All In, All Flame | Higher Ground - Pastor Chris Mitchell

Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week.

For more information about our church, please visit therockfamily.tv.

Now join us for a message from Pastor Chris Mitchell.

I want to give part of my testimony.

Most of you know that I was saved at uh 15 years old.

After I had already begun to develop what I would call life-controlling habits.

Um several different patterns, behavior patterns were becoming set in my life, and I I found myself really far, I'll just say that, really far from God.

And um I can remember coming home, and I'm going somewhere with this because I want to do this before we get into the word.

I um I I can remember coming home um uh high, I'll just say it that way, high.

As as very, very young.

And I can remember looking uh underneath the my my brother's bedroom door, the light would still be on and and it would be shining out, and sometimes I would kind of pause and I would put my ear up to his door.

And I could hear him praying, and I can hear him calling my name out before the Lord.

And this has become so um real to me this week for some reason, and I think it it could be for this moment right now.

But if it wasn't for my older brother Jeff's prayers, I really don't believe I'd be sitting in front of you this morning.

I do not believe that if he had not prayed me into the kingdom, out of darkness, into the kingdom, that I don't believe that I would be sitting here today.

And I think that I can be confident enough to say that every single one of us that are saved in this room and that are going to spend eternity with Jesus, it's because someone prayed you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

So I want to do this.

I want I've I've really felt this that we should do this this morning.

I want us to pray for our prodigals.

I want us to pray for those that we've been praying for.

But I but I want us to do it together and I want you to call their name out.

Uh and if you feel so inclined, you can kind of lean over to the one to the right or left of you and say, Yeah, it's it's it's my son or my daughter.

Just say their first name so that we can all get in agreement right now and call them in.

And I want to say to any prodigal that's in the room today, if you're here and you're like I was, you're far from God.

You've strayed, your heart has gotten cold for whatever reason.

But here you are this morning.

Here you are in a place with a lot of people who love Jesus, where the presence of the Lord is.

And I can almost promise you that someone somewhere in your family is praying for you today.

It's praying for you to be in a service like this, is praying for you to encounter some people like us.

Come on.

Amen.

So that you can have a homecoming day.

Why not today?

Why not come home today?

Why not come to your senses and turn and come back into relationship or back into alignment and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Uh, I can tell you that his arms are open wide.

I can tell you that what Stephanie was feeling this morning, that he is lavishing his love on us, that's exactly what he's doing.

That's exactly what he wants to do is to pour love into your heart, pour it into your soul, pour it into your being, your family, pour it into your life.

Because how many of you know love is a very powerful thing?

Come on, love is a very, very powerful thing, especially when it's God's love.

Matter of fact, I'm not sure it can be love if it's not God's love.

But would you pray with me?

I want us to really pray for a moment.

I want you to call their name out.

I want us to I want us to do this and just take a moment.

Father, this morning in the name of Jesus, how wonderful it is to be in your presence, how great it is to know you as our Lord and Savior.

But God, our hearts are burdened today.

Our hearts are even broken today.

Lord, because we are crying out for a son, a daughter, a sister, a brother, a mom, a dad, a husband, a wife, a friend, a cousin, an aunt, an uncle.

Lord, we call their name out right now before you in the name of Jesus.

I call out Mazzy, Lord.

I call out Jacob to you, Lord Jesus.

I call out Lance to you, oh God.

I call out Mac to you this morning.

Lord, I call out Dan to you today.

Father, I pray for Suzanne this morning.

God, I call them out.

I call them out before you.

We stand before you again.

But Lord, with great confidence and hope and faith and praise.

We praise you, Lord, for bringing them home.

We praise you.

Lord, I've heard it said that you're the hound of heaven, that you will get on their trail and you won't give up, Lord, until they have turned, until they have ran into your arms.

That's our prayer today.

That's our cry.

That's our praise.

That's our thanksgiving in the strong name of Jesus.

Everyone says, Amen, amen, amen.

Amen.

All right.

Um, you know, the series is kind of coming to an end.

Uh, we're still kind of finishing up all in, all flame.

Today is, I don't know what I'm doing.

I'm trying to get my sleeve to come down.

Sorry about that.

It's the anesthesia.

Um we we've talked a good bit about the holiness of God.

We've talked about the presence of God.

We've talked about uh strange fire.

Uh we've talked about acceptable sacrifices.

Uh, we've talked about what it looks like to be filled with holy fire, to be filled with that purging, purifying fire of God.

Uh, how many of you have enjoyed it?

I have enjoyed this series, okay?

All right, about a third of you.

That's good.

That's good.

Praise God.

