Tuesday June 10th 2014 - A STEP FURTHER

A STEP FURTHER

Memorise: But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, Hebrews

12:22

Our redemption in Christ has brought us into the presence of God. The general experience for all believers is where many people still dwell many years after their salvation experience; this ought not to be so. Paul maintained an upward spiritual journey by not resting on his oars. He was not satisfied with any spiritual level he attained. This is not to say that he was not grateful to God at each point of his spiritual journey. In Christ, there is only a starting point but there is no end to spiritual growth because the Lord is infinite in all things (2 Corinthians 3:18). The outstanding carriers of His glory are those who kept going further and further in Him. For some of them, they encountered many miracles, while some others were special instruments for working great miracles. They encountered opposition from those outside the kingdom and even from God’s people. They had peculiar difficulties and weaknesses, but they broke through all barriers to become outstanding carriers of His glory.

To begin your journey into the uncommon realms of God’s glorious presence, you must study some of the secrets of the works of faith (2 Timothy 2:15). The glorious presence of the Lord brought John into another level of a surrendered life. In an attitude of worship, John fell at the feet of Jesus, meaning he retained no opinion of his own anymore (Revelation 1:17). Some Christians would stop at this level if they had John’s kind of encounter. But in the presence of God, there is more ground of glory to encounter and cover.

“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 towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.”

Philippians 3:13-15

The spiritual life is like a journey. You may look back and feel satisfied that you have covered much ground, but there is more room above. By comparing themselves with one another, many Christian workers and ministers come short of the fullness of God’s glory. If you feel like a champion among spiritually stagnant believers, you are already stagnant too. Also, feeling stratified among lukewarm Christian workers is evidence that you are lukewarm as well.

Key point

You must go further and further until you become outstanding.