LIVING THE HIGH LIFE
Pastor Dawn Marie Berry, Washington
JESUS LIVED THE “HIGH
LIFE”:
THINK OF HOW JESUS
SPENT TIME WITH HIS FATHER DURING HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY.
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GET UP BEFORE DAYLIGHT AND PRAY
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SPEND WHOLE NIGHTS IN PRAYER
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COMMUNICATING WITH HIS HEAVENLY FATHER
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AFTER HE WAS BAPTIZED BY JOHN AND THE HOLY GHOST CAME UPON HIM AND
ANOINTED HIM...
HE SPENT 40 DAYS IN THE WILDERNESS
FASTING AND PRAYING. THE BIBLE SAYS HE LEFT THERE
IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT…
THIS IS THE RESULT OF HIS TIME WITH THE FATHER; HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS TO DO - AND HE DID IT.
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HE PERFECTLY PLEASED GOD
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AFTERWARDS WHEN SATAN CAME TO TEMPT HIM...JESUS KNEW EXACTLY WHAT
TO DO TO HAVE VICTORY.
THE [HIGH LIFE] IS THE VICTORIOUS LIFE; LIFE
GUIDED BY THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT
GETTING BORN-AGAIN IS NOT SOMETHING WE DO JUST
SO WE WILL MISS HELL.
GOD TELLS US TO GO AND WIN THE LOST [PART OF
OUR PURPOSE]
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#1 PURPOSE IS TO ‘PLEASE
GOD’
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DO WHATEVER HE TELLS US TO DO
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WE NEED TO LIVE IN FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM
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AND BE VITALLY UNITED WITH HIM
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WE SHOULD SPEND ENOUGH TIME WITH HIM, THAT WE HEAR
AND RECOGNIZE HIS VOICE, SO WE CAN
BE PLEASING TO HIM.
IN MATTHEW 28 JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO GO
INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL...’TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I
HAVE COMMANDED YOU....V.20
IN MARK 8 WE SEE ONE
OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT HE TOLD THEM
VERSES 34-36 And when
he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them,
Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall
lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what
shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
V.35 AMPLIFIED FOR WHOEVER
WANTS TO SAVE HIS [HIGHER, SPIRITUAL, ETERNAL LIFE, WILL LOSE IT [THE LOWER,
NATURAL, TEMPORAL LIFE WISH IS LIVED ONLY ON EARTH] AND WHOEVER GIVES UP HIS
LIFE [WHICH IS LIVED ONLY ON EARTH] FOR MY SAKE AND THE GOSPEL’S WILL SAVE IT
[HIS HIGHER, SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD]
TALKING ABOUT GOING TO
HEAVEN AND ABOUT OUR LIVING FOR HIM WHILE WE’RE ON THE EARTH.
TO LIVE FOR HIM, WE CANNOT CLING TO OUR
NATURAL LIVES OR WHAT OUR SOULS DESIRE IN THE NATURAL REALM.
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AMBITION, MONEY, RECOGNITION, OR OTHER FLESHLY THINGS THAT THE
NATURAL MAN SEEKS AFTER WITH HIS WHOLE HEART.
JESUS IS SAYING ‘IF YOU WILL
LAY DOWN YOUR NATURAL DESIRES, LOSE SIGHT OF YOURSELF AND YOUR OWN INTERESTS,
YOU WILL LOSE THAT LOWER LIFE. TAKE UP YOUR CROSS. DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD. FOLLOW ME AND YOU WILL FIND THAT HIGHER
LIFE.’
THE HIGHER LIFE IS
WALKING IN THE SPIRIT, WALKING WITH GOD AND WALKING IN VICTORY AND POWER.
IT IS WALKING AND BEING
RULED BY OUR NEW REBORN NATURE, FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST, EVEN THOUGH WE ARE
STILL LIVING IN A NATURAL BODY.
[EXAMPLE] IN LUKE 18, JESUS
TRIED TO GET THE RICH YOUNG RULER TO FOLLOW HIM INTO A HIGHER LIFE....BUT THE
MAN WAS UNABLE TO DO IT.
JESUS DID NOT TELL EVERYONE
HE MET TO SELL WHAT THEY HAD AND TO GIVE IT TO THE POOR, BUT HE SAID THAT TO
THE RICH YOUNG RULER FOR A REASON........
MAYBE, THE RICH YOUNG RULER
WAS TRUSTING IN HIS RICHES INSTEAD OF GOD.