Um, but I just wanted to remind us that that we're in a we're in a season, we're in a time, we're in a we're in a time of teaching and learning and equipping and growing uh in our understanding and our knowledge of his holiness and of his presence and of his ability and of his power, but also that he's a God of order, right?

That he's a God uh who expects you know uh obedience, who expects us to follow his commands, and then follows that up that says, you know, there's blessings that come with that, there's rewards that come with following and with serving and with honoring and with obeying him.

Um I want to ask you these three questions and kind of let you locate yourself this morning of where you are.

And that's it, that's the first question: where are you?

Uh not just sitting in the sanctuary here at the Rock Family this morning, but where are you in your life?

Where are you in this season of your life?

Because all of us are somewhere.

Amen.

All of us are somewhere.

And then after you say, okay, I believe this is where I'm at, because I will qualify it by saying that all, or not not all, but most of us in the room are work we're coming into something.

You you're coming into a relationship, you're coming into a new job, you're coming into uh a new chapter, all right?

So it's it's that coming into moment.

Uh how how many of you in the room are in the middle of something?

You've already come into it, and you're hoping you're in the middle.

You're like, I hope I hope I'm somewhere in the middle of this thing, and that uh how many in the room are feeling like I'm coming out of it, right?

So where are you?

Are you just now kind of entering into something?

And when I say something, kind of has that connotation of it of some adversity, some trial, some tests, uh, some valley, maybe, maybe some uh difficulty, something that you might be uh walking into, could have been unexpected, or you could have been expecting it.

Uh it could be that you have been in it for a while, you've been in a situation, you've been in some circumstances that you're really just praying to end, you're praying for it to lift, you're praying for the clouds to break, right?

You're playing, praying for this.

Can I is am I talking to anybody this morning?

Trying to get us kind of on the same page this morning.

And then how many of you would wave at me and say, Chris, I really believe I'm coming out of it?

I I do.

I uh I feel the lifting, I uh I feel the peace.

I feel the joy of the Lord, you know, and uh I'm sensing that that a new day is dawning, right?

Uh that we we're coming into a, we say it a lot, we're coming into a new season, coming into a new day.

Uh but sometimes to get into those, you've got to go through.

You've got to go through the things that that you might be experiencing right now.

So I want to talk to you for a few moments today about higher ground.

Everyone say higher ground.

A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Scott did a beautiful job of telling us and teaching and equipping us about holy ground.

How many of you were here for that or you listened, you listened online?

It was uh it was one of the most powerful days that I feel like we've had in a long time.

And I wasn't even in the room.

I was at home uh recovering, and that's when we had the kids and the prayer line.

Yeah, you know, and folks, matter of fact, one of our elders was telling me this week that his uh his PSA levels were high, and he was concerned.

The doctors were concerned, and he went back like last week, and the doctor said, You don't even have to see me anymore, everything's gone back to normal.

But it was after it was after that prayer line.

It was after him going through and letting our young people and letting our children lay hands on him and pray for him.

Jamie and I were at home watching when all of that was happening.

Uh, if you've ever watched online, you know it's it's it can be iffy.

Uh you can stay engaged or you can eat breakfast, right?

And try to stay engaged.

Uh or you can multitask and try to stay engaged.

We were very engaged that morning, and I I am happy to report that the presence of the Lord filled our house.

Filled our house during worship, filled our house during that prayer time.

Then, of course, it amped up when they stuck the mic in front of our granddaughter's face, and our little Addy prayed that two-line prayer that just rocked our world.

Felt like it did something here in the room, too.

And then Pastor Scott just brought that word, and it was it was, I don't like just the term icing on the cake because it was so substantive and powerful.

And if you didn't get to hear it, you hadn't listened to it, please, please go back.

Higher ground is is closely related to it.

It's got some different nuances to it that I want to bring out that I want to share with you this morning, and that is Isaiah chapter 57 and verse 15, is where we're going to start.

Isaiah 57 · chapter mention

Isaiah 57 and 15.

It should be on the screen behind me, is it?

Okay, good.

Thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy.

He says, I dwell in the high and holy place.

Everyone say place.

I dwell with him who has a contrite and a humble spirit.

Isn't it amazing that the high and lofty, holy one, God our Father, dwells in a high and holy place, but look who he dwells with is those who live with a low understanding and mindset of themselves.

Those who are humble, those who are broken, those who are contrite.

Can I say it this way?

Those who are not prideful, those who are not arrogant, those who are not religious.

Are y'all with me this morning?

That's where he dwells.

High, lofty, inhabiting eternity, dwelling in a place.

Everybody say it again.

A place, an eternal place.

I want you to jump over to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4 through 6.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

And again, it's going to be on the screen.

