The Gates Of Surrender, By Susan Cummings

[Hidden In Him]

The Gates Of Surrender, By Susan Cummings



In a vision, I see a scene that spreads out before me. It is a scene of an ancient town or village. There are stone walls surrounding this village and the walls are thick and high. The stones are old and there are plants growing within some of the cracks in the stone walls.

The scene is around the days end, and it is late. I see some people sitting around near the town's walls. Some are camped outside the walls sitting by a fire, and a few are walking around the walls to go to another side. I do not see what is on the other side, so I continue to watch the scene that is spread out before me.

I study the walls for a few minutes. The walls are old, as I noted earlier. They are very tall and wide and have gaps here and there for windows, I guessed. There are no entrances on this side of the wall except for a very old gate that is completely blocked by brambles and stuff growing around it.

It must be why the people were walking around to the other side of the town wall. It seemed that no one has cleared this gate or gone through it for awhile. The only thing on this side of the wall was a camp of a few people and bushes, here and there.

I was curious, and wanted to see this gate. Instantly, as I thought about this gate, then I was taken closer to it in the vision.

The gate was indeed overgrown and very foreboding to look at. I too, would think twice about tackling the brambles before entering. It would leave you quite beat up and scratched if you tried to clear it all away from the door. The gate was closed as I peered through the brambles. It was a very heavy door and had a great big key still resting in the lock. Someone had not even bothered to remove it.

I laughed at myself then, for no one was going to take it anyways, with this mess growing all around the gate! I stood there looking at the gate. Then I noticed an inscription above the gate. It was hard to read as some of the brambles had grown over it. But I stood and reached through to move some of the branches out of the way. The inscription was very old and was etched into the rock above the gate. It read, "Surrender."

I stepped back and wondered how long it had been here. Who had made it and why it was no longer used. I wondered why no one cared to clear this passage and make good use of a gate that would give them entrance to the town.

The Lord then spoke to me, and said, "Surrender is the least used gates of all."

I turned and the Lord stood beside me. He was pointing to the gate.

He said, "This gate is the most valuable of all, and the least recognized. It is the most hated and the most feared, and men will do anything to not enter in through it even though it is the quickest entrance into the town."

"As you have guessed, this town represents My House, and it's current state of disrepair and workmanship. The gates are many, but the most important ones are often abused, neglected, controlled, or broken down. The ones that are used the most are the ones that lead to their business or fellowship places."

He then walked up to the brambles and took one in His hand.

He pointed and said to me, "Can you enter this gate?" I shook my head, and said, "Not without clearing the path first."

The Lord smiled broadly. "Yes," he said, "This is what I am doing."

"Many think they can bypass this gate and enter into what I am currently doing by going through another way. There is no other gate through which men can enter in by. For I AM the Gate, and all who come to the Father come only through here. It is through full surrender to Me that they truly enter in."

"I am not just talking about salvation. I have many sheep in many pastures."

"I am talking about fully abiding In Me. Surrender comes when you truly lay all things down, and can take My Yoke upon you, and drink from My Cup. Few can. Many take My Name, My Blood, My Word and My Throne and call it theirs. But few truly have died and laid themselves at My Feet and have given Me their life to make it into My Image. Few want to look like Me, think like Me, and live like Me. Fewer still, fully surrender to Me."

"I am coming for those who are Mine, who are fully surrendered to Me, and who live the crucified life. I am coming for those who bear My Cross and drink My Cup. I am coming for those who know My Sufferings and My Joy. I am coming for those who bear My Mark and who bear My Name within them. For I indeed write My Word and My Name upon the tablets of the hearts and minds of My People. Those who have given their hearts and minds to Me, and who walk fully in My Ways. These are also those who bear the reproach of men in their bodies and who bear My Holiness within them. They have allowed the work of My Father to be burnt within them and without. These are the truly Righteous Ones."

Jesus then stood back and stepped closer to where I was standing. He looked at me, and said, "I want you to enter the gate."

I looked back at the gate, and at the brambles. I swallowed, and said, "Okay. I will clear the way. I will open it again for others to pass through."

I then turned and began to reach for the branches. I pulled and the branches did not move easily. The brambles did not move. They seemed to be frozen in place. They were very strong, and over time, had become deeply entrenched in the ground. This was going to be very hard work.

I strained at the brambles and thought of ways that I could move the branches. There seemed to be no way that I could see. I looked around for something to dig with. I thought if I dug them out by the roots, then I could pull each bush out, one by one. But there was nothing. The Lord was still standing there, and He had no shovel either.

The Lord watched me intently. I was getting frustrated, and stood up. The brambles were not only not moving, but they were scratching me and scraping me as well. I had made no progress. I looked at the brambles and sat down.

(Continued next post)

 

[Hidden In Him]

I looked up at the walls, and there was nothing else around with which to use for leverage, to pry up under them with. No boards, nothing. There were a few people camped further from me, but they only watched me. "No interest there in helping me," I thought to myself.

The Lord sat down next to me. He said to me, "You cannot remove them by your own works."

