Winning the Battle at the Gate

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Winning the Battle at the Gate (Communion Meditation)

Sometimes we have to win the battle at the gate. The gate into our lives is the mind and imagination. Winning the battle at the gate is winning the battle to stay in peace and joy when thoughts of fear, doubt, discouragement, stress, sadness etc come into our minds. It is also winning the battle to stay in the present moment with God when imaginations try to get us to dwell on bad events of the past or worry about the future. 

One of the greatest ways to win the battle at the gate is by taking communion. This idea of winning the battle at the gate by taking communion comes from my book The 8th Date: God's Operating System for Abundant Life. Here is an excerpt from the book. 

The Battle At The Gate
In Genesis 22:17, after Abraham had committed to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, God tells Abraham, “I will surely bless you and multiply your offspring like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies.” This promise is then repeated again to Rebecca in Genesis 24:60 when she chooses to leave her family and marry Isaac. And Galatians 3:29 tells us that if we are in Christ, then we are Abraham’s seed, which means that this promise is relevant for us today.

What does this promise have to do with us, and what are these gates? In ancient times, the gate of a city was a valuable place, a place from which the entire city could be controlled. I believe the imagination is the gate to our lives because it is where we take our seat with Christ. The mind and imagination is the battle ground that Satan tries to attack. The imagination is where Satan tries to influence our choices and get us to leave our heavenly seat. It is where he tries to get us into fear, worry, and doubt so that we try to do things in our own strength rather than resting in God’s grace.

In our imaginations is where we play out worst case scenarios and envision things going wrong. This is where we must turn the battle, so that grace flows.

Turn the Battle With Communion
In Isaiah 28:6 God says he will give strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. If we will stand firm in our minds by keeping them fixed on the things above God will give us strength to win the battles at the gate. The best way to win the battle at the gate is by taking communion regularly.

When stress, fear, worry, or discouragement arise in our imaginations we can take communion as a point of remembrance to stir up our memory of God working for our good. Communion has an amazing power to transform our imagination and our emotions. By replacing negative images with the image of Jesus bearing it all on the cross and God now doing continually good for us, we can reprogram the images on the inside.

Communion: The Table Turner
Taking regular communion keeps us focused on grace. Every culture has foods that they are known for. In the kingdom of Heaven, the No. 1 meal is communion. It should be taken daily in remembrance of Jesus.

In my book “Cracking Heaven’s Code,” I presented the idea of the table-turner. In the book of Esther, the king had written a law that was going to destroy the Jewish people, and in those days once a law was written it could not be undone. However, Queen Esther convinced the king to write a new law that effectively turned the tables and put the Jewish people back in control so that they could attack anyone who attacked them. We see in the New Testament that Jesus also liked to turn the tables, when he turned over the tables in the temple. Jesus is the table-turner.

In the Old Covenant to be right with God people had to perform everything correctly. Jesus brought in the New Covenant, which turned the tables by bringing in grace. He said he did not come to abolish the Old Covenant but to fulfill the law. The Old Covenant is still around if we want to try and earn favor with God, but Jesus turned the tables and brought in the New Covenant, which overrides the Old and makes us right with God by simply believing in Jesus. Daily communion is the No. 1 table-turner for all of life.

Communion is a symbol of our participation with Jesus. It is a reminder to trust in him because he wants to help. The thing about table-turners is that they are simple and easy, the one thing that puts us back in control in our lives.

When we take communion we imagine the cup of God’s wrath being poured out on the body of Jesus. By his stripes we were healed. Then as we take the cup of thanksgiving we rejoice and give thanks that because of the blood of Jesus we have been transferred into the kingdom and we now have an invisible partner who is continually working for our good. Communion is an opportunity to stir this image into our imaginations so that negative imaginations are replaced and we win the battle at the gate by staying in our heavenly seat.

Taking communion every evening has the potential to completely transform our lives. When Jesus instituted communion he did so on the evening of Passover, which is like a big communion meal. Therefore, taking it every evening is one of the most powerful ways to get grace flowing through us, and it helps us to abide in him so that we produce fruit. At our house we keep a box of matzo crackers and grape juice/red wine always on hand and take communion as a family with dinner every night.