But as you can see, I like to have a Bible with paper and letters on it, words on it.

Yeah.

Ephesians 2, 4 through 6.

God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved.

Look what he did.

He has raised us up together and has made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show us the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

So say places.

Say heavenly places.

So for the follower, the believer, the one who is saved, the one, the child of God, right?

There are heavenly places, elevated, more stable, where you can get a better perspective, I mean, closer to God because of the vantage point that you can have on the higher ground.

And this is my prayer for myself.

It's my prayer for all of us, is that we could begin to see from his vantage point.

That we could begin to see our circumstances and see our lives from his vantage point.

The only way you and I get to the heavenly places is to know that we were dead in our trespasses and sins, and that it's he who has cleansed us, washed us with his blood, and it's he who has raised us up.

It's he who has already resurrected us.

We're going to be resurrected in the end.

Come on.

But there's all where we've been, there's already been a resurrection of our spirit, a resurrection of our soul, an awakening.

We have been born again.

All right?

If you come over just a couple of epistles to Colossians chapter 3, 1 through 3, you're going to see some of the same verbiage that Paul was using as he spoke to the church at Ephesus.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Now he's talking to the Christians at Colossae.

And he says, if you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on things above and not on things of the earth.

Listen, you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Is Colossians 3.

Probably one of my, I have a hard time saying what's my favorite.

Do y'all have a favorite epistle, a favorite chapter, a favorite verse?

Most of mine are found in the book of Colossians.

But he says these two things to us in order for us to begin to dwell in a higher place, to begin to live on what we would call higher ground, is that we will seek properly and that we will set our minds.

He says, seek those things which are above.

What does that say?

Seek.

Seek ye first.

Matthew 6, 33, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Amos says, seek the Lord while he may be found.

He also says in Amos, seek the Lord that you may live.

I know those are not on the screen for you, but just to see the priority and the first of what you and I should be seeking.

The pursuit, that's what it speaks of, seeking those things which are above, speaks to our pursuit, speaks to our priority, speaks to him being first.

And then what are those things?

Well, it says that Christ is there, and that he is sitting at the right hand of God.

So we really could just we could take it and not make it plural and just seek him, right?

Because he is the the con it.

Whatever you could say right now, whatever you uh righteousness, grace, peace, joy, mercy, loving kindness, power, all of the things, right, uh he possesses, and and and he is the fullness of, uh it says this in Colossians, he is the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

What else is there?

If we're talking about heaven, if we're if we're talking about heavenly places, if we're talking about eternity, what what is there?

What's in eternity?

Well, authority is there.

Amen.

So that should be a pursuit.

That should be something that you and I are seeking to understand and to operate in is the authority that has been delegated to you and I through the cross of Jesus Christ.

You and I have authority.

We're walking on the earth as agents for God.

We are ambassadors, we are representatives of His in the earth.

Amen.

So we want to seek to understand and to operate in the authority.

The peace is there.

How many of you could use some peace?

Seek the peace of God.

The joy of the Lord is there.

Seek after, pursue.

The joy of the Lord is our strength.

Gonna be a lot of worship there, a lot of worship going on in heaven.

Y'all read it?

If you read Revelation, there's a lot of worship going on.

A lot of singing, a lot of bowing, a lot of praising, a lot of shouting, a lot of dancing, a lot of rejoicing.

Because we made it home, right?

Because we made it home.

This is not exhaustive.

There's a lot of light.

There is no darkness in heaven.

You don't turn the light off and take a nap up there.

Come on.

You don't you don't seek a quiet and solitude place there.

It's gonna have all of it.

It's just not gonna have darkness.

It's gonna be light.

We live in a world where we should be seeking light.

We should be seeking the light of God, the light of the world, obviously, is Jesus.

All right.

So then he says, set your mind.

One translation says, set your affections on things above.

Set your mind on the same things which are above.

So you want to establish your thoughts.

You want to understand, right?

Get some understanding in your thoughts, get some order, get some alignment.

It's gonna take some careful consideration.

There's gonna it's gonna take intention.

Uh you really want to develop an attitude based on careful thought.

Set your mind.

Too many of us, our minds race, our minds wonder.

We have difficulty controlling our thoughts.

And the enemy, the enemy uses, tries to get into our mind and get into our thoughts and shoot those, like Ephesians says, shoot those flaming arrows, those darts, to see if we'll think about it.

Because if he can get you to think about it, then he can get you to talk about it.

If he can get you thinking and talking, then he'll try to get you to act on it.

That's the way the enemy works, it works the same way on the kingdom side.

Works the same way on the opposite side.

