Jesus: The Most High! Kelly Durant
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
2. When I first started out evangelizing in the 1970’s, there were a lot of drugs, oriental religions, and strange philosophies influencing the culture. When I would meet young people they almost always would expect me to be someone who gets high, because I had long hair like most everyone back then.
So when I would go to pass out salvation tracks at concerts I would often get asked by people before they knew what I was doing, “Hey you got a joint?” (Marijuana cigarette) My response was, “No, but I got something better!” They would then get curious and say what’s that? Then I would take out the little New Testament with Psalms and say I am high on the Most High!
Really, God makes you higher than anything, He’s better than any drug, and I know what I’m talking about! Psalm 9:2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. Some people would laugh and listen to more but others would run away scared because they knew they did not want to be reminded of God when looking for a high! Ha!
3. So how are you handling the daily grind? Life is hard and there are many dozens of things that need to get done in a day and this provokes stress, the secret killer. The sound of our own wheels can make us crazy! Everyone wants relief! Those without ‘The Most High’ don’t know how to get the relief and some turn to refined substances that hook and destroy their bodies and spirits faster than the stress of life itself!
In the 1970s pot was considered the de-stresser used by many young people (and still is, legalized in several states now). However today’s prescription drugs have replaced pot in most places due to the greedy pharmaceutical companies and that is like going from a beer to hard liquor consumption!
Listen to this alarming quote, “Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two, Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center researchers say. Antibiotics, antidepressants and painkilling opioids are most commonly prescribed, their study found. Jun 19, 2013 Nearly 7 in 10 Americans Take Prescription Drugs, Mayo Clinic. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/.../nearly-7-in-10-americans-take-...Mayo Clinic
4. Isn’t this statistic alarming? In 2013 it was a 213 Billion dollar industry! Must be $250 Billion today! People want relief from bodily harm pain and certain drugs are acceptable, but the greater problem is with the opiates and drugs to get high with. People are spending a big part of their money on these pills and then they not having enough money for food, so they come to us, the Salvation Army and other local pantries, to get food. All the time I hear people say that they have to choose between their prescription payment and groceries!
Here is a thought, Genesis 1:29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” There is an natural herb for almost everything, a headache or a stomachache, and God’s design is life creations are amazing! God is above all and evolutionists don’t ever want you to discover how the symbiotic relationship of the human mind and body with plants proves how High God is above all our understanding of design.
My sister in law has a Homeopathic Clinic in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and she attends to dozens of people daily because there a majority of people prefer a natural means of healing to a synthetic means to cure aliments. One of the worse aliments of today is stress as we all here have a life of non-stop stimulations and near death experiences in traffic with deadlines to meet. Stress is unavoidable but we must recognize it when it is getting to us and take action against it not with a stimulant high which fades but with a permanent high which comes from the Most High’s Holy Spirit.
5. So what is the opposite of stress, is it not peace and comfort? To chill and relax is an action needed for the physical body, like recharging a battery, but to have inner peace, that is the real key to total well-being and that is where faith comes in. It is allowing God to be in control, above you and your thoughts and worries.
Jesus knew that people would stress over their daily needs so he pointed out excessive thinking and worry fixes nothing but rather God is the one who takes care of things. Matthew 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Trusting in God, which is where faith comes in, is something you and I must build up, like building muscle. You actually can have trust and faith in God to solve all your daily problems but you must put forth the effort of consciously praying and asking Him to guide you in order to have it; to have real peace.
6. The solution for a healthy body is to give it rest and time away from the busy-ness. Jesus often went alone to a quite place to pray. Here is a verse that expresses God’s will for us. Isaiah 32:18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
But if not, there are times when you can be surrounded by a storm, by the storm of life, but if God is your refuge and strength you can have peace in the midst of the storm! God’s original idea of creation was for people to live in a Garden full of life; we were designed with frail flesh to live a life with no stress at all, but a life of full of only peace and happiness. A paradise, a heaven, a safe place for all is what God wants for all His children but evil ones have turned our earth into hell.
Much of our stress in life is from our worry for our daily needs as the money seems to never be enough, but some of the stress we suffer comes from our man made environment as we survive in filthy cities full of crime, theft, exploitation, injustices, war, murder and more! These things are man’s fault, not God’s! Even our basics foods have been modified and corrupted.
7. Suicide rates have been up in the past recent years. There is a conspiracy by Satan to throw every discouragement he possibly can at you and me so that we just want to give up and die! Don’t let despair and depression overtake you! Recognize that sadness, depression, discouragement, are all tools of Satan and we must flush him out of our head by connecting to God and Jesus. Go into a quiet place and pray, and read God’s word which will take you to a higher plane. Time with the Most High will take you into the clouds above the hell here below on earth! Science experiments over and over prove that people who pray and have faith have healthier outlooks which transfers into having better health, mentally and physically.
It is alarming though how when one thing goes wrong in a day how usually 3 or 4 more other things will show up as well making the burden so heavy it seems like it is the last straw breaking the camel’s back. We need to confront the attacks of the enemy by rebuking him. I have often prayed out loud, ‘I rebuke you Satan!’ when terrible things have happened. James 4:7 It is all in knowing that trust in the Most High will bring you and me through the lowest moments of afflictions, be it suffering from your own self or from suffering over someone you care about.
8. So until now I have identified several things that can harm us, several things that can pull us down away from our blissful high place with our Most High Lord. There are many things more than what I will list here that can cause stress, but God can lift you above all of these things if you put forth the effort to change it. Stress killing us can be a product of:
-A. Not worshipping God; which basically is a proof of your love and trust in Him. Not enough of Jesus in your life will cause stress because without feeling close to Him (which you can achieve in prayer), you will be afraid of too many things in life. It is the ‘Know Jesus, know peace, No Jesus, no peace’ formula.
-B Consuming the wrong substances; people who eat unhealthy foods, consume alcohol, or take the wrong kind of prescription pills will pay the price of it taxing their mind and body. When the relaxation of alcohol, pills, or pot wears off, the mind and body counter balance by releasing the stimulant chemicals held back inside which then makes one extra nervous, mentally taxed, and stressed.
-C Worrying about not getting what you want in life. Some people stress over their daily needs and Jesus taught us to ask God for them, but the worst stress is being angry and bitter all the time because you want to be rich and famous and feel life is unfair because you are not getting what you want out of life.
-D Evil spirits are real and attack you and me, and this provokes stress. Christians most of the time live in peace and are protected by God but sometimes the enemy and his demons will attack us. These attacks come in our minds either with perverse temptations, heavy discouragements, or evil thoughts of doing violence to ourselves or to others. Don’t listen to other people’s voices, only God’s!
9. God wants everyone of His children to feel good and be happy! Obedient loving Christians do feel good most of the time, do you not agree? They live too blessed to be stressed! But it is up to us to learn how to weather the storms of life.
Since one of God’s names is “the Most High” we are reminded that He is high above all things, over all creation, over all people, and over all that happens to us in this life. If He is above all then we trust in His control of matters.
Jesus said that He and His Father God are One, so in effect Jesus is the Most High! He’s King of kings and over ‘all things’. Ephesians 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.
Come and pray for strength to overcome all of the things that pull you away from the high heavenly places where God wants you! Pray for friends and relatives that are sinful, greedy, abusive, and substance abusing that bring you down. Time with the Most High will take you high up to his level of peace eliminating all fears and worries. I want to be high, full of peace, and happy, how about you?
