"The Climb"

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith

virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge

temperance; and to temperance, patience; and

to patience, godliness; And to godliness, brotherly

kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity." 

(2 Peter 1:5-7) 

Being a Christian means we're going somewhere.  Huh?  It's an ascension to becoming like Jesus Christ, our Lord.  It's not enough just to have faith  ...  we need to add to it, and herein is what we'll refer to as: "The Climb."

It's about growth.  Remember the scripture that says, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." (3 John 1:2) You say, "You refer to that scripture all the time."  Uh huh, and I'm gonna' keep referring to it, because it is the groundwork to receiving blessings, to moving from the milk to the meat, to assuming the role of warrior and not just saint, and to standing in the face of the devil and telling him to "Beat it ... By the Name, the Word, and the Blood of Jesus Christ!"  It's more than shouting and dancing; it's more than getting saved and sitting down  ... it's a climb on a winding staircase of unexpected turns, unknown storms, steps of 'why's,' changes in direction by God's hand, and it's WAR.

Abraham

Climbing the ladder to obedience, to our sacrifice, to moral virtue, to knowledge,  and then going on higher to temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity, is the ascent of your life  ...  Ask Abraham, who was commanded by God to sacrifice his own son.  Abraham climbed that mountain, with Isaac in tow, not knowing that His loving God had provided the sacrificial ram, who was coming up the other side of the mountain, and as Abraham raised the knife to kill Isaac, the Angel grabbed his arm  ...  Isaac was spared  ... the CLIMB was complete; God now knew the extent of Abraham's obedience, Abraham's loyalty, Abraham's devotion and things looked a lot better to Abraham when he reached the apex of his climb.  What a father; his son never forgot the extent of his earthly father's obedience, and his heavenly Father's love  ...  Not my will, but thine be done  ... 

   

What is it all about?  What is the real aim of our hard climb to high places and then becoming all those things in the Bible's 2nd Peter?  We are not our own; we are bought with a price.  Our lives belong to the One who was tortured, beaten, spat upon, nailed to a cross, bled and died, then rose again the third day, Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  We don't know there's a devil until we become saved, baptized in His name and filled with the Holy Ghost, and we must mount up as Eagles; the Lord will uphold us.  Then, the WAR is on, and we have to survive.  What?  From the moment we are saved and sanctified, and filled with the Spirit of God,  satan moves in to steal, kill, and destroy us, along with everything and everyone connected with us.  The martyrs of the Bible can tell us about it; they died for their faith; most of the apostles were killed for their faith.  Christians all over the world suffer today, and are beheaded for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  "The Climb" makes us strong, gives us the impetus to stand, and hey, if our Savior suffered and died; what makes us think we can do any less.  We don't know what we will have to face before it's all over.  No matter what, the Lord is with us, and when we have climbed the stairs and added to our faith, we WILL conquer.

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life

and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by

his own glory and goodness."

(2 Peter 1:3)
 





Life can be very tough; besides family issues, there are mighty storms, disasters, trials, fears and prophesied earthquakes, threats of war and terror, diseases, attacks from the devil, Sin, lust of the flesh thrust upon us from every form of media and billboards, and yet we are to be Holy.  You say, "It's impossible in this day and time."  It would be if we did not have His Spirit.  The Holy Ghost and fire is the Spirit of Jesus Christ sent down to us to equip us for all these things and lead us into all truth.

We all have a choice; we can climb the stairs to be holy and live a life pleasing to our Lord, or we can wallow in the mud in Sin and pain.  Remember something very valuable:  The worst days with the Lord are better than the best days without Him!  When we abide in Him, and we're filled with His Spirit, we can endure anything, we can survive anything, we have His power, and we know, underneath are His everlasting arms.  How could the Apostles go to their death with smiles on their faces?  We saw it all through the Bible; people had joy in the midst of their suffering.  Paul and Silas sang in prison!  How could they do that?  The Spirit of the Lord gives victory in every circumstance!

Are you suffering now?  Are tears the rain upon your face?  Do you feel there is no where to turn?  Come to Jesus!  Give Him your heart, ask Him to forgive your sins, tell Him you want to be filled with His Spirit and speak with tongues as His Spirit fills you and gives you the utterance, and then go and be baptized "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" for the remission of sins.  Then, start the climb to becoming like Him.  It will change your life!  It will give you hope!  You will have joy even in the midst of pain!  He will carry you and whisper His love to you  ...  He will never leave you nor forsake you!

It's the staircase of your life; the treasures are one step below the other.  What?  This is the interesting thing about this staircase; we climb higher by bowing lower; we ascend as we descend; we gain by losing; we stand by kneeling; we increase when we decrease; it is and forever will be, the holy omnipotent paradox of God  ...  It's called "The Climb."

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.)

Pastor Kenneth Phillips kneeling in a stadium in Italy

(He's climbing!)

 

 

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas

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God Bless you, and I know He will!

 

 

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PromiseLand Church!

We're Climbing!

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