WHEN PUT TO THE TEST, HE CARED MORE FOR THE RICHES.
PRIME IMPORTANCE TO JESUS:
OBEY WHATEVER THE FATHER
ASKED
IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE,
HIS SOUL WAS CRYING OUT......KNOWING HE WAS GOING TO HAVE TO ENDURE SEPARATION
FROM GOD. HE PRAYED....
LUKE 22: 42
Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:
nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
LUKE 22: 44
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it
were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
GOD MAY BE TELLING YOU
SOMETHING TO DO.....
HE MAY BE SAYING, ‘I WANT
YOU TO SPEND MORE TIME IN PRAYER’
OR ‘I WANT YOU TO SPEND MORE
TIME IN MY WORD’
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT, ‘I
OUGHT TO DO THAT’...DON’T PUT IT OFF. DO WHATEVER GOD IS TELLING YOU TO
DO. LAY DOWN YOUR NATURAL DESIRES AND
OBEY THE HIGHER CALLING OF GOD. GOD DOES NOT BEGIN YOU LIFE OF OBEDIENCE BY ASKING
YOU TO DO SOMETHING YOU ARE NOT READY OR EQUIPPED TO DO.
IF YOU WILL FOLLOW HIS
LEADING, HE WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO DO,
HOW YOU NEED TO CHANGE,
WHAT EFFORT YOU NEED TO
MAKE FOR HIM, AND HOW TO PLEASE HIM BY YOUR OBEDIENCE:
HE WANTS US TO REACH THE
PLACE WHERE WE TRUST HIM, WHERE WE KNOW HE IS WISER THAN WE ARE, WHERE WE ARE
WILLING TO DO WHAT HE SAYS, WHETHER
WE UNDERSTAND IT WITH OUR MINDS OR NOT THAT IS CALLED WALKING IN THE SPIRIT,
OR LIVING THE HIGH LIFE.
IF WE FIGHT AND STRIVE TO PERFORM OUR OWN WILLS IN THE EARTH, THE
SPIRIT OF GOD WILL HAVE NO OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE US INTO THE HIGHER LIFE.
WE MUST MAKE THE DECISION TO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES FOR HIM.
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THIS IS A GROWING PROCESS.
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GROWING SPIRITUALLY IS LIKE GROWING PHYSICALLY.
AT BIRTH YOU WERE NOT
EXPECTED TO BE ABLE TO TALK. BUT AFTER A
FEW YEARS OF LEARNING AND PRACTICE YOU COULD SPEAK QUITE WELL. SPIRITUAL GROWTH
COMES THE SAME WAY. WE WALK WITH GOD ONE
DAY AT A TIME, ONE HOUR AT A TIME, ONE DECISION AT A TIME.
START WHERE YOU
ARE. BUT START. WE WILL NEVER GROW IF WE DO NOT GIVE GOD OUR
[TIME]
IF WE DO NOT SPEND
TIME IN THE WORD AND IN PRAYER. IF WE DO NOT LISTEN TO OUR SPIRIT, WE WILL
NEVER GROW.
ALL GOD ASKS OF US IS
THAT WE BEGIN WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
IF YOU DO NOT KNOW GOD, THE FIRST THING YOU
NEED TO DO IS TO GET BORN-AGAIN. MAKE JESUS THE LORD OF YOUR LIFE AND SAY, I’M
STARTING TODAY. THEN START. KEEP MOVING AND DON’T EVER STOP.
NO ONE HAS ARRIVED...... NO ONE IS PERFECT....EXCEPT
JESUS.......EVERYONE ELSE IS [GROWING] OR NOT GROWING.
VINE’S EXPOSITORY DICTIONARY OF BIBLICAL
WORDS [DISCIPLE] = A LEARNER, ONE WHO
FOLLOWS ONE’S TEACHING.
GOD IS OFFERING US A HIGHER LIFE THAN WE HAVE
EVER KNOWN. HE HAS GREAT THINGS FOR
THOSE WHO WILL BE OBEDIENT TO HIM AND LOVE HIM WITH THEIR WHOLE HEARTS.
THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE THE GOSPEL
OF JESUS CHRIST WITH YOU.
BE SURE AND GO TO CHURCH THIS WEEK.
GOOD-BYE AND MAY GOD
RICHLY BLESS YOU.
Pastor Dawn Marie Berry
