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water Gate pt. 2

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Water Gate Part 2

Nehemiah 3:26 (KJV) Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto [the place] over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.

The Watergate is the gate where we as children of God make a stand on the word of God.  90% of the water which came into Jerusalem came through the Water Gate.  Water in scripture is symbolic of the word of GOD. 

We closed out last week with all of the people gathered at the Watergate hearing the prophet EZRA reading from the word of God as they hungered and thirsted after the word of God lifting their hands and praising God wanting more of the word of God as the word of God quenched the spiritual thirst of the people. 

Everyone at the Watergate wants it to be at the Watergate. There was no one at the gate who did not want to be there.  You know how it is when you are thirsty, you want every drop. When you are thirsty you get angry with people who waste water. 

The church should be a place where people do not waste the word because the word is too precious, to be wasted. When the people got to the Water Gate they knew that the Watergate was the place where things happen so it should frustrate you when people waste a good word. I have come to discover that people who really love God don’t waste water. They don’t waste water because the need for water is too great.  

The Water Gate was repaired by Nethinims who were descendants of the Gibeonites.  In Joshua 9:22-23 Joshua pronounced a curse on the Gibeonites that their life-long duty would be to bring water to the house of God. They would be hewers of wood and drawers of water. So I’m not surprised that the very people who watched over the Watergate were the Gibeonites the descendants of the Nethinims who had the duty of standing guard and building the Watergate.

Once the believer has been to the fountain gate and is filled with the power of the spirit of God he needs an activator in order to put that power in motion. The word of God becomes the activator. The word stimulates what has been put in you at the fountain gate. It does not matter how much of the holy ghost you have, you must have the word to activate it.

The Holy Ghost needs truth in order to operate. So without the word, your life is hit and miss. Without the truth your discernment is faulty, and your memory is flawed. Once you leave the Fountain gate that refreshes you & fills you with the spirit. You must now go to the Watergate and get the word of God so that the word of God can activate the Spirit of God.

The Watergate is simply a picture of the Rhema word in action in the life of the believer. The word in you will determine how you live, and it will determine how you die. The word in you will determine how you handle what comes up in your life. You walk differently when you have the word, you stand differently when you have the word, you live differently when you have the word, and you will pray differently when you have the word of God in your heart.

Psalms 18:30 (KJV) [As for] God, his way [is] perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he [is] a buckler to all those that trust in him.

Psalm 107:20 (KJV) He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered [them] from their destructions.

Psalm 119:105 (KJV) Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Psalm 119:11 (KJV) Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Isaiah 40:8 (KJV) The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Matthew 4:4 (KJV) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Mark 13:31 (KJV) Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Luke 11:28 (KJV) But he said, Yea rather, blessed [are] they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

John 1:1 (KJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Hebrews 4:12 (KJV) For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

James 1:22 (KJV) But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Ephesians 5:26 (KJV) That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.

 The Water Gate is a place of cleansing, and we need the word of God as a cleansing agent in our life on a continuous and daily basis. The Water Gate is a place of sanctification, a place where your thinking is renewed, a place where you are thinking is cleansed and purged by the washing of water with the word.

I no longer think how I used to think because my thoughts are now cleansed. The enemy cannot get me with my past because now all of that has been washed and made clean and new.

If you ever feel yourself getting weak if you feel yourself getting drawn into temptation or into something you really don’t want to be in get to the Watergate and get some word in you. The word will make you tell the devil, you're too late, I got the word in me now. When the enemy tries to get the best of you, you can tell the enemy you're too late I got the word in me.

I remember getting a call one morning that woke me up, and the voice on the other end said I just wanted you to know that the message you preached on Sunday came right on time. I said why is that? They said because one of my old boyfriends called trying to hook up but I told him it’s too late, because I got some word in me now. They said I told them if you had called me last week this time, there might have been something, but you messed around and waited for a week and let me get some wording me and I’ve decided to finish strong!

The Water Gate


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THE WATER GATE


Nehemiah 3:26 (KJV) Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto [the place] over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.