When you get the scripture in there, when you get who God is and who he says that he is and what he says about you, and you begin to think on that, and then you begin to say out loud what he says, what his word says about your circumstances or your situation or where you are in your life, and then you begin to act that out, you begin to walk that out.

How many of you know now righteousness, peace, and joy?

Surely goodness and mercy are gonna follow me all the days of my life.

Because I'm learning to dwell, I'm learning to abide, I'm learning to sit, I'm learning to take my place on higher ground in a place of authority and worship and humility and brokenness.

And contriteness with him.

This is not on the screen, it's not in the notes.

I'm sorry, it came late.

But God is into places.

John 14, he said, he said, hey, I'm going to prepare a place for you.

He tells us, he says, in my father's house, there are many rooms.

One translation says, many mansions, right?

I got to tell you, I don't care if it's a room or a mansion, Jesus has had like a couple of thousand years to work on this thing.

How many of you know it's going to be pretty nice?

It's going to be alright.

But he's gone to prepare a place in that same chapter.

Listen to what he said.

He said, if you will love me and you will follow and keep my commands, he said, We, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, we will come and we will make our home in you.

That's not for there.

That's for here.

He will come.

Oh man, Pastor Scott sent us all this beautiful thing this morning about what he's praying over us today and just talking about how that the Rock family is a place for all of us to call home.

We say it.

It's it's welcome home.

What does that connotate?

It connotates a family, connotates togetherness, it connotates love.

It communicates that you come here and we're going to, I like what Pastor Russell used to say.

We're going to love you in so many ways, you're going to like one of them.

You'll like at least one.

Right?

You're going to probably like at least one of them.

Higher ground, you can see it on the screen.

It's more than an event, it's more than a perspective.

It's a place of growth and revelation and advancement.

And it's a place of victory.

How do I identify, Chris?

How do I know if I'm on higher ground?

Here's some qualifying statements.

Higher ground is I once was lost, but now I'm found.

You see that?

If you were lost, how many of you know you're living a little bit lower than what life has to offer?

But when you say yes, and when you come to Jesus, and when you're forgiven, and when you're walking in relationship with him, I can tell you that that's higher ground.

What about I was empty, but now I'm filled?

Has anybody been filled with the Holy Spirit?

Filled with the Holy Spirit, filled again and again and again with the Holy Spirit, overflowing with the Holy Spirit, living in the Spirit, abiding in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, listening to the Spirit, following the Spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit of God.

That's higher ground, friends.

That's a life of higher ground.

I was an orphan, but now I've been adopted.

That's what Romans 8 says.

We were orphans.

We were wandering about.

We were destitutes.

Right?

Every time I say that, I think of the song Desperado.

Desperado.

Why don't you come to your senses?

What is it?

Stop mending fences?

That's all I know.

I know Joe Cocker sang it.

Anyway.

You've been adopted.

How about I was poor, but I've been made rich.

This world keeps us in a state of poverty.

This world system, the enemy, darkness, deception.

The lies of the enemy keeps us in a keeps us in a place of poverty.

Now I'm not just talking about financially.

I'm not talking just about material things.

But how many of you know in relationship with Christ, we've been made rich in him?

Rich in his grace, rich in his mercy, rich in his love, rich in his goodness.

I was blind, but now I see.

Those are qualifiers.

That's how you know that you're now standing on some higher ground.

Higher ground is secure footing.

It's secure footing.

Psalm 40, verse 2.

Psalms 40:2

And you can see the contrast because I love Colossians 1:13.

Colossians 1:13

For them to be beside each other.

Someone needs to know I'm preaching right now, but anyway, there you go.

Okay.

In Psalm 40, verse 2, this is what David said.

Psalms 40:2

He said, He lifted me out of the slimy pit and he set my feet on a rock and gave me what?

A firm place to stand.

Anybody been lifted out of some stuff?

Been lifted out of some addictions?

Been lifted out of some past, some brokenness, some hurts.

Anybody been lifted out?

If you've been through freedom, you've been lifted out.

Amen.

Been set free.

Colossians 1 13 says that, on this translation, it says that he has translated or transferred us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, into the kingdom of his dear son.

I like to say that I was rescued out of darkness and I was relocated into the kingdom of light, into the kingdom of righteousness, into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

How many in the room and listening, if you're watching or listening, how many have you been rescued?

A lot of folks get rescued, but for some reason they don't they don't follow through with the relocation.

Continue to stay in the sin, stay in the pattern, stay in the addiction, stay in the problem, stay, you know, keep up, keep the issues going, keep the flesh and the carnal side, keep it all fed and nourished and replenished, but at the same time trying to say I'm saved, trying to say I'm living for Jesus, trying to say I'm walking with God.

