Gates- The Horse Gate

The next gate in this series of posts about the gates which Nehemiah rebuilt is the Horse Gate.

This gate speaks of battles and as Christians we must not forget that we are in a spiritual battle.  There will be battles.

We have an enemy, Satan, who doesn’t want us to follow Christ or mature spiritually and discover the fullness of who we are in Christ.  He certainly doesn’t want us telling anyone else the good news about what Jesus has done for us or making disciples for Jesus.

Our enemy has a strategy against us and will try and discourage us, hinder us, entrap us and stop us in our Christian life.     He will do what he can to put thoughts into our minds and build strongholds there to frustrate our Christian walk.     He will try and deceive us, tempt us, cause us to be fearful, to give up because we are weary, frustrated, anxious and being a Christian just seems too difficult.

That’s all a bit heavy but there is great news. This Christian life is a life that is so worth it and if it wasn’t then we wouldn’t encounter such opposition. We have discovered life in all its fullness in Christ Jesus. It’s precious and valuable and our enemy wants to steal it from us. No wonder he opposes us, but we have been fully equipped in Christ Jesus to resist satan and overcome him.

Let us not give up but let us fight the good fight.   Let us contend for our faith.

We are very familiar with Paul’s encouraging words in Ephesians 6 but let us remember to apply them.

“Finally, my bretheren be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.

Stand therefore having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”

The Lord has not left us alone at the mercy of the enemy. We are children of the Most High God. Adopted into God’s family through faith in Jesus. Jesus intercedes for us before God’s throne. We are baptised in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The bible teaches us that when we submit to God and resist the enemy then the promise of God is that our enemy will flee from us. We submit to God when we are obedient to God’s Word and commandments. We resist the temptation to act or fail to act as we know God requires of us. We bring our will into submission to God. We choose life and not death.

Be confident in God’s Word which is living and powerful and is at work in us. We are in a battle that we can win. Jesus has already won the battle and has overcome all that is in opposition to God’s kingdom.

These are such incredible verses to root us in our faith from Colossians:

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:6-15