 

90% of the water that came into Jerusalem came through the Water Gate. The Water Gate is probably the most important of all the gates. It is a very special gate because the Water Gate symbolizes the word of God. We need the word of God in order to live. We need the word of God in order to survive.

 

Matthew 4:4 (KJV) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

 

If you have ever been thirsty you know that nothing quenches thirst like water. You can drink all the Lemonade, Gatorade, Powerade and any other aid you want, but nothing quenches thirst like water.

 

So is it with the word of God you can try to fill your life with a variety of distractions, you can find lots of things to do but you will never be truly satisfied. The only thing that really satisfies the soul of a man is the word of God. People are running around in the world today unaware of what they need and they try everything to satisfy them but find no comfort.

 

They try anything and everything,  they will leave and go anywhere, but what they really need is always right there in front of them they just can’t recognize it. The only thing that will sustain them, that will give them life, and become their source is the word of God.

 

The  Water Gate symbolizes the believers need to be a word person, to be word-oriented, in other words living not by your own agenda, not by what someone told you, not living by what you heard, not living by what you think it ought to be, but by the word of God. We need the actual truth, we need the unadulterated word of God.

 

The word of God cleanses, the word of God strengthens and the word of God protects. You must understand that you need the word of God in order to survive. They ought to be a thirst in your heart and in your spirit and you must a desire to have the word.

 

When the word is not present, you will be dry, however, you must be thirsty enough to say I’m going to do whatever it takes to get the word of God. I’m not going to finish like this, I need the word of God. Psalm 42:1 declares:  As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

 

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

 

The Water Gate is where the believer has to learn to trust the word. The word will challenge your tradition. The word will challenge what your mother taught you. The word will challenge what your father taught you. 

 

The word will challenge what the preacher taught you. Because life is not about tradition it is about what God is saying. When you were standing on the word, the devil cannot deceive you, and he cannot trick you, because at the Watergate the believer learns how to stand flat-footed on the word of God.

Psalms 1:3 (KJV) And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

 

The Water Gate was the place where the people of Jerusalem who just could not get enough word would hang out. 

 

Nehemiah 8:1-3 (KJV) 1 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that [was] before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. 2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. 3 And he read therein before the street that [was] before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people [were attentive] unto the book of the law.

 

Nehemiah 8:4-5 (KJV) 4 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, [and] Meshullam. 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 

 

The people were thirsty for the world they did not care how long it took as long as they get the word. They just hung out at the gate waiting on God to do something. But what God did with the word was dependent upon the thirst of the people at the gate. How are you on the word of God has everything to do with your thirst for the world. If you do not respect the word, then you are not thirsty for the word. 

 

When Ezra the preacher came and was reading all day long the people stood up out of respect they referenced the world because they knew when he spoke it God was going to do something in their thirsty souls.

 

6  And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with [their] faces to the ground.

 

Thirsty people will witness to the word. When you get a bunch of thirsty people together for the word of God not caring what time it is or what is going on outside or what time the cornbread is going to be done, those are the ones that makeup in their minds saying I’m going to stay here to get the word of God however long it takes and I’m not leaving here empty-handed this my friend is how revival breaks out.

 

Notice the passage does not mention anything about a piano, an organ, or a band. It does not mention lights. It does not say anything about the preacher warming up. All he did was read because the word was all they needed.

the fountain gate

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Nehemiah 3:15 (KJV) But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king's garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.

 

The Fountain gate symbolizes the Holy Spirit and the Refreshing of the Lord. The Fountain Gate is the place where you can be refreshed, renewed, and revived. If there was ever a time, we needed revival, that time is right now. Not revival as we know it with service starting at a certain time and ending at a certain time, but we need a revival that can only be found at the fountain gate.

 

John 7:37-38 (KJV) 37 In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

 

The fountain gate is crucial to each of us who profess Jesus as Lord and Savior. We must make frequent trips to the fountain gate during our day, our week, our month, and our year. We must make our way to the fountain gate through good times and bad times to ensure that we do not become weary in well doing. Just as oil lubricates an engine, the fountain lubricates our spiritual life.

