GATES OF WONDER

This meditation comes from an old book I found in a darkned corner of a used bookstore in Flagstaff, Arizona in August 2011. I got it this year on my summer vacation. It's not a large book, just 110 page in all, but one I just could not put down because it really "fed my spirit." I read it all in just one day, and then went back each day I was away to chewed on each chapter once again. I have gotten a lot out of this meditation.

Grace Noll Crowell

The lady who wrote this book was Grace Noll Crowell and it is entitled, "PROOFS OF HIS PRESENCE."
I am hoping to put up other chapters of this book in the coming days ... I just need to find the time to do that.

I'd like to thank "Feed My Sheep Ministries" in Phoenix, Arizona for handing out Bibles to hundreds and hundreds of migrant workers over the years that I've been a board member of their ministry. All those who give to them for this cause, have a great reward waiting for them in heaven. You will never know who you have touched with "Jesus," until you meet them one day in heaven. I thank you, and please don't stop giving to this great cause. Now for the Gates of Wonder...!

GATES OF WONDER

"Call upon Me, and I will answer you, and show you great
and mighty things, which you not of." -- Jeremiah 33:3

HE WHO OWNS A BIBLE AND HAS THE FAITH TO accept its teachings, who heeds the gracious command to call upon a higher power than his own in any need, stands before the opened gates of breathless wonderment. He has the promise, a promise that will be kept: he will see "great and mighty things" as he enters those portals.

The majesty, the marching music, the sheer poetry of God's Word, reach deep into the human heart and prepare it for further journeying into that vast interior hitherto undiscovered. The true seeker after knowledge is certain to find it therein.

It must be a source of great joy and a mighty revelation to be privileged to carry gift Bibles into the world's darkest places, to be able to give them out freely and gladly into eager, reaching hands.

One can all but see the first steps being taken into the wonderland; the book opens in trembling hands: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. . . . And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Light beginning to dawn in the shadowed places of a mind, as well as in a new universe opens up.

The rainbow, familiar after a storm, takes on new significance. Out under the countless stars, the voice of the great God Yahweh can be heard speaking to an intent listening one. A harp's plucked strings accompany the majesty and beauty of the psalms-and always the eager expectation of the coming of the Messiah.

Then there is a sudden break among the books of this great library. There comes the vital announcement "The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour, Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ)."

Here the greatest events in all history are to be unfolded for the first time to one entering those Gates of Wonder. He will enter and stand for a breathless moment beneath a molten silver star, half blinded by its brilliance. But beneath it he finds the infant Saviour and worships at His feet.

Selah

He comes into a great temple and listens to a young voice speaking with the learned doctors of the day, who are baffled by the lad's surprising knowledge of spiritual affairs. He sees the Messiah grown to manhood, ever moving with compassion among the suffering ones of earth, and he longs to fling himself at the Lord's feet for His healing power. He is amazed and hurt at the cruelty of mankind that would send the merciful One to death on a cross. He sees Him buried and, glory of glories!

Selah

He sees Him arise from the dead! His own immortality is thus assured! With what wonder and joy do those who have so hungered for knowledge of the Messiah receive the glad tidings! What white splendors dazzle their eyes as they see Him taking His way heavenward at last, leaving His followers to carry on the work He has begun! Has He not said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature"?

The recipient of that Bible knows in his heart that the giver of this wonderful gift is one of Messiah's followers. Light breaks in his heart. New glory floods his soul, for the Book preaches and teaches. It is a beautiful service for our Lord to open up gates that allow all who will to enter a land of pure delight, where they can find rest and peace through the unfailing promises of God's Word.

The following poem strives to picture the absorbed interest, the wonderment and joy, of one such recipient. It is a simple telling of a true incident. Sad to relate, however, this one who had never before possessed a Bible does not live in a heathen land, but in our own country. She is one of the countless migrant workers who move from place to place, following the harvest of field or orchard and laying down no roots of stability.

The gift, left by a Christian visitor, truly opened the Gates of Wonder for this child of God. Even before the visitor had left, this woman was so absorbed in the contents of the Book that she scarcely noted his departure. Such is the Power of the Word of God when it is received by an outward reaching heart, and eternity alone will tell the results.

The Migrant Worker


She had never owned a Bible in her life,
This worker of the fields . . . this tired one.
The temporary camps were dull and drab
That housed her tiredness when day was done.
And then a miracle . . . a giver came
Bearing a gift: the blessed Word of God,
And gave it to the eager waiting one
There in the cabin on the rutted sod.


She sank upon her cot, the precious Book
Open in her hands, her eyes aglow
Here was knowledge, here was living truth,
A thousand things that she had longed to know.
Her body tense with eagerness, she sat
Lost in a new world, lost in strange delight,
Within her hands the power to lead her through
Into the dawn, after the long, dark night.

Dear Lord, may we be among those who are following Your last command. May we, too, give out the precious gifts of Your Word to those who have no way of knowing You hitherto. Guide us that we may fling wide the gates of knowledge so that others may have abundant proof of Your unfailing love and guidance. We ask this of You Father God in Messiah's holy name. AMEN.

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Email: barbara@mayimhayim.org

If you want to give Bibles to people write us and well put you in touch with people who do that.

Shalom, Barbara <><

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