Day 43 - Heaven’s Gate
The Lord’s House, the Church, is the very gate of Heaven!
When we gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ at God’s House on the Lord’s Day, we are assembling ourselves in the place where heaven and earth meet! It was Jacob who first brought this amazing truth to light.
Jacob had just tricked his brother Esau out of his birthright. On his way to find a bride from his own kinsmen, he had a divine encounter with God. “…he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it…†(Genesis 28:12, 13) When Jacob awoke, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.†(v.16) He called the name of that place, Bethel, which means, “house of God.†(v.19)
Brothers and sisters, what Jacob declared long ago still defines who and what we are to this present day! When the Church of the living Lord Jesus Christ is filled with humble, prayerful, believing, holy and united believers, there is absolutely no place like it on earth! It truly is the gate of heaven. One wise writer has rightly said, “We will never succeed in toppling the gates of hell until we first unite and become the gate of heaven.â€
Jesus said that His Father’s house was intended to be a house of prayer which would open the “gate of heaven†for all the nations. In this place, sacrifices are brought, forgiveness found, praise lifted, and thanksgiving offered!
Today’s Scripture Promise: “…How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:17)