"It's Time To Come Up Higher!"

Happy Sunday!

Bishop Alexis A. Thomas preached, "It's Time To Come Up Higher!" He used Revelation 4:1 as his reference scripture.

My mother used to say, "You raise corn, and you rear children". Bishop echoed that sentiment and reminded us...we were reared with discipline and order. We had structure and guidelines. We were reared with expectations, etiquette, respect for elders, and authority figures. Thank you, was non-negotiable. You did what you were told, and stayed out of grown-folks conversations. We were so blessed to have people in our lives that refused to allow us to be less than the best. Of course, we didn't like it or appreciate it at the time but we see the benefit in our lives today.

The Apostle John was banished to the Isle of Patmos for preaching the Gospel. Marvelous things were revealed to him there. Revelation 4:1 says, "Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” (New Living Translation)John had experienced the ministry and miracles of Jesus first-hand. He was part of twelve disciples and became one of the first Apostles. He had seen many wonderful things, but his guide instructed him to come up higher, and see more!

No matter where you are in life at this moment, God says, "Come Up Higher!" You may have several advanced degrees, a successful business, and a thriving ministry, but there is still more you can accomplish! Erma Bombeck said, "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me".

Our enemy wants us to be comfortable, mediocre, and average. God reminds us in the Word, "But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted." 1 Peter 2:9 (Message Translation)

The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:13, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (King james Version) We tend to use this scripture to say we are forgetting the bad things, and pressing forward to the good things. But consider this, the Apostle Paul was encouraging the church not to rest on their "laurels" or the accomplishments of the past, but to continue to move forward, come up higher! He even wrote, "We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book. The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness." Philippians 3:2-9 (Message Translation)

It's Time To Come Up Higher! Bishop encouraged us to start immediately! If you have been habitually late for work, start by being early tomorrow. Read a book, take a class, volunteer, or just clean out that hall closet. It's Time To Come Up Higher!

Love and prayers, Cynthia