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HIGHER GROUND Revelation 4:1; Philippians 3 and 4 Johnson Oatman, Jr. wrote the words of “Higher Ground” in 1898. I chose this hymn because I am hearing God call me to Higher Ground right now, and I’m sure that there are many of you hearing God’s call as well. This hymn points the way to God. So often our human hearts look down, focusing on this life, with its many changing circumstances and very unstable surroundings; a place where “doubts arise and fears dismay.” When we put our trust in anything or anyone in this world, we will always come to the Low Land. It’s a land of swamps, filled with the muck and mire of unbelief and hopelessness. God wants us to cry out to Him from the depths of our sinking souls, “Lord lift me up and let me stand by faith on Heaven’s table land! A higher plane than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on Higher Ground.” The Lord knows me and knows that often I hold on to things in this life that hinder me from growing closer to Him. But Paul said, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung (rubbish), that I may win Christ.”(Phil. 3:8) My God is so good. He helps me take my upward steps of faith by His grace. It’s not climbing up a ladder of good works, NO. The hymn calls it “pressing on the upward way.” In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” Paul, describes it as, “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth (straining forward) unto those things which are before (what lies ahead), I press toward the mark (goal) to win the supreme and heavenly prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.” (Phil. 3:13,14) After the initial cleansing by His blood at the cross of Jesus Christ, He wants me to progressively become closer and more intimately acquainted with Him. A genuine Christian will want to grow closer to God, and strain forward to meet Him. This is the Higher Ground, where Jesus Christ is the goal, the supreme and heavenly prize. But there’s more! On Higher Ground, with Jesus Christ we can know peace with God! He has the words of eternal life, and they bring peace to our hearts. “And God’s peace shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace which transcends all understanding shall guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Praise God for the 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.” “Praise the Lord! Praise Him in the Heights!” Psalm 150 “I want to scale the utmost height, and catch a gleam of glory bright. But still I’ll pray till heaven I’ve found, Lord, plant my feet on Higher Ground. Peace to all, ~ Ruth Ann Ward |