"Men make the mistake thinking they can work their way to Me. They can clear and clean up their lives and make things right on their own. It is only when you come to the end of yourself and realize that you can do nothing and are nothing without Me is when you can truly surrender all. But men do not want to give me their wills."

"Only I can remove the brambles. For they are the defenses that men erect that prevent them from drawing closer to Me. Each bramble represents those things that give you security and comfort, and strength. They feed your self esteem and make you think you are whole. It is those things that your will relies upon to feed it and to maintain it's identity."

"It is when you understand that I AM truly your Lord and that you are not separate from Me, and that your will is My Will, then you can truly release the brambles in your life to Me. Until then, you will erect them and use them for your purposes and miss My Will for your life. When men choose My Will and fully embrace Me, then My Fire can fully come. It is My Fire that removes the brambles and all of the defenses that prevent them from knowing Me intimately. It is My Fire that will burn up all the debris that still remains, so that you can open the door and walk with Me freely."

I stood up, and went up to the brambles. I looked at them and touched their tangled knots of branches. I then said, "Lord, I surrender to you completely. Bring your Fire and burn up all debris, all the defenses, all of my identity, all of my self will. I am nothing without you."

Suddenly, all of the brambles just began to burn up before me. They just ignited, and were ablaze. I backed up and watched them as they burned. The brambles crackled in the flames as the fire burned the leaves and branches. There was such a sense of peace as I watched them burn. I waited as they burned down to patches of coals of fire, here and there.

I then walked through the patches of fires that still burned, and went up to the gate. The door was shut and the key was still in the old lock. It was indeed a heavy door. It was very big, and old, and it had steel bands that went through the panels. The key was a big old key and it has a rounded handle with a loop in it. I put my hand in the loop.

My hand fit perfectly within the loop. I took the key and went to turn the key. It would not turn. It had sat in the lock for a long time. It seemed to be stuck. It would not come out of the lock either. I thought for a minute. What is the key? Then, I thought, well, we enter in through the Blood. So, I said, "The Blood of Jesus Christ has atoned for me, that I may fully enter and walk intimately with Him."

The key turned and the lock clicked, and I touched the door. It was a very big door that towered over me and that many people could enter through at one time when it was open. The Lord then said, "I Am the door by which all men may enter, for I made the way available for all men. I am willing to let all pass through who wish to, but few choose to."

"Most go around this gate and try to find another way to enter in to My House. But they never deal with the root issues, the brambles, and are not truly surrendered to Me, and haven't given me their will, so I am not truly Lord."

"I take each child who comes to Me, and bring each of them through the gates to My House, one at a time. Each holds a Truth, and a key for their lives. Each brings them closer to Me and brings them a deeper knowledge of Me, but none will bring them closer or more intimate with Me, than this one. This is the most resisted and the most feared."

"If you do not fully surrender to Me, and become one with Me, and take on My Likeness and My Life, then I do not truly know you. Unless you are fully changed, you will remain a stranger, and be cast into outer darkness at My Coming."

"Men think they can camp on My Truths, and partake of a few things here and there, and make it their platform and defense, but they fail to apply Me, the Living Word, the whole Council of God, to their lives, and they are not fully changed. They only become more entangled with their works and become further alienated from Me."

"But you must fully embrace all of Me and utterly cast yourself upon Me, and take Me fully as your Lord and God. I alone will change you as you embrace Me. I alone can make you into My Image, and not of yourself. Do not take one Truth and discard another, but fully embrace all of My Word, and let it do it's work within you. Do not elevate one Truth above another and build upon them, but eat them, and let them abide within you."

"My Word is to be eaten and not built upon and used for men's purposes. It is to be embraced. It is to be partaken of, and the fruit of it will be walked out. It is the Life that is in My Word when properly partaken of that will be reflected outwardly. That is what will be seen. The Surrendered Life is a visible life that is seen by all. It is hated by many."

"When I am fully reflected, then true change has come."

"This House is My House. It is built upon the foundations of many generations before you. It has seen many days of Glory and many days of defeat. It is currently fallen and in some places it is in disrepair, and those who pass by it and through it, do not strengthen the walls, and do not clean up or repair the gates. They only care for their own business matters and not for My House. They do not want to change. That will now change."

"I am bringing the true Gate Keepers and they will repair the Gates."

"I am tearing down everything that is not built by Me in this Hour, and nothing built by men will stand while My House is fallen and in disrepair. Every foundation will be exposed, and Mine will be raised up. I AM the Lord of My House, and I will have a Holy House fit for My Use."

"Be diligent in your quest for Truth and always fully embrace Me. Allow My Word to be formed even more within you and eat of it often. If My Words abide within you then I will come in further, and as you make more room for Me I will continue to sup with you, and share the meat with you from My Father's table. For the meat is not given to those who only desire bread. It is given to those who have surrendered fully to Me."

The Lord then turned and pushed the door open, and entered the city with walls.

-Susan Cummings, September 18th, 2005 at 3:58 in the morning