Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ = THE Risen Saviour! What a beautiful morning in the Kingdom! I am sure that you are enjoying these days and thanking God for His goodness. I have received word that “prayers” are being answered in various ways – Praise the Lord! I believe that God is on the move in our lives at this moment – so pay attention for every whisper of His voice, every subtle touch of His hand, for every nuance of His presence – and when you are aware of Him…acknowledge and give thanks. Today, I will be praying for you, asking Father to encourage you and affirm you.
This morning I was driving along, minding my own business – praying for a few particular people and situations – when God gently ‘ambushed’ me with a verse of Scripture that set off a chain reaction of thoughts and images within me. First, let me give you the Scripture: “I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this (being a passionate Christ-follower); however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus” Philippians 3:13-14 The Passion Translation. Many of the translations reference “the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal” as “the upward call of God” and that is the phrase that God focused my attention on.
We are not only being challenged to move ‘forward’ in our Christian walk – we are being called ‘upward’ – not to simply maintain what God has given us but to grow deeper and stronger and more God-dependent…UPWARD!. This is a principle that Jesus taught…taking what we have received from God and using it in such a way as to increase – the parable of the talents. Jesus illustrated it in the feeding of the 5000 and the 4000 – taking the offering of what a boy had and increasing it. In the midst of my prayers for people and situations, I believe, God was reminding me – not just forward but “upward”, not to simply survive but thrive, and not to simply maintain but to increase.
Then the words of an old gospel song began to echo through my mind: I’m pressing on the upward way-New heights I’m gaining every day-Still praying as I onward bound-Lord, plant my feet on higher ground…chorus: Lord lift me up and help me stand-By faith on heaven’s tableland-A higher plain than I have found-Lord plant my feet on higher ground. Charles Hutchison Gabriel. I knew in that moment that though I had sung this song many times…I did not understand the full meaning of it. Therefore as I pray for people, I will be praying that they will be moving forward and upward to gain the victory-prize.
Something to ponder – have a blessed day!