A STEP HIGHER - Part 1

“After  this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, come up hither, and I will show theethings which must be hereafter.” Rev 4:1 

“And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come up, hither. And they ascendedup to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” Rev 11:12 


INTRODUCTION

There is no doubt that creation is in great agony as the world is being shaken to its very foundation. Systems are being shaken to its very rock bottom. The world witnessed a major financial crisis three years ago. Currently, the political agitation towards responsible governance is sweeping over the Arab world with the brutal killing of Muammar Ghaddafi few days ago. The information revolution is taking a new form as the Aljazeeras, Wikkileaks and social networks like Tweeter and Facebook are at the forefront of this global transition. Government no longer has absolute control over information dissemination even in its most despotic form, as Citizen Journalism has come to the fore. Therefore anyone with digital camera or camera phones and internet access can now submit videos and pictures of news events captured to news organizations, including leading global news networks. 

Earthquakes and other natural disasters are occurring on a regular basis. The recent natural disaster in Japan which was the aftereffect of the twin combination of earthquake along with the tsunami leading to a radiation leak indicates the world is fast imploding. Environmentalists believe that the world may end in 2020. There is a knowing in the heart of every man that whatever has a beginning must surely have an end.

While there is crisis in the world system and this age fast rolling away?  The bible said ‘‘And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever’’ 1Jn 2:17. The vast majority of the church system remains unchanged, with the staccato beat of rapture and the impending heaven’s journey without an internal adjustment that can react to this fast-changing event. The message of prosperity and miracles are still the fastest crowd puller, casting aspersion on our belief in heaven. The church is talking heaven and behaving contrary to heaven and still expecting the world to take her serious. Our present acts deny the way. Without a paradigm shift, clear adjustment of our values, espousing heavenly values and less on materialism, heaven cannot accommodate our present, disorderly and un-heavenly lifestyle. If today’s church in its unchanged mode is allowed into heaven, there will certainly be a coup d’état against God, if not there will be complaint galore against God, just like the church in the wilderness did, the children of Israel that left Egypt had a different expectation from what God offered. None of that generation made it to God’s promised destination – Canaan - save Caleb and Joshua and their children. Today’s church is no different from that church in the wilderness; they lived on miracles that brought no inner transformation, they were blessed with gold, which was collected from the Egyptians, and they had a super Pastor in Moses. Both they and Moses never made it to the promise land except Caleb, Joshua who had Jehovah’s values written all over them. However, there is a remnant church that has not bowed to Baal. This church has a mandate to bring forth Christ on the earth.

The whole divine design is the transformation into the fullness of Christ. Christ remains the basis of this glorious faith we have been called into. We must seek his way far above materialism and what this world has to offer. That which is earthy is earthy, and that which is spiritual is spiritual. (John 3) Materialism is earthy and has no gain beyond this limited world.

 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Mat 6:33 

TIME TO COME UP HIGHER

The Lord is calling the church to a higher spiritual position as part of His overall divine plan. The church is supposed to move from one spiritual level to another (from glory to glory) until we attain the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13). The degree of our ascendancy into Christ determines the measure of our own spiritual progress and that which can be shared by him through our life to others. Our height in Christ determines the kind of revelation we access and to a great degree our own internal transformation.




To be Continued


Article written by Wole Olakunle and was first published 2011 on the same blog.

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