Take Communion When Issues Arise
In addition to every evening communion can also be taken anytime we get attacked in our imagination. For example, when financial worries arise take communion as a way to stir up the image that God supplies all our needs, When health issues pop up take communion to stir up the image on the inside that we were healed by the stripes of Jesus and the glory of God now lives in us, When family issues arise take communion, to release faith that God is helping us love our families through grace and God has promised to make our families great. When making plans for your future take communion as a way to stir up the image that God is helping you. Whenever your mind and imagination are under attack take communion and stir up the image of God working for our good and being one with Christ.

The Point of Contact
I was once giving a baseball lesson to a 10 year old kid I had been working with for a few months. As we were going through the lesson I noticed how much his swing had improved. However, as we were hitting he started to struggle.

He began to hit every ball straight into the ground and became very frustrated. After several swings like this I stopped and showed him how to fix the problem. His swing was good but at the point of contact he was releasing his hands too early, causing him to hit every ball straight into the ground.

Then I showed him how to make the adjustment. It took about 2 minutes but when we were done he proceeded to hit about 20 of the best balls I had ever seen him hit. Now the ground balls turned into line drives and maybe even home runs. Sometimes a small adjustment at the point of contact makes all the difference.

The point of contact is a spiritual principle. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Oral Roberts wrote a book titled How to Find Your Point of Contact With God. Needs and issues are constantly coming our way. They could be people issues, financial needs, health needs, relationship needs, etc and when those needs come they are a point of contact that either allows grace to flow or we attempt to meet our own needs by putting the pressure on ourselves or others.

Once we win the battle at the gate and take back control of our imagination, God’s grace begins to flow through us but it must be carried through to the point of contact. Just like the young hitter released his hands too early, we can also take God’s hand off of things at the point of contact. Everything we do in the physical world is a point of contact where God’s grace and power are released or we try to do things in our own strength.

For example, we could take communion as a way to remember that God supplies our needs financially, but then at the point of paying for things we shrink back and think about our financial lack and an uncertain financial future. We could take communion when health issues arise but then take God’s hand off too early by freaking out again when the situation is still there.

Every word we speak or action we take in the world is a point of contact that is either creating a bridge of trust, allowing grace to flow, or us trying to put the pressure on ourselves or others.

Changing the Trajectory
When I was coaching the young hitter the trajectory of the ball changed when we fixed the point of contact. He went from hitting every ball straight into the ground to driving balls into the air. A point of contact changes the trajectory of our lives and situations.

Taking communion every night can completely change the trajectory of our lives. We could be heading down a bad path but through taking communion and carrying through to the point of contact things turn around and our lives are elevated. In many cases the transformation or healing won’t happen all at once but the point of contact will be the turning point and from that point on things will only get better.

This happens in the big picture of our lives but also in the little things. As an example, let’s say you start getting sick and begin to envision all the worst case scenarios as the trajectory of the sickness takes you down. But then you take communion, and the image on the inside is replaced with Jesus healing us by the stripes on his body. This becomes the turning point and you don’t recover all at once but things begin to get better. It is the turning point. In your finances you have a setback and begin to envision it wiping you out, but then instead of worrying you take communion as a point of contact releasing your faith in an invisible partner who is working to make you great and supplies all of your needs. The money doesn’t show up all at once, but the tables are turned and the situation begins to improve as God makes a way.

Finishing High
In baseball one of the most successful hitting coaches I knew used to always tell hitters to finish the swing high. After the point of contact it is important to follow through and finish high. The way we finish high is to set our minds on the things above, that God is continually working for our good. Set your mind on his steadfast love for you and let it flow through you by loving others. 

After we have created a point of contact it is very important to keep the faith. If we have made a firm decision and released our faith and trust there is no turning back. Now we set our minds on God working for our good. If the symptoms in our body, finances, relationship, etc don’t transform all at once or even if they get worse temporarily we keep stirring up the memory that the tables were turned at the point of contact and from this point on we rest in God’s grace.