Tag: gospel

  • Open Gates – Welcome the King of Glory

    I have been reading in the Psalms and stopped to meditate on Psalm 24. It’s a Psalm of ascent; that is, it was sung on the way up to the temple and is often overshadowed by its more well-known neighbor, Psalm 23.

    The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,

        the world and those who dwell therein,

    for he has founded it upon the seas

        and established it upon the rivers.

    Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

        And who shall stand in his holy place?

    He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

        who does not lift up his soul to what is false

        and does not swear deceitfully.

    He will receive blessing from the Lord

        and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

    Such is the generation of those who seek him,

        who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

    Lift up your heads, O gates!

        And be lifted up, O ancient doors,

        that the King of glory may come in.

    Who is this King of glory?

        The Lord, strong and mighty,

        the Lord, mighty in battle!

    Lift up your heads, O gates!

        And lift them up, O ancient doors,

        that the King of glory may come in.

    Who is this King of glory?

        The Lord of hosts,

        he is the King of glory! Selah Psalm 24 ESV

    The Psalm opens with the recognition that everything that exists belongs to God. He is the creator and sustainer of everything in the created universe. With that recognized, the psalm moves quickly to God’s calling for personal righteousness.

    Who can come before the Lord and receive His blessings? Only “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.“

    Of course, we know, as did the ancient people of Israel and Judah, that no one can meet those requirements. They trusted in YAHWEH by faith to redeem them and take away their sin, so they could stand before the Lord. They did not yet know Jesus by name, as He had not come, but they knew the Lord had promised a savior and trusted that promise.

    The very city itself is called to open its gates for the coming King. The King of Glory, the Lord of Hosts, is coming. Jesus has come now, but we know He is returning. The King of Glory is coming back to the place He owns.

    Will we have clean hands and hearts to be in His presence and receive His blessings?

    Will we open our hearts and gates? Will we make Him welcome, or will we close up and try to hold out against His undefeatable power?

    With Christ’s imputed righteousness, we too can come before the Lord and be blessed. We must trust in what He has done by faith. He’s coming for the believer and unbeliever, one to eternity in His presence and blessing, the other to eternal separation and damnation.

    Let’s be found with open gates, clean hearts and singing praises in anticipation of the day He comes back.

    Be blessed, Kevin

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    SUMMARY

    As I sat with Psalm 24, I was struck by how quickly it moves from declaring God’s ownership of all creation to asking who is fit to stand in His presence, and the answer is a standard none of us can meet on our own. I’m reminded that only through Christ’s imputed righteousness can we approach the King of Glory with clean hands and open hearts, ready for the day He returns.

    TAKEAWAY

    Everything that exists belongs to God as Creator and Sustainer, which sets the stage for the Psalm’s call to personal holiness

    No one meets the standard of clean hands and a pure heart apart from trusting in the Lord’s promised redemption, first by faith in YAHWEH’s promise and now through Christ

    The ancient call to “lift up your heads, O gates” points forward to Christ’s return, and the question becomes whether our hearts will be open or closed when the King of Glory comes back

    Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone) 

    © 2001, 2026 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, “Gleanings From the Word.” All rights reserved. 

    From Gleanings From The Word (Kevin Corbin, 2001– ), a Scripture-based devotional work.

  • Blooming in the desert

    This lovely desert flower is a Mariposa lily (Calochortus bruneaunis ) – sometimes called a sagebrush or desert lily. It comes in a variety of colors from white through to brilliant purple, like this specimen I shot back around the summer of 2001. I confess the picture is cropped because I took it from too far away.

    The Mariposa thrives in arid, desert-like places where most plants could simply not survive. It truly blooms where others fail to even grow.

    In our Christian life, we can often be placed in situations similar to that. We can face ridicule, hostility, outright persecution, even the stripping of our possessions, jail time or in some cases death. Jail time and death are not common in the West (yet), they are a reality for our brothers and sisters around the world.

    According to an article in America Magazine, “More Christians were martyred in the 20th century than in all previous centuries combined, according to David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, two of the world’s leading religious demographers.”

    Gordon-Conwell’s Center for the Study of Global Christianity estimates that 1 million Christians were killed between 2001 and 2010, and about 900,000 were killed from 2011 to 2020.

    It’s a reality out there, my friends. Our brothers and sisters are being killed for their faith. It shouldn’t surprise us; it’s been happening since the days of Saul of Tarsus. Persecution began a few years after the death of Jesus and has continued since.

    Jesus told us it would happen.

    “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. But this happened to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without cause.’ John 15:18-25 ESV

    What can we do in the interim?

    We can pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ and for those who oppress them. We can pray for those in power in our nation to come to faith.

    We continue to gather together as long as we can. We gain strength from one another. Our brothers and sisters in oppressed countries meet underground.

    We read, study and memorize our Bibles. We need to know what we believe and why. We need to be prepared in case there are no Bibles available someday.

    We live our lives daily as Christ called us to do. We stand as lights on a hill, pointing others to the love of Jesus.

    We trust God. He has it all under control and will use every hard thing that comes to pass for the good of those who love Him.

    The mariposa lily grows and blooms in dark, hostile environments. How much so can we shine in a dark and hurting world?

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God) 

    Be blessed 

    Kevin 

    SUMMARY

    The Mariposa lily thrives in arid, hostile ground where most plants cannot survive. Christians are called to do the same. Persecution is real, it is global, and Jesus told us plainly it would come. The question is not whether we will face a hostile world, but how we will stand in it.

    KEYPOINTS

    More Christians were martyred in the 20th century than in all previous centuries combined, and an estimated 1.9 million have been killed for their faith between 2001 and 2020 

    Jesus warned His followers directly: the world hated Him first, and it will hate them too — persecution is not a surprise but a promise 

    While brothers and sisters around the world face jail and death, believers everywhere can pray, gather, know their Bibles, live as lights, and trust God with every hard thing that comes

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