I'M GOING UP
Psalm 24:3-5 KJVS - 3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
The life of the believer is meant to be one of continous movement, and upward progress.
There is no place in the life of the believer for stagnation, or standing still. The Bible says the path of the righteous is like the light that shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.
Numbers 13:30-31 KJV
And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. [31] But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
Did you hear the words Caleb was saying? Let us go up at once, right now, for we are well able to overcome it.
So what does that tell us? It tells us that go up means to engage, to confront, to go on the offensive, to push, to advance.
But sadly even today here is where most of the church is... The people answered... We be not able to go up against the people.
Simply put they were saying, we are not willing to make the effort, or take the risk.
In essence they were saying, we would rather live in this desolate wilderness, and do without the blessings, the provisions and the promises of God, than leave what we're familiar with and have to make a change, and have to take a risk.
It should be understood that there is no such thing as bible faith without risk.
Risk is built into the equation of faith. That's why it's called faith.
By it's very definition faith is believing in someone you can't see, and taking his word against all concrete, natural, tangible, and conflicting evidence.
Judges 1:1-2 KJVS
Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall "go up for us against the Canaanites first," to fight against them? [2] And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.
Notice that the question is not who will go up for us in our place, but who will go up first, and who will lead the charge into the battle. And the Lord said... Judah shall go up, behold I have delivered the land into his hand.
Judah means praise. So God is saying that praise must go up. Praise must lead the charge. He said he has delivered the land into the hand of Judah.
Whatever battle you may be facing today, you need to send Judah out. Judah must go up. You need to lift up a hallelujah. Praise is not just something that slips out of my lips when something good happens. Praise is a weapon.
This is how I fight my battles, I lift up a hallelujah!
—Come on, right now just lift your hands, throw your head back and give him a hallelujah.
Now shout glory.
Shout thank you Jesus
Shout glory to God
Praise God, I feel something shifting in here.
Inherent, or self contained in the directive let's go up, is the principal of change.
In other words change is built into the directive let's go up.
It's a pretty simple concept... You can't go up and remain in the same place at the same time.
—So change is required.
—And change is a choice
—And change is an action
—Change is a requirement for growth.
The simple truth is, when you quit changing you quit growing.
—Change is a qualifier for more.
In other words you already have all that you can handle, or all that you can contain.
So to receive more change is required.
You need God to enlarge your capacity to receive.
Let's go up is an invitation to a higher life, it's an invitation to more, it's an invitation to the greater it's an invitation to see more, know more and be more.
Then the question would arise why does not everybody want to go up? And the answer would be.
— Because everybody is not willing to pay the price for graduation.
—Many people would rather remain the same, in the same place, in the same conditions, because it's familiar, and it's comfortable.
The truth is even that which is uncomfortable once it becomes familiar and you become adjusted to it, it becomes normal, and when something becomes normal people usually resist change, because it threatens their normal.
But what you and I have to understand, is that the invitation to come up higher, and to go up higher is not a preacher invitation. This is not a man-made invitation.
This is the call of the Holy Spirit, this is the invocation of the Holy Spirit to your spirit and my spirit, to ascend the hill of the Lord. To come to the higher places.
And another reason many people resist change and decide to remain in the lowlands, is because...
—Change brings responsibility. The more you see, and the more you know, and the more you understand... the more you become responsible for.
When Jesus said freely you have received freely give, he made us stewards and managers over everything we have received, whether that's material or spiritual, we are responsible for what we have received.
Another reason people resist change and resist going up is because...
—Going up creates discomfort.
In a sense it's like the growing pains that we had when we were kids.
I can remember going to my mother and telling her my legs were hurting, and she would say that's just growing pains.
And I thought why do I have to hurt in order to grow. But that's just the way it is.
—And part of growing up is growing out. As I grew up and got older I grew out of some things. I grew out of the clothes I was wearing, I grew out of the shoes I was wearing, I grew out of some of the ways I was thinking and acting.
Sometimes you see someone acting childish or foolish and you say, or at least you think... why don't you grow up?
Paul said when I was a child I thought as a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Well that's a spiritual reality as well. We all start out as a child as a babe in Christ, but built into the Christian Life is the necessity of growth, and in growing up, we grow out.
We outgrow some of our old traditions and ideas and attitudes, and we grow into attitudes and ideas and actions that better reflect the heart and the mind of Christ.
The reason we come to church is not just to fellowship or even just to encounter the presence of the Lord, or even worship him, which is certainly true, and we are committedto that... but we come to grow.
We come to learn the word so we can be doers of the word, and we can grow up.