No, I'm telling you that he has the power to snatch you out of that darkness, out of that deception, out of those lies, out of that past, and set you, place you into the kingdom of light and of our dear son.

God is really good, y'all, at getting us from unstable conditions to firm, stable places.

I'll say that again.

He can get us from unstable conditions and move you into a place where your feet are set, your heart is set, your spirit is set, your life is set on firmer foundation and on firmer ground.

Higher ground could be identified like this.

It can be peaks, there'll be peaks, but it's also plateaus.

It can be peaks, but it can also be plateaus.

I want to talk about that for just a moment.

Higher ground, just a brush by on these peaks in the Old Testament.

And we've talked about most of them through our all-flame series, so you're going to have a frame of reference.

The first one is in Genesis chapter 22.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

It's very familiar.

It's when Abraham went up to Mount Moriah.

God had told him to take Isaac, bring him up here.

I want you to sacrifice him to me.

Y'all know the whole story.

They get to the top of the mountain.

On the way up, Isaac has said, Hey, uh, Father, because he had seen this done.

He had seen the sacrifice.

He he had he had watched his father worship the Lord.

So on the way up, he said, Dad, I see the wood, I see the fire, I see the knife.

He said, But where's the sacrifice?

Where's the sacrifice?

Abraham looked at his son and said, God will provide the sacrifice, son.

You get some clues in this whole thing because before they went up, he looked at his servants.

He told his servants, Abraham did, he said, Me and the boy are going to go to the top of that mountain and we're going to worship, and then we're going to return.

Come on.

He knew that if he had to take the life of his son, if he had to sacrifice him to God, that God would raise him up and resurrect him right in front of him.

That's the faith of our father Abraham.

Come on.

So they get up there.

Y'all know.

I've got an imagination.

I mean, what do y'all think it was like?

Do you think I was Isaac like, oh, what's up, Dad?

I mean, was there a chase?

Was it difficult for old Abraham?

I mean, come on, Isaac could have got away from him very easily.

Right?

Old fella.

Older than me.

Yeah.

But no, it it's the same as he laid on the he laid down on the altar, on the wood.

And his dad raised, you know, Abraham raises the knife.

And the angel of the Lord says that.

Not necessary.

Not necessary.

Obedience is better than sacrifice.

And obedience showed up in the form of a ramp on the other side of the hill there.

Coming up the other side of the mountain.

Right?

That was the mountain of God's provision.

All of us need peaks in our lives where we see the provision of God.

Where we see his mighty hand provide whatever it is that needed.

He truly is Jehovah Jirah in our behalf.

The next one is over in Exodus 19 and 20.

Of course, that was when Moses went up to the Mount Sinai.

And I heard one old preacher say Sinai.

He went to Sinai.

Went up there to Sinai, older than me.

And we all know that this peak, this mountaintop for Moses represented a it was a face-to-face encounter.

It was face to face with God.

It was one-on-one with God.

This was where God, with his own finger, wrote on the stones, the commandments, and gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments and the guidelines for life.

All of that happened.

All of that happened in a couple of experiences.

It wasn't just one.

Moses actually trapped a couple of, you know, went down, came back up a couple of times to Mount Sinai.

The glory of the Lord, the fire of God, the cloud of the Lord was there to greet him.

And it was the presence.

It was the manifest presence of God.

All of us need peaks in our lives where we experience and where we where we enjoy and where we know that the manifest presence of God has is here and is making this happen and is and is with us.

The next one, the last one, uh again, not exhaustive, but Elijah on Mount Carmel, that's 1 Kings 18, verse 19.

1 Kings 18:19

Again, a brush by.

They played instruments, they did all kinds of things to try to get Baal, a dead idol, to answer them and to show up by fire.

And Elijah says, Are y'all done?

Right?

Y'all, y'all through?

I want to make sure you have ample time and opportunity to get Baal to show up.

It doesn't look like he's coming.

Doesn't look like he's gonna make it.

So let me let me talk to God.

I love what he says though.

He taunts them.

He's taunting them while they're trying to get Baal to show up.

Maybe he's in the bathroom.

That's what he said.

Maybe he's going on vacation.

Maybe he's asleep.

This is a bold, courageous prophet.

And then he calls on God.

And God answers by fire, licks up that sacrifice, takes care of all of that deception, takes care of all those lies, right?

All of us need some Mount Carmel's in our life where we see the power of God.

That was God's power.

Abraham saw God's provision.

Moses saw God's presence.

Elijah experienced God's power.

And that's what you and I need from time to time those peaks in our lives where we see you just your mind is blown, right?

