HIGHER GROUND

I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined to me, and heard my cry, He also brought me up out of a horrible pit. Out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my month, Praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.
In life, there are levels by which man is band to pass through. There are various deeps and heights that we go through. Some at times are unpleasant, while some bring joy to our lives.
The Bible talks of depths which could mean sheol, grave, the pit, silence, darkness, destruction corruption, mire, the gloating of the enemy and the brink of death.
There are various things that can plunge a man into a horrible pit; - sin, satanic agents and outright or direct satanic attack. The good thing about your life or situation is that it is the Almighty God who has the final say over your life. Your God is the God of the deep as well as the God of the heights. No matter how deep you have sunk, His outstretched arm and hand is long enough to bring you out, cleanse you and establish you on higher ground.
I see God bringing you out of the pit, the level you are now will ever be the lowest level you will be in life. I have the assurance in the Lord that your life and every good thing about you will take an upward trend from today.
“O Lord you brought my soul up from the grave; you have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit”. (Psalm 30:3)
Higher ground could mean so many things to different individuals. To a spinster or bachelor that has long been due for marriage and who suddenly becomes a wife or husband, a barren woman becoming a mother of children, a borrower becoming a lender, a failure turned to success, a sickness or an ill health suddenly becomes sound health, a tenant becoming landlord, etc. can be a higher ground. Higher ground to someone else is when suddenly his or her foot-wagon becomes Mercedes car.
God’s promise to you this year is to move you to the next level by His Spirit power. “For exaltation comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge. He puts down one and exalts another” (Psalms 75:6-7).
There are various reasons why I know God will like to put you on higher ground:
· He wants you to stand out among the crowd. “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God has anointed you with oil of gladness more than your companion.” (Heb 1:9). Jesus Christ selected twelve disciples among the crowd and called them apostles, empowered them and set them above other disciples. I see God this month singling you out for elevation in Jesus name.
· God will want you to see what others can not see and when you are at a higher height you will be able to hear what the people in the valley or pit can not hear (Mat 17:1-9).
· Standing on higher ground brings you closer to the source of power and God’s blessings (Psalms 24:3-5)
· You suddenly become invisible and unreachable by your enemies. (Eph 1:20-22).
· The Lord wants to make you a showpiece to your generation, demonstrate His goodness in your life that will cause men to fear and trust in Him (Psalms 40:3). Beloved believe it or not this year will not pass you by without the Almighty God putting a new song in your mouth. There will be celebration in your family and in your place of work and abode and the celebration is not going to be because of you but because of God’s glory that is establishing you on higher ground. People will see it and praise your Father in heaven.
There are several people that were singled out in the Bible for higher ground, Namaan, the widow of Zarephat, Elisha, and Peter, to mention but just a few. There are however some qualities that these people showed to qualify them for higher ground. Some of the qualities that will qualify you for higher ground are:


1. A strong believe in God or His word.
2. Believe in that man of God or prophet of God that God brings across your way. (II Chron. 20:15).
3. Absolute obedience to God whatever it may cost you (Deut 28:1). If you obey God, He will set you high above all nations of the earth.
4. You must be willing and ready to pray an intense and prevailing prayer and patiently wait on Him (Ps 40:1)
5. Let His praise continually be in your mouth (Ps 34:1)
6. Be committed to righteous and holy living, submit yourself constantly to purging and the refining fire of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and the Blood of Jesus Christ (Pro 14:34, Heb 12:1-2)
7. Be diligent in your walk with God and work for God. Higher ground is not meant for a casual or lazy Christian.

The greatest thing that can plunge man into the deep and make you to perpetually lie low or in the dust is sin. But Jesus Christ died and atoned for your sin. If you will repent of your sin today and personally invite Him into your life, then the journey to your higher ground will begin. He is the Most High God and it takes a higher authority to lift the one who is below.
Reflect on (Romans 10:9-10)

THE PLACE OF THE ANOINTING IN YOUR LIFE

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me, to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19)
God usually anoints His people for several reasons. God does not anoint people for nothing. The anointing of God works in so many ways in different people based on who you are, your relationship with the Lord and the needs or desires of your heart.
The anointing is an act of God signifying the separation of a person or object to God. It is an act associated with bestowal of divine favour manifesting with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the mist of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah” (1 Samuel 16: 13).
The anointing has a tremendous role to play in your life and the people that come in contact with you. The anointing has been given as a gift from the Almighty God to help you in one or all the various ways highlighted below:
· The anointing breaks the yoke of limitation, oppression, obsession and roll off heavy burden that can weigh you down perpetually. The Lord promised that your yoke or chains of limitation shall be destroyed by the reason of the anointing (Holy Spirit).
· Anointing the sick with oil, point to the Holy Spirit as the life-giver. (James 5:14). If you receive the anointing into your life and you allow Him to rest upon you, you will discover that sickness and disease will become a stranger to you.
· The anointing of God is to secure you and all that is yours. When you carry the oil of God, you receive divine protection and you are preserved and all that belongs to you “Touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm” (Psalm 105:15, Psalm 23:5).
· The anointing of God is given unto you for an effective and productive Christian service. Christian service, not in the sense of a full time pastor or worker, but in all that you do for a living do as unto the Lord. See it as an avenue to serve the living God. The anointing releases unto you the power for productivity and high efficiency in all your endeavours.
· To be promoted and exalted, the anointing of the Holy Spirit has a tremendous role to play in your life. The anointing is capable of making a Mr or Mrs Nobody to become a Mr or Mrs Somebody. When the anointing of God comes upon you, He is capable of bringing you from the rear to the forefront, from the horrible pit to the mountain top. He makes the rejected to become the accepted, as in the case of David. (1 Samuel 16:13).
· The anointing of the Spirit gives believers insight into the dangers facing the church or the individual and makes a way of escape for you in the face of the danger. “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things; But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him” (1John 2; 20, 27).
· The anointing of the Holy Spirit releases into the life of the carrier supernatural strength that makes you to be established and prevail over the wicked and the foes and equally to execute judgement over the Lord’s enemies. (Psalm 89:20-23).
· The anointing of God brings a difference in the life of His children to make you to flourish like the ubiquitously useful palm tree and grow in all realms to unusual heights like the cedar of Lebanon. Age is not a barrier to your flourishing and fruitfulness, the flow of the Spirit and the oil influences your productivity to the end.
The ultimate goal of the anointing of God is to make you a showpiece to the world, that is, establish you gloriously like a city built on a hill that can not be hidden. God desires to do a work in you and through you in this season that will cause people to fear Him, and put their trust in the living God.
So henceforth you must decide to respect the anointing (The Holy Spirit) and the anointed of God who daily give you divine instructions from the Lord. The anointing flows from the hand through His messengers; for example Elisha obtained the double portion of the anointing of God in Elijah.
To be anointed of God you must be loyal, committed to the kingdom’s business and be persistent in your hunger and thirst for the anointing of God. The entire nation is waiting for the man and woman that carry the awesome presence of God and you can be that one in this generation. Walk in obedience and in love in the Lord and you will be overwhelmed at the changes that will take place in your life, environment and nation by the reason of the overflowing anointing.
Read and Meditate on Luke 24:49

The Anointing is something that makes a nobody into a somebody. The secret is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, His presiding and residing on you and in you will give your life a definite meaning and purpose.

THE BUTS’ OF LIFE

"Now Namaan commander of the army of the king of Syria was a great and honourable man in the eyes of his master because by him, the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valour, but a leper" (11 Kings 5:1).
Several times in life you have cause to ask God the question "why me?" because of a particular "but" in your life that has been staring at you, and looks really insurmountable. Humanly speaking you look at the problem you cannot adduce any reason for its cause or causes. I want to assure you that you will not be the first neither the last that will have such a stigma in life.
The confidence we have is that the Almighty who knows all things and can do all things is interested in your case and in His infinite will and at the right timing will intervene. The "but" is for God to be glorified, because according to Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose".
The Bible says Namaan was a great and honourable man who was helped by the Lord to have victory over the enemy of Syria, was described as a mighty man of valour but a leper. The leprosy was a snare in the life of Namaan. His name (Namaan) means pleasant but his life was a mixture of the sweet and the bitter; sorrow and gladness; he never for one day knew or have fullness of joy.
Namaan I believe with his position, wealth and connections must have looked for help from men and from many sources to no avail. But one day, the slave girl in his household gave a clue to his problem. It is my prayer for you that God in His infinite mercy and love make way for you where and when you least think or imagine. The channel to Namaan's age-long problem was right in his house. I pray that your eyes be opened to every potential or opportunity around you for your greatness or movement to higher ground in Jesus name.
Beloved, one thing I want to emphasise at this junction is that the Bible did not mention that the "but" in Namaan’s life was a result of sin, because it was stated that God helped him to be an achiever; God's interest was to make him a show-piece through this problem to disgrace the enemy in his life, humble him and proof to him and the nations (World) that He is the God of all flesh and He can decide to do what so ever pleases Him.
Zechariah and Elisabeth were another set of people with a "but" in their life. This couple were descendents of priests and Aaron, fervent in their service for God, upright and blameless before God, prayerful "but" they were barren for years (Luke 1:5). The reason(s) for their barrenness was not stated. To them and the people around them, the issue of the "but" in that family was a forgone conclusion. They had concluded on themselves so much that when the angel of the Lord appeared to Zachariah that the time for God’s manifestation of His presence and power in this family has come, he could not believe.
Friend, I want to tell you that it is not over until God says it is over; that "but" in your life is for an appointed time for the manifestation of God’s glory.
Jabez was another character for whom things were not all-round good, for the Bible described him as more honourable than his brethren "but" was a man of pain and sorrow. And one day it came to pass that Jabez went before the Lord in intense prayer and the sorrow and pain of so many years was turned to blessing indeed, enlargement of coast, divine covering and protection (1 Chro 4:9-10).
A community can be under excruciating agony of one sickness or setback, like the city of Jericho. The people of the city had this to say "The Situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren" (2 Kings 2:19). The town was well located but the land was unproductive as a result of the curse placed on it by Joshua. The people approached the man of God, Elisha, and the story of that city was permanently changed. There is a prophetic voice and waver on your way to deal with the unpleasant situation in your family and community. May you not miss it in Jesus name.
Your spiritual foundation, health, marital, social etc. problem could need something more dramatic than words of prayer. God’s strong presence and power were what gave Namaan healing in the river Jordan and not the washing. God’s presence was what healed the land of Jericho and not the salt that Elijah cast at the source of the river. The "but" in the life of Zechariah and Elisabeth was turned around not because of their payer but because of the appearance of the angel of the Lord.
I pray that God's strong presence and power will come upon you to usher you to your ultimate salvation and breakthrough in Jesus' mighty name (Ps 114:1-8)
Your perfect submission to the abiding presence of God, bowing to God’s will, shall surely bring you desired miracle. We are in God’s divine will and timing for intervention in our lives.
Lord Jesus arise and have compassion on Zion for it is time to show her favour and mercy.
There have been several occasions in your life that you wonder what is happening to you because of some "buts" that you cannot explain their origin and you do not know how to deal with them.
The but is for an appointed time and for a purpose. The provision God has made to deal with this "but" is available for you right now:

HAVE YOU EVER PONDER ON THE BUT IN YOUR LIFE?

Shalom