 

Galatians 6:9 (KJV) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

 

In this hour, I believe that God is telling us that the damn is about to break. This is the season of outpouring.  You have been praying, you have been believing, you have been trusting, you have been asking and you have been seeking.  Today is not the day to sit, this is the day to go forward. 

 

This is the day we say, God, I am tired. I need to be empowered. I need everything you have for me. Open the windows of heaven and pour out on me. I need the baptism of your Holy Ghost in my life. I need your keeping power. I need power to live, power to stand, power to love, and power to hold on. I am ready for the Damn to break. I need revival at my house, so let the damn break today.

 

Joel 3:18 (KJV) And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD and shall water the valley of Shittim.

 

When Nehemiah wanted to see the condition of the city, he went through the valley gate because the Valley gate allowed him to see the true condition of the city. Once again, Nehemiah is at the fountain gate and cannot get through because there is too much clutter and too many obstructions.  What is it that is in the way that’s keeping you from the refreshing waters of revival?

 

Nehemiah 2:14 (KJV) Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but [there was] no place for the beast [that was] under me to pass.

 

In the natural, Nehemiah was unable to get through the fountain gate because of the many obstructions. Spiritually, God is trying to get us through the fountain gate, but we also have too much clutter that the spirit cannot have his way.  We understand that clutter is not the same as garbage and we have already unloaded our garbage at the dung gate. 

 

What’s in the way of the Spirit being manifested right now and keeping us from being refreshed is all the stuff in your life that is unorganized.  Our  priorities are not straight. You were doing Z, before you do A. You are working on five, before you start working on one. Your life is a wreck, and you cannot see what’s important versus, what is not important, therefore when the spirit gets ready to move, he cannot because we have too much clutter in the way.

 

We must give the spirit room. The spirit needs room to work and we must give him room. The spirit is trying to move, trying to get through, but we won’t let him. He’s trying to bless you, he’s trying to empower you, but you will not make room for him. We have grown stubborn and hateful. Every time we fail to take God at his word, we are not giving him room. God‘s miracles are done through his word.  If you give him room, he will give you an outpour.

 

God is saying to the church let me work, God is waiting to pour out prophecy, interpretation of tongues, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, and much more. We just need to give him room.  God is saying to the church let me through, let me get by, and instead of embracing the refreshing waters of God, we’re becoming uncomfortable because God is interrupting our rhythm and our way of doing things.

 

The number 15 in the Bible symbolizes rest, refreshing, and restoration. If you can get to the fountain gate not only will you stand in a place of power, but you were standing in a place of refreshing. Sometimes you are doing all you can for God, but you just need a little refreshing. You are trying to hold up, you are standing on his word but even in the midst of that you still get a little weary.  The good news is just as Popeye had his Spinach you need to get to the Fountain Gate and get refreshed, renewed, revived, and regenerated, do not quit get refreshed.  

 

Matthew 5:6 (KJV) Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

 

John 7:37 (KJV) In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

 

Joel 2:28 (KJV) And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

 

Today stand at the fountain gate and decree open the floodgates of heaven and let it rain. Cry out to him no matter what your struggle. All you have to do is ask it and believe by faith that you have received it.

 

At the fountain gate, there was a wall that led from the fountain gate, past the pool of Siloam, and to the King's garden.  The priest would leave the temple to go get water from the fountain gate walk past the pool of Siloam and bring the water back to the temple.

 

The Fountain Gate” is where your life can be forever changed. It was at the pool of Siloam that Jesus spat upon some dirt and applied it to a man’s eyes and told him to go wash it off in the pool of Siloam and his eyes were then opened and he was restored.  

 

Maybe when he washed his eyes the spit healed his eyes refreshing water brought revival to his life, I simply come to tell somebody tonight “Get to the Gate”. 