You walk away and you say things like, There's not that this could not have happened except by the power of God.

It was God who did this.

It was God who made this happen.

It was God who showed up.

And can I tell you, in that instance, it was to get victory over the demonic forces.

And you and I need victory over demonic forces today.

You and I need to realize that there's an unseen realm that very much is pulling and working for our demise.

They want very much for you and I to fail.

They want us to be miserable like them.

Come on.

They want to drag you into deception and into darkness and into sin and into habits and behaviors that will keep you in that pattern and keep you from getting to higher ground.

We can say that peaks are about clarity.

You can see that from those three mountaintops.

Clarity, vision.

They can be now in the New Testament, these can be peaks of refreshing.

They can be peaks of breakthrough.

I could sit here the rest of the day and tell you of times over the last 50 years of walking with Jesus, of services, of meetings, of messages, of just solitary times with him where he showed up and where he did exactly what he did on those peaks.

He just did it for me.

Come on.

Amen.

He's got those personal experiences for you and I.

I want to make this clearer to you.

I want to bring you up higher.

I want you to be able to see this.

I want you to see further.

I want to give you fresh vision, right?

And sometimes you got to get out of the valley and get to a peak and to a mountaintop with him.

That's, yeah, it's in your spirit, it's in your mind, it's in your worship.

But man, we got some great, we got some pretty good high points around here, don't we?

We got some places to get to.

Until you go to like North Carolina or those smokies, and then you realize we have hills.

But they're still high enough.

You can see pretty good.

Out outpourings that marked you.

Times when the manifest presence of God was.

Do y'all have those?

Do y'all have those marks in your life?

Let me see.

Just wave at me.

Times in your journey with Him.

Or he filled the room, or He filled the service, or He filled the day.

Plateaus are different.

Plateaus are more about formation.

They're more about holding the ground that you've gained.

They're more about growing in the knowledge that you've gained.

And then learning to live above what I would call a valley mindset.

How many of you know that valleys are meant to pass through?

A lot of us camping down there in the valley.

Let's go.

Let's move on through.

Let's get through this valley of weeping.

Let's get through this valley of sorrow.

Let's get through this valley of adversity.

Let's get through this valley of trial.

Let's get through the can I make it?

Let's get through this valley of divorce.

Come on.

Let's get through this valley of loss and pain.

You're not meant to live in that place.

You're not meant to live in the valley.

He made us to live on higher ground.

He made us to tread on higher ground.

All right.

We've got a great illustration of it.

Just a few miles down the road.

If you get on Highway 231, head toward Arab, Alabama.

If you're not from Alabama, Arab, from Arab, Alabama.

I call it Arab.

But you get on the Sand Mountain Plateau and you can go from there about 90 miles toward Tennessee and Georgia.

And it's 800 feet above the valleys that it goes through.

And it's about 15 miles wide.

I guess in a spiritual sense, that's what I'm trying to convey to us today.

God has plateaus for you and I to live on.

He has plateaus for you and I to rise to.

That we can grow, that we can live there.

That's above the valley.

The higher ground.

Can we say the heavenly place?

It's just, it's, it's, it's up from where from where we're living.

The plateau is that's where salvation is.

That's where the baptism of the Holy Spirit is.

That's where the renewing of your mind, that's where the joyful, faithful, righteous living really begins to set in and take, begins to take root in our hearts and in our lives.

And we begin to walk out who He has put us on the earth to be.

What about this?

God wants to build habits instead of moments.

And the two main habits that I would share with you is that He wants you to consistently come to Him first.

First.

Make Him your first choice, your first counsel.

Make Him your first prayer.

Make Him the one that you go to right at the beginning.

How many times have we said, Well, I've done everything I know to do?

I guess I'll pray.

I guess now I'll go to God with it.

No, go to Him first with it.

Get some answers, get some guidance, get some insight.

Amen.

You find that on higher ground.

Consistently go to Him.

Dependency on His Word.

That's a habit.

These peaks, these mountaintops, they're wonderful, they're great, they're helpful, they're beneficial, but you can't live on a mountain.

You can live on a plateau.

You can live on a plateau, friends.

Dependency on His Word.

What does His Word say?

What has He already said about what you're dealing with?

I need a word from God.

I need God to speak to me.

I need Him to show up for me.

Open your Bible.

He'll speak, He'll guide, He'll show you.

Depend, become dependent, rely on, confident in the Word of God.

What about some steps to higher ground?

Greg, if you can come back to the keys.

Steps to higher ground.

Three what I would call practical, not so easy, but practical steps.

The first one is this is that you and I develop a holy dissatisfaction with where we are.

Hope that makes sense.

