[0:00] Psalm 61, verse number 1, Hear my cry, O God. Attend unto my prayer. This is David crying and praying out to the Lord.
[0:13] From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy.
[0:26] I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the covert of thy wings, Selah. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows. Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.
[0:40] That will prolong the king's life and his years as many generations. He shall abide before God forever. O prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him.
[0:51] So will I sing praise unto thy name forever that I may daily perform my vows. Now David, in his cry, in his prayer, admits in verse 2 that his heart is overwhelmed.
[1:07] And he mentions in verse 3 there's an enemy that he needs to be sheltered from. And he makes a few times reference to some vows that he's making to the Lord.
[1:18] In verse 5, you heard my vows and I want to perform them. It says in verse 8. And so you can get the picture in the scene that he's in trouble and he's in a low place and he calls on God in verse 2, at the end of verse 2, to lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
[1:37] He's calling on God to lift him up to higher ground. Lead me to higher ground, the rock that is higher than I. And you can see that he's in this place of trouble where his heart's overwhelmed and he has nothing that he could do but cry out to God.
[1:54] And you see that he says, God, you've got to show me the way. He wants him to lead him. His prayer is not take the enemy away. His prayer is not fix all the problems and just make it wonderful down here.
[2:08] But his prayer is, God, lead me to a higher place. Lead me away from where I'm at to the rock that is higher than I.
[2:19] Lead me upward, God. Lead me to your tabernacle, to your covert, to where shelter is with your presence where I'll be saved. And David's asking God to lead him to an elevated place of protection where he can dwell with God, where he can be close to God, where he can experience the sanctuary, the tabernacle, abiding in thy tabernacle forever, verse 4 reads.
[2:47] Higher ground. There's a songwriter that you're familiar with this song. I'm going to read some of the words that a songwriter wrote very similar words on a hymn that we sing called Higher Ground.
[3:02] And he said, I'm pressing on the upward way, new heights I'm gaining every day, still praying as I onward bound, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
[3:14] My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay. Though some may dwell where these abound, my prayer, my aim is higher ground.
[3:27] I want to live above the world. Though Satan's darts at me are hurled, for faith has caught the joyful sound, the song of saints on higher ground.
[3:39] Do you understand this morning that there is higher ground for you individually to achieve? A place that God could plant your feet on a rock that's higher than where you are today?
[3:50] You may have lived a good life, you may have been saved a long time, but there's still higher ground for you. You may have attended this church for 55 years, there's still higher ground for you to attain. You may have just gotten saved a day ago, there's a lot of ground for you to cover.
[4:05] And I want to point you to that this morning, as our psalmist David is calling on God to lead him. Again, he doesn't say, just make it all go away and place me there.
[4:17] He says, lead me to it. So there's an element of desiring to leave where he is, to follow the Lord and allow him to lead him to a higher place, a place closer to the Lord, a place where there's more safety and shelter from the enemy, a place where you can abide in a close communion with your Father.
[4:37] Let's pray and then we'll talk about this thought of higher ground. Father, Lord, please help me to preach this message and to be clear. I believe you've given us the tools and everything we have is in the word of God.
[4:49] It's for us to uncover and to believe and then to implement and to obey. And so God, place it on our hearts, these areas that we've been negligent or that we've dismissed the truth and we've allowed other things to distract us.
[5:04] Please just do a work by your spirit take me out of the way and let your word speak clearly. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. When we consider setting our aim on higher ground or on dwelling in the word tabