Guard Your Gates!

Please receive this word as an encouragement in the place to which God has called you and in this season where you are currently carrying out your God given assignment! Several years ago, God began to teach me about the gates of our lives. Gates are those places of entry points whether it be in our families, our ministries and churches or our personal lives. The gates of our lives must be constantly guarded because I believe that they are places of intense battle. It's at the gates that the enemy aligns himself against you and your destiny. It's there that you find a constant barrage of the lies of the enemy as he attempts to gain entrance into that which is worth guarding.

Proverbs 4:23, tells us to "guard our hearts, for out of it flows the wellspring of life". As the Lord began to teach me about the gates, I specifically became aware of four gates that are actually gates of deception! They are: what you see, what you think, what you hear and what you feel. Those are four specific areas where the enemy specializes in "ripping" us off and disconnecting us from the truth and from the anointing. Everything you see, is not as it appears; what you hear and what you feel are not always the way that it really is and the arena of your thoughts can become a major battlefield where we must be careful not to allow to get out of control. Often, there is a distinct difference between truth and reality! Just because it is "reality" doesn't mean that it's the truth or even based on the truth. In fact, sometimes the reality of our existence can be anything but the truth. The reality may be that I'm sick in my body, but the truth is that I am the healed of God and that He has made full provision for my healing. At that point, I have a choice to make...I can either embrace and live by my reality or I can embrace and stand on the truth of God's declaration over me, no matter what the physical signs are that I may be seeing or feeling. My goal is to come to the place that my reality is also the truth!

I stand on this conviction and it is my confession over you as well..."my life, my ministry, my family... is not up for grabs"!! What God is doing in me and through me is too precious and valuable to not secure it. Everything that I don't secure is up for grabs and becomes vulnerable to the tactics of the enemy. So, how do I secure the gates? I secure it by the Word, and I secure it on a daily basis. My confession of faith must be consistent, biblical and based on an active and vital relationship with Christ. The degree of authority that you have in securing the gates of your life is always based on the degree of relationship that you have with Christ. I stand in agreement with you today that you are what the Word of God says you are, you have what the Word says you have and you can do what the Word says you can do. Your life and your ministry is valuable! Heaven is being changed because of your ministry. Nations are being affected because of your anointing. Communities are being shaped because of your obedience. God delights over you and His declaration over you is yes! and amen. You were born for such a time as this and He needs you to stand in faith, stand in righteousness and stand in authority. I encourage you to write a biblical confession over the primary areas of your life and ministry and make a daily habit of speaking and releasing the Word over your life and securing the gates of who you are!