I don't preach and teach for entertainment, or just because it's what pastors do. I preach and teach for the purpose of growth.
To really grow requires a hunger for the Word, and a willingness and a readiness to receive the word.
Acts 17:11 Paul spoke of those in Thessalonica, he said... these people received the word with all readiness of mind, and they searched the scriptures daily whether the things we taught were so.
One reason why many people don't want to go up and grow up, is because there is resistance. In other words the higher up you go in the things of God the greater threat you become to the devil. And when you become a greater threat to the devil you become a greater target for the devil.
And a lot of people prefer to remain in the lowlands of mediocrity and self-preservation and comfort and convenience rather than to get in the battle.
Because the reality is... the more effective you become for God, the more hostility you attract from the enemy.
But if you've got the right mindset, the mindset of a soldier of Christ, and a warrior, then that doesn't deter you, in fact it energizes you, because you know... greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
Now you may ask the question pastor, why should I want to go up, are there any rewards for going up? That's a fair question, and I believe that deserves some consideration.
The answer is clearly yes, there are rewards for making the choice and making the decision and making the effort to go up and grow up.
Just as it is true in the natural, it is also true in the spirit. The higher you go up the mountain, the clearer the air becomes, you get above all the smog and pollution, and your spirit can breath better, and the spiritual atmosphere becomes clearer.
—You get away from all of the noise, and the clatter of the business of life. And you can hear God's voice better.
But what I love the most is that the higher you climb up the mountain, the more useful you are in the kingdom, and the more God will trust you with.
And the more God gives you and entrust you with, the more you can accomplish in the kingdom. And the more useful you are to God.
Another great reward or benefit of going up is your perspective changes. You see things differently. Not that everything changes, but your perspective on it changes.
When your perspective on a thing changes, your actions change based upon a higher perspective.
Most of the world lives on ground level, with a ground level perception of life. So because they view life from a ground level perspective, they have very limited options.
But a higher perspective also leads to options.
Another great reward of going up is that the higher you go the greater, and sharper your discernment becomes.
In other words because of the higher elevation you can see things much sooner and much clearer. And the advantage of this is... when you can see something coming a far off, you won't be caught off guard, and you will be better prepared for it when it comes. So you will have the advantage over the enemy.
In Acts 1:13-14 The Bible says, And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. [14] These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
This is where the Holy Ghost came as a mighty rushing wind, and came upon them as tongues of fire, and they were all filled with Holy Ghost, and spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. "It was in the upper room".
Why did they go to an upper room, is there a significance of an upper room as opposed to a lower place or a ground floor?
I believe so. I believe it was a natural action that reflected a spiritual condition. It reflected the hunger and desire for more, and the willingness to leave the lesser behind. Even leaving those behind who were satisfied on the ground floor.
Sadly in the body of Christ, it is still the same as it was then. 500 people heard Jesus say... go to Jerusalem and tarry there for the promise, for you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you. But out of 500 only 120 made the trip to the upper room. That means that 380 were satisfied where they were without the power.
Tell your neighbor: I want the power!
Now tell your other neighbor, I'm going up.
Friends I know I can't force you, and I won't drag you, but as for me I'm going higher.
—I want more
—I want more of his presence
—I want more of his anointing
—I want to experience his power flowing through me
—I want the gifts of the Spirit flowing through me
—I want signs and wonders and miracles flowing through me
—I want to lay my hands on the sick and they recover. I want to destroy yokes and settp captives free.
I'm going up.
You need to understand that everybody can't go where God is taking you, not because they can't or it's impossible, but because they're not willing to pay the price. That's ok. Don't fret over it. Don't try to drag people up the mountain.
Sadly there are some people who will never leave the foot of the mountain. They will never come up to the high places. They will live their whole Christian life in the plains of Lodebar...
-Barely getting by
-Never pushing the boundaries
-Never reaching for the deeper and fuller things of God.
-Never walking in the anointing
-Never manifesting the gifts of the Spirit
But I believe I'm talking to someone today who wants to go up to the high places and take your seat in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And you want every thing that has been made available to you through Jesus sacrifice and the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 2:6 And he hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
If that's you, if you're one of those the Holy Spirit is calling to ascend the hill of the Lord, and leave the lowlands and stagnant places and come up higher, I need you to meet me here at the front of this church.
I feel something happening in the spirit right now, I feel a shifting. I even feel some chains breaking. Like the ropes holding down a hot air balloon to keep it from rising into the air. I feel ropes are being broken, and you're getting ready to soar into the atmosphere. You're going to gain some altitude in the spirit.
