Climbing Higher

     In the beginning of becoming a Christian it sounds so easy....it really does. Just tell Jesus that you believe in Him and accept Him as your Saviour....easy right?
     Then you take another step and try to change something in your life. You start reading your bible. Now you realize there are things in your life that need to go....and somethings that need to come.
     Now you need to learn to pray, stop cursing, no more living together, no more accepting diversity, before this, you figured "live and let live", now you learn that what God hates you are supposed to hate....wow! and you didn't really know that God hated anything! He does~
     I can tell you that the further down the path you go the more uphill it is. Yes, you want to go up and yes, the Lord is there to help you....but it is still a climb!
     There is much to lay aside to be able to climb higher, much! There is not a lot that you can carry with you as you climb to new levels, but there is not much that you need at the higher levels and what you do need is provided...if it is not provided then you may not have needed it!
     Sometimes the things you have let go of are returned, but not always. Remember, through it all keep your eyes up...not looking back and not looking down.
     The things that we have turned loose of are too many to list, as is the case for many others who are climbing higher and running this race to win.
     I thought I had turned loose of the desire for "community" but now I am facing turning it loose again. We have a favorite Pastor that has spoken on this before. He has said that when you run for the Lord, there are not a lot of people that you will see running at your pace.
     I have recently heard a message about people that drop out of the race, it is almost like the Lord was preparing me for this next step, and then last weekend I received a word about "intense focus", more preparation.
     This morning I am hearing the Spirit comfort me with the understanding that "community" is not always available. Paul longed to go into the synagogues and speak to the Jewish people, but they stoned him and threw him out for dead. We have not had to deal with that, however, at times it has felt like it!
     Paul did not give up his testimony of Christ to fit into the community and evidently, they were not comfortable with his witness, but Paul climbed higher! Maybe the comfort in this is that Paul is a good guide to climbing higher and his community is the community we should seek?