I'm content in Christ.

I'm content in my relationship with him.

I'm content in knowing that I'm going to spend eternity with him.

But I also know in my knower that there is more.

There is more to experience, there is more to know, there is more to live, there is more to be empowered with so that you and I can live on this earth as his bold witnesses.

We can live on this earth as his, like I've said, or the word says, like his ambassadors.

We can represent him.

Amen.

A holy dissatisfaction.

Lord, I I'm I'm I'm pretty good.

And some of you are like, no, I'm not good with where I'm at.

I'm really not.

I'm not satisfied.

It's actually a pretty good place to be in.

Because today should be a day to where you address that.

And you say, you know what?

I want to know you.

I want to know you more.

I want to know you deeper.

I want to know.

You greater?

Amen.

What about more interaction with the Holy Spirit?

These are steps.

How do I live in this, Chris?

How do I enjoy what you're saying?

More interaction with the Holy Spirit.

More conversation.

More leaning into.

More quietness and listening for that still small voice to guide you, to direct you.

Getting serious about when we're out and about.

When we're shopping, when we're getting the groceries, when we're in our routine, when we're doing life, interacting with the Holy Spirit all along the way.

Interacting.

Talking.

Listening.

Following His prompting.

Following His leading.

Watching what He will do.

Watching how He will use you in some of the most unusual times and places, and yet in some of the most mundane and just regular routine places.

Because you leaned in and you paused and you looked around.

Right?

Instead of just head down, list, get it done, get in the car, get home, just take a moment, look around.

See who's around you.

See who might need that witness or that ambassador, that carrier of his presence to show up in their life for a moment.

Amen.

Amen.

What about this?

We get to higher ground when we lay aside the weights that keep us from climbing.

When we lay aside Hebrews talks about laying aside the sin and the weight that so easily besets us that keeps us from running the race.

I'm using it to say to get to higher ground.

What is it today?

I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me when I was preparing, because I don't like to give lists of here's some things you might need to repent about.

I'd love for the Holy Spirit to work with you right now over these next few moments.

And for you to be honest with yourself and to possibly wake up if you need to.

If there's a pattern or if there's something that's going on that he's going to ask you to lay down today.

But you know what?

I got prompted by hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy.

Love you like sugar.

And then just cut you to shreds behind your back.

I was in a room a few days ago.

I gotta be careful because I don't want to give it all away.

Not trying to throw people under the bus.

But I was in a room the other day where some folks were talking about their peers.

And in not a real positive way.

Very judgmental, cutting.

If their peers had heard them talking about them and saying what they were saying, it would have broken their hearts.

So you know what it is?

I said, hey y'all.

Say it in my face.

Because what you're doing to your friends right now, it's no blind on.

It got just like that.

Just like this in that room.

That's what got it like.

Oh.

I thought this was what we did.

We just we just playing.

We just, what do we say?

Cutting up.

We are.

We are.

I'm guilty.

But what are the other areas of hypocrisy in our lives?

And hypocrisy is just two-faced.

You're saying that you're doing this and you're actually doing that.

You're portraying that you're living a certain way, but you're actually living another way.

It's hypocrisy.

Needs to be repented of, needs to be put before the Lord.

Needs to be cast down and out.

Amen?

That's just one thing.

Y'all stand with me.

Let me close this up today.

Did a little bit of research.

I used to sing an old song.

And it's called I'm Pressing on the Upward Way.

How many of you know that song?

I'm Pressing on the Upward Way.

Let me see.

That's what I thought.

About seven of us.

The song was written by Johnson Oatman Jr.

His picture is on the back wall.

He was a Methodist brother, a Wesleyan Methodist.

Loved Jesus.

In his 30s, he started writing hymns.

By this time, he's an insurance salesman.

That's what he did for a living.

I'd buy insurance from that guy, wouldn't you?

So Johnson is responsible for writing over 3,000 hymns.

One of them was I'm pressing on the upward way.

Probably the one that you and I might recognize the most was count your many blessings.

Name them one by one.

He wrote that.

But here's a guy who had his ear to what the Lord was saying.

And the words are there.

I don't know if the font is large enough.

I'm actually going to just read it right quick.

I'm pressing on the upward way.

New heights I'm gaining every day.

Still praying as I'm onward bound.

My prayer, my aim is higher ground.

My heart is no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay.

Though some may dwell where those abound, my prayer, my aim is higher ground.

I want to live above the world.

Though Satan's darts at me are hurled, for faith has caught the joyful sound, the song of saints on higher ground.

I want to scale the utmost heights and catch a gleam of glory bright.

But still I'll pray till heaven I've found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

Lord, lift me up.

