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The Lord has been speaking to me a lot about gate keepers and gate keeper churches. Each of us are gate keepers in some way.

A Gate Keeper church is usually that because the pastor has answered God's call to be one of those the Word talks about who are willing to "make up a hedge."

"So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." (Ezekiel 22:30)

Hear me on this. These are those He has on a short leash. You will not easily be able to get away with what others do in other churches at a church with this call upon it.

So thank your pastors for that one! (smile)

Gate Keepers are those He marks with His ink horn of intercession.

Ezekiel 9:1-4, 9-11 talks about this:

1. Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, "Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand." 2. And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer's inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar. 3. Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer's inkhorn at his side; 4. and the Lord said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it."

9. Then He said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, 'The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!' 10. "And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head." 11. Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, "I have done as You commanded me."

What is a Gatekeeper?

The dictionary defines a gatekeeper as:

1.    One that tends or guards a gate.

2.    A person who controls access.

Gate Keeper churches determine what comes in or out of a church, city, or region. I believe there are many churches in America being established by God as one of those, and that is why there has been an element of intense warfare for those churches in the process. It's even why some people don't stay at them. They can't stand the heat, so they have to get out of the kitchen!

Prayer, integrity, standard setting by teaching the uncompromised Word of God, walking in servant hood towards one another, upholding a policy to maintain good relationship and communication with each other, as well as operating in true humility are some of the goals these standard setters, and standard keepers need to strive to attain and walk in.

This means:

1.    Personally - in their private lives - as well as

2.    Professionally - in their jobs and business lives and

3.    Corporately, in their church lives.

The Bible says that the Gates of Hell will not prevail against the church. (Matt. 16:18)

To understand that, you need to understand that, in the days that was written, the leaders met at the city gates to make plans for their city or region - even battle plans - plans to protect their city - or even to attack another city.

That verse is telling us that the plans of Hell may be cancelled at the gates of Hell.  Much of that occurs through the intercession of those Gatekeepers that God has called to do so.

Just for the sake of clarity, another word for gatekeeper would be doorkeeper. Or even intercessor. In Psalms 84:10, David said: "For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness."

Actually, let's read all of Psalms 84:

1 How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; My heart AND MY FLESH cry out for the living God.  3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young- Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God.  4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You.

Selah

5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.  6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, (Valley of weeping). They make it a spring; (A fountain, spring, or well; Place of refreshing). The rain also covers it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion. (Meaning: As we lean on and trust in God, we may go from Strength to Strength and still be praising Him as we pass through the valley of Baca/Weeping)  8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob!

Selah

9 O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed.  10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.  11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.  12 O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

When we speak of grace, it means grace to NOT sin. NOT grace TO sin. There's

some freaky grace teachings out there that teach otherwise.

II Peter 3:16 says: "untaught and unstable people twist the word of God to their own destruction."

Jesus says, "You make the word of God of no effect through your traditions which you have handed down. And many (other) such things you do."  When Jesus had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Mark 7:13-16 NKJV)

To be a Doorkeeper is to be a standard maker, a standard bearer, and a standard keeper.

Plumb Lines

It's a plumb line establisher and keeper.  These verses talk about plumb lines:

Zechariah 4:10 For who has despised the day of small things?  For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth."

Isaiah 28:16-17 Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.  Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet; The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place."

Amos 7:7-9 Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand.  And the Lord said to me, "Amos, what do you see?"  And I said, "A plumb line."  Then the Lord said: "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore.  The high places of Isaac shall be desolate, And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.  I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam."

The Bible tells us that moving a plumb line can bring on a curse.

But the world tries to do that with the Word all the time to justify their sin. Charisma Magazine has recently reported there is now a gay friendly Bible called the Queen Version!

A righteous Doorkeeper makes a decision for righteousness and determines in their heart that, even if others don't follow, and even if it makes them unpopular, and even if it "costs" them in some way, they will still stick with it.

It starts in your own heart, life, and home, and with you. We are all doorkeepers for our own life and family.

There are churches and even businesses that are assigned to specific gates in cities and regions.

The Beginning of Your Assignment

Your assignment begins when you see a vision and determine whether that's your heart. And if so, whether you want to do it on your own or team up with others to accomplish it.

Then you consider the cost and whether you are willing to pay the price.

Fair warning: Better not to vow a vow than to make it and not keep it. 

Think of a Gatekeeper church as a team - because it is.

If you are part of a team, you realize you are only a PART of the vision, and that the rest of the team is of equal importance.  There is no "i" in the word "team."

There are some awesome acronyms for the word team:

·         Together Everyone Accomplishes/Achieves More

·         Teach, Encourage, and Model.

