"You may not have known my full story but for the only recorded moment of my healing and the events that followed me in scripture for all to see" ...words from the former Beautiful Gate paralytic (remaining anonymous for this interview) for the Jerusalem Gazette... as he spoke on to Gazette Reporter Shalmon Truleehope :- "You see ... timing prior to this event had me mad because all the rumors of Jesus healing people never blessed me; because I never made it to see Him until that pitiless day that He was nailed to the Cross. My helpers that would normally carry me to the Beautiful Gate decided to take me to the entertainment of the day. Truly I was horrified by what I saw, but was soon sucked into the chanting - "Crucify Him!" I was so mad because any hope for my healing was now being nailed to a Roman cross." He stopped to sob as if he was still there ...then his face began to radiate --- "Never in my hopeless dreams would I expect, weeks later, to be begging at the temple after my cursing on that horrible day ... to find that this Jesus still would love me through His believers ... hey no apologies and I was healed: I choose to now love Him openly in the Beautiful Gate!" ....excerpt from the interview in the Jerusalem Gazette August 1, AD 33.
There are passageways and vestibules to life events that lay before everyone of us; these "gates" will bring change. At the approach of any of these passageways we will be meet headlong with promise, potential, provision, and temptation. This is common to every living being, but there is a uniqueness in the gate for each individual. That unique moment to each individual is an invitation to draw close the Extravagant Lover of our Souls, Jesus. It becomes a moment to experience the reality of His active involvement in the feelings of our infirmities and His tender care in our time personal need.
Whether we are positioned to be a provider at the gate, or desperately in need of provision at the gate ...the clearest and greatest need at that moment is an eternal connection that increases our faith in Him. To pace back n' forth instead of entering ...without lifting our fears upward or throwing our burdens down, is just another moment lost in the sea of forgetfulness instead of being captured by a memory of God's timely love intervention for us. Let Go, and Trust God!
In all avenues of life: walk with the King. With every blind side turn: trust His "preparing the way before you". When approaching the Gate ... bow your head in trust and become a miracle by moving through the Gate with Him or by helping another through the passage while trusting the power He has bestowed on you.
O Beautiful Gates lift up your voice of welcome from the King.
Stretch out your arms of love and pull us closer to Him.
Call us to Fear not to move forward in the way,
Open to a new hope and the dawn of a new day.
Hebrews 13:12 - "Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without (outside of) the Gate."
HLFA,
Jeff