GATES OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESSION BIBLE STUDY SERIES

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THE VALLEY GATE Pt. 3
  The VALLEY GATE PT. 3

(The Gate of Humility) 


Nehemiah 3:13 (KJV) The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate.

 

The valley is a place of battle in the place of battle God will test you. God will test you to see what he can trust you with. Can you be trusted when things get tough will you see it through, will you make it happen even when things are not going your way? You cannot be promoted it without a test. In other words, no test no testimony. 

 

In the physical world valleys are places where battles take place, the same is true in the spiritual world.  You will be faced with many battles in the valley, with circumstances and situations that you must overcome. You must fight to become the you God wants you to be. You are made in the valley and you cannot get out of the valley without a fight because the valley is the place of battle.

 

The Valley is a place of destruction.  When God begins to purge you in the valley, He shows you yourself and He shows you what you need to destroy about yourself. He shows you what you need to get rid of and in the valley, you will make that decision that either you will hold onto it or let it go.  

 

You will either destroy whatever has a hold on you or it will destroy you.  If you find yourself in the valley there is some things you ought to be destroying and getting rid of.  When God gets through with you, you were going somewhere. But God cannot use you until you destroy those things that are holding you back.

 

The valley is a place of refreshing. It is said that the Valley of Bacca was a dry place, but God filled it with pools of water. Likewise, your valley will be a place of Refreshing, but you must wait out the dry season. Do not give up in the dry season. If you do this will not only be the only dry season you experience. Show God you can handle this he wants you to trust him so he can sustain you.   If you are in that please hold onto the truth that God is going to bless you, all you have to do is wait out the dry season. 1Kings 17:1-6.

 

The valley is a place of Pruning, a place of cleansing the mind for growth. Have you ever noticed that when God wants to grow a tree the first thing, he does is pull it or cut it? Somehow the release of the old branches and leaves encourage the tree to spring forth new growth. The same is true for us. In the valley much of our dead wood is cut away and we begin new growth.

 

Be aware the people around you would not always appreciate what’s happening to you in the valley. They can see the pruning taking place but to them it looks like death. Because they do not know that there was growth in the valley. They will keep watching you, thinking you were going to die but there’s surprise you will keep on living the abundant life. 

 

The people around you will not be aware that you learn to pray and calling God in the valley so that you were no longer operating out of your own strength. So, when those people think you are down for the count, you come walking out of the valley with your head up, your shoulders back and your hands lifted in the air praising God.  1 Pet 4:12-14.

 

The valley is a place of glory. You are in the valley, but his glory has not yet been revealed. You are in the valley, but you do not know yet that you are someone special. Remember God is simply getting you ready for what you could not handle right now. 

He is revealing his glory to you on the way to your wealthy place. You may not see it now, but he is revealing Glory is on the way. There is glory in the valley. The spirit of glory and the Spirit of God, rest on you when you were in the valley. In other words, you can shout why are you going through this testing! 

 

His spirit is not just on you but resting on you. That means you have the power to make it because the glory and the spirit is on you. That is why it does not bother me when I am going through the valley full blast, because the glory of God is upon me and the spirit of the Lord is on me.

 

When you were at your low point, in your valley from what people around you can see you must have made God man. He must have turned his back on you. Those people make fun of you because you were going through the valley, they may make you a reproach simply because they do not know that God is in the process. God will not let everyone know what he’s doing, they can’t handle it.

 

Nehemiah 3:13 (KJV) The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate.

 

Look at the symbolism of the names of those who worked on the Valley gate. Hanun is translated Favor of God and Zanoah is translated it Rejected by Men. That is exactly what happens when you go through the valley people do not understand what God is doing in your life, so they reject you and persecute you and all the while God is releasing his Favor on you.

 

Where they thought you were messed up, God was bringing you up. Where they thought God was through with you, God was just beginning to work on you. Where they thought you had made a mistake, God was turning that thing into a blessing.

 

I thank God for every mountain that he has allowed me to stand upon.

 

But nothing can compare to my valley experience. 

