Faith.
Rebuking the devil etc.
No.
It's YOUR WALK.
(The Hebrew word Halakha הֲלָכָה - translates as 'The Way' or 'The Walk' or the way you behave in your daily walk').
i.e. What you do when no one is watching and when they are.
Because here's the thing...
Obviously,
You can only enter through the Gates of Righteous if you are righteous. Unrighteous living doesn't cut it.
Even under grace, such a worldly Halakha is 'Forbidden' Paul says...
"What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid."
Romans 6: 15 KJV
So yes...
By all means accept the FREE GIFT of righteousness which Christ won for you.
That's essential salvation.
However and vitally.
It's just the start...
James makes the second part super clear.
You've got to show that faith by what you do. He proved his faith by what he did every day... his daily Halakha.
"... Someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
James 2:18 NKJV
And continuing...
"Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only."
James 2:23 NKJV
Or put another way…
"Or a man is made righteous by works [what he actually does]* and not by faith only."
Righteousness by faith - excellent.
Fabulous :)
Yet to grow you must move on from those 'baby milk' days to be weaned and on to 'the meat' and potatoes of life...
The daily walk of life.
The righteous walk of life.
Here's where most get this wrong...
They assume because scripture says they are righteous by faith, how they live day to day does not matter.
Yet the opposite is true.
And not only can the LORD see it... (And the judges in the law courts of heaven and the great cloud of witnesses mentioned earlier)...
So can the enemy and his forces.
They KNOW if you walk in righteousness or not.
They can see it...
The LIGHT shining out of you.
Or not.
If they see you are a dim bulb, you are easy pickings.
Yet they are wary of saints...
Whose company includes the angelic host surrounding them. The wise counsellors and leaders who watch over their souls. The aged prayer warriors interceding for them without thanks.
If that's you...
To the evil forces.
A great host appears ON YOUR SIDE against them.
They get worried. They think twice.
They have no choice.
But to back down.
So by keeping your Halakha consistent. By asking the Holy Spirit to train you in righteousness, then walking in His ways,
One day an amazing thing happens.
The gates of righteousness open to you.
Jesus invites you to enter.
As you do you and sit down, you hear Davids song...
"I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Psalm 23: 4-6 ESV
And all is glory.
Bless you.
Dave
PS If you want to become great like Mordecai, live like Mordecai.
"And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him.
But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage.
... They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai."
Esther 3:2 7:10 ESV
Esther is a very powerful book on spiritual warfare. It reveals the very the heart of how the gate of the righteous operates to remove deadly threats against you.
Read it lately?
Gold awaits you there precious one.
* Emphasis, [additions] mine.
Hi Stephen, nice to hear from you!
I’d be honoured to write the snapshot you describe.
Shall we have a Google Meet if you are comfortable with that?
It seems a prescient time with all that’s speeding up all around us brother :) I will email you and perhaps we can arrange a time.
Bless you.
Dave.
Dave. I am gathering stories on the lives of people I know and trust. I would be honored to have you write a two-page story that includes you pre-salvation life, your salvation experience, and how Christ has sustained you through times of doubt and confusion. What thinks, thou? You can send it to my email: drphinney@iomamerica.org