This is what I'm talking about today.

And let me stand by faith on heaven's table land.

Not talking about living on a mountain peak.

I'm talking about finding those plateaus in God, in my relationship with Him, where I can grow, where I can live at a higher level, have higher thinking.

Come on.

Amen.

My mind can be renewed where I can live in the joy of the Lord, live in the peace of God, live in the presence of the Lord.

Is he in the valley?

Yes.

Can I do all of those things in the valley?

Yes.

But you're in the valley.

And there's a valley mindset that can set in on us that we think we're going, I'm just locked in here.

This is going to be my existence.

I've just got to succumb.

I've got to give in.

I've got to give up and just stay in this valley.

I'm calling you higher, but I believe the Holy Spirit's calling us all higher today.

He's calling us higher.

He's calling us up.

Lord, lift me up and let me stand by faith on heaven's table, land a higher plane.

That's not an airplane.

A higher plane, a place than I have found.

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

This is not going to come on the screen, but I believe it could be prophetic utterance for some of us.

Could be for the rock family.

I'm going to read these verses over us.

Won't you close your eyes?

This is Isaiah chapter 40, verses 1 through 5.

Isaiah 40:1–5

Comfort, comfort, my people, says your God.

Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned.

For she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.

Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

This is for you, my friend.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low.

The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

I want to invite you.

You can either come forward or you can make an altar where you stand today.

But let's go through those three.

How do I get to higher grounds?

How do I get to that place, those heavenly places that He wants me to, He's raised me up to dwell in.

I want you to find some holy dissatisfaction with where you are.

Lord, I know there's more.

Hungry, thirsty.

Holy Spirit, do your work.

And then make a commitment.

Let's make a commitment today that we're going to interact with and we're going to speak with and we're going to follow and listen to the Holy Spirit more than ever before.

And we're going to wake up in the morning.

We're going to go throughout our days.

And we're going to be in constant communication and fellowship and relationship with Him.

And I believe the testimony is going to become greater and greater of how the Lord leads you and how He guides us to those that might need it in our daily routines.

And then what is it, friend?

Sometimes you just need, you don't have to confess it when you come up here.

You don't have to tell these guys, yeah, I've had this problem or I've had this issue or this is going on in my life.

But sometimes you need to stand in front of someone and repent, however you want to do that, and then just let them pray over you.

Let them pray a cleansing prayer.

Let them pray a pair, a prayer of the Holy Spirit, a prayer of the Holy Spirit to just completely and totally.

We use the word wreck, but I don't like that word.

But do a work in you today.

Amen.

Do a work in your life.

So while he's playing, I'm going to ask you to come.

That's you.

You need to come.

Come on.

And once you're in place, then we'll pray and we'll dismiss.

Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord.

Something I need to lay down.

A hunger and a thirst that needs to be deepened.

A commitment that I'm going to make to interact with the Holy Spirit more regularly.

Thank you, Jesus.

All over the room.

Perfect opportunity for those of you that might not know Jesus today, that might want to start a relationship with him.

Um, that realize that, you know, I need a savior.

I need a savior.

And he's here today to welcome you.

These guys are here to pray with you this morning.

Anyone else?

Anyone else from the balconies, from the back, the sides?

Come on.

Come on.

Thank you, Lord.

Thank you.

Table land.

It's a higher plane than I have found.

Lord, play at my feet.

Thank you, Jesus.

I get you to put your hands out in front of you today.

Father, today we love you so much.

We're thankful.

Lord, I thank you that you've got higher ground that you've prepared, that you desire for us to live on, to dwell in, to abide in.

Father, it really is more than a mindset.

God, it's a heart posture.

Lord, where we find ourselves closer, deeper relationship, hungering, thirsting for your word.

Lord, I pray for families today in the room that need your power, that need, Lord God, a miracle today.

I pray for sick bodies that need a miracle touch today.

Lord, I pray for minds that are depressed and tired, that feel weak today.

God, I pray that you will come in and shore up and renew their minds.

Father, I thank you that you alone are holy and worthy and able and capable and willing, Lord Jesus, to do what is needed today in every heart, in every life, in every person today.

Holy Spirit, I'm going to ask you to draw up and closer up from us from the inside, and God, closer to us on the outside.

Lord, that we can hear your voice and we can follow and we can do exactly what you ask us to do and you prompt us.

Pray your peace today over your people.

Pray, Lord God, your provision.

Pray, Lord Jesus, for your presence, God, to go with us.

We love you so much.

In Jesus' mighty name, everyone said amen.

Amen.

Amen.

We hope and pray this message was encouraging and impactful.

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Have a Jesus filled week.