 

In the valley you are never alone.  

 

I can testify that my valleys did not kill me. 

 

Psalms 23:4 (KJV) 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. 








THE VALLEY GATE PT. 2 

THE VALLEY GATE Pt. 2
  (The Gate of Humility) 


 The distance between the old gate and the Valley gate was a long distance. Maybe it symbolizes the trouble-free period that we all go through in life.   That time when nothing is bothering you and everything seems to go right, but little do you know that every step you take brings you closer to the Valley gate which is the gate of humility and brokenness.

 

When people arrive at the Valley gate, they are often angry because they have the misconception that everything was always going to be good. The truth is if you walk with God any length of time you are going to come to the valley gate. If you stay with God sooner or later, you will have a valley experience.

 

I call the distance between the old gate and the valley gate the honeymoon period. That period when everything works fine, you love God so much and He is so good and things are trouble and worry-free, but when you hit the valley gate it seems like the honeymoon is over. 

 

You begin to act like God has forgotten you, your countenance falls, you stop praying, you stop coming to church, you stop believing, you stop reading your Bible, you stop studying God’s word and you began to think that God is not a God of the valley.

 

But let me tell you that my valley has done more for me than my mountains. When I go to the valley it reveals what I am made of. The valley is how God can tell who the real you. It’s one thing for you to jump up and down on Sundays but it’s another thing if you can’t handle the valley on Monday. God wants to know if the same person who jumped up on Sunday is the same person, he hears cursing on Monday.

 

I believe that God is looking for a church and people that can go into the valley and say God we still love you, we still praise you, we still magnify your name. Even though we are in the valley we know that you were with us.  In the valley is when you tell God, that we’re going to hold on because we know you will never leave or forsake us. We must tell God that we understand that the God of the mountain is also the God of the valley.

 

1 Kings 20:28 (KJV) And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD [is] God of the hills, but he [is] not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.

 

Understand that the valley is going to find you whether you are looking for it or not because life goes in seasons, even your spiritual life. Enjoy the mountain while you are on it. Praise God for the honeymoon period in your life. Just remember that even though you go through the valley you do not have to lose faith. Even though you go to the valley your leaves do not have to wither.

 

Psalms 1:3 (KJV) And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

 

The river in the text is in the valley and the man who finds himself planted by that river will always produce fruit in his season and his leaves never wither, because every season is his season. You can go to a valley experience and still grow; you can go to the valley experience and still prosper. You can go to the valley experience and still praise him, bless him, and lift him up. You can go through the valley and steal magnify him exalt him and bless his name. All of this is possible once you believe that the valley is not trying to kill you, but it is just trying to grow you.

 

Nehemiah 2:13 (KJV) And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.

 

Before Nehemiah began rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem, he wanted to see what the city looked like.  Nehemiah did not go to the mountaintop to see the city. Nehemiah went into the valley to see what things looked like. Nehemiah needed to see what he really dealing with, not from the mountain top but from the valley.

 

Nehemiah needed to get an accurate picture of the city, but he did not choose to go on the mountain top, instead, he said, where is it, that I can get the best look of the city? And it was in fact in the valley. You must ask God the question, God where is it that I can get the best view of myself in order to know and to see who I really am.

 

Contrary to popular opinion, the best view of yourself is not on the mountain top where everything is good but, it is in the valley and it’s seeing how you respond to what you’re going through.  Most people want to see themselves on the mountain, but that is not an accurate view of who you really are. Who are you in times of trouble and adversity?

 

Anyone looks good on the mountain top. But your valley shows your mistakes. Your valley shows what you really do not want to see about yourself. Your valley shows your vulnerabilities and shortcomings. If you want to know what you really are instead of who people think you are take a look at yourself from the valley. 

 

When you are in the valley you stand before God naked and unashamed.  If you want to see the YOU, that nobody else knows, the one you keep covered up, not the one everyone sees on Sunday morning on the mountain top but who you really are when you are in the valley. Take a moment and say God take me to the valley that I might know who I really am.