·         Teaching, Educating, and Mentoring

If you are part of a team, you may have differences. But if someone comes against a team member, as a Doorkeeper, you stand up for them and do not participate in the slander.

By the way Singles: Becoming a part of your church as a member of its team is good practice prior to marriage for learning how to get through life's situations and not quit. If you can't do that with your church team, you're probably not ready to graduate to marriage. Just sayin'!

Being a part of a team is like being a part of a family. Or even part of an army. You can't just up and quit.

Quitters never win! And winners never quit!!

Times of intense warfare require that we move in closer to each other, watch each other's back, and shore each other up, not turn on one another or run off.

The enemy may try to run you off just before your greatest victory. Don't listen to him. Remember the vision. Though it tarry, wait for it. (Habakuk 2:3)

God won't let a church grow beyond their capacity to work together as a team and protect each other.

Why? Because if they can't handle the job for their own life or church, they wouldn't be able to handle being a Gatekeeper for a region.

Having a Strong Foundation

When a church's foundation is strong enough to hold it, God will build upon it.

However, if He sees that part of the foundation is starting to crumble against the current pressures, He will hold off attempting to add more to it.

The enemy will often attack the weakest links first in order to add so much additional pressure on the stronger ones that they finally also crumble.

So if we want to see our church grow, we need to say "No" to the enemy's lies and stay in position long enough to experience the victory.

So understand that, if called by God as a gate church, what you let into your personal gate in your personal life matters. Because you aren't just here to play church but to do life together. What you allow through your life's door will affect every person there, and in the region. Because being a part of each other's lives lets that into each other's doors as well.

Whether that's fear, jealousy, laziness, hypocrisy, or "whatever!"

As gatekeepers, you each control the access way to each other, your church, and your region.

When your pastor closes access to the enemy in your life through a teaching or through counsel to you, he or she is interceding between you and the enemy of your soul, just like a soldier controls access to a region in occupied territory. They stand in harm's way and risk their lives to protect you. But you have a choice in how you respond on your watch over them and your comrades.

Standing Guard

Even on an Army base, soldiers stand guard and determine who or what is permitted through the gate on their watch.

Then, each soldier takes turns guarding the gate.

If on their watch, they let the enemy in, they have just become an accessory to the fact of releasing the enemy's plans into that place and into the lives of their fellow soldiers. They can get court marshaled for that.  Basically it's like knowingly letting a terrorist or even a bad virus in.

No condemnation here, but just trying to bring a bit of understanding in regard to some warfare you may be experiencing or seeing others experience.

When Azusa Street had their revival, their entire region was changed. They established a plumb line. The result? Crime rates went down, sickness went down, wickedness went down, finances were increased for those who were a part. Blessing came.

Why? They refused to let the enemy in through their gate.

People came from all over the world to see what happened in that little store front church in one of the poorest, most crime ridden areas of Los Angeles, California.

When we obey and stand our ground, we stand out. When Jesus is lifted up, others are drawn in. When we hold up the standard without wavering, the enemy's plans are canceled on the planning table before ever coming to your gate, let alone through it. Blessings are released and lives and souls are forever changed.

Keeping Watch

So the question is, how will we keep watch at our own personal gate?

Will we let doubt, unbelief, fear, jealousy, condemnation, hypocrisy, or other junk in?

If we get tired, or life doesn't go our way, will we walk off the job and not even care what comes in through that gate to harm the rest?  Again...Soldiers who do that can be court martialed.

Or will we stand strong in The Lord and the power of His Might and believe Him and in His Plans for our lives and the lives of those around us?

We need not to just have concern for our own protection, but to also be standing strong and standing guard for each other and watching each others' backs.

I just feel to cautiously offer up for consideration some options if you believe your church is one that is called as a Gatekeeper church.

Do NOT respond until you hear and consider these things and the cost.

Do not vow something unless you determine to keep that vow because you will bring judgment upon yourself.

Are you willing to be a gatekeeper - a doorkeeper - for your family? For your church? Your region? This nation?

Are you willing to look around and cover other's backs when it's your turn to stand watch?

Are you willing to stand even if others do not? Or even if there is warfare?

This question goes out to everyone, young and old.

For those who have already committed, stand watch over your gate with added

commitment today.

For those who have been hinging and now want to commit, do so before The Lord today.

For those who have maybe failed and wish to "re-up," there is space to repent and do so.

Prayer

Father, we come to you in the name and blood of Jesus, and we ask you to cover us and our loved ones in the blood of Jesus and protect us in these times. We also ask you to give us wisdom, direction, and a prophetic "heads up" on what and how to pray for ourselves, family, church, region, and nation in these perilous times. Let us be found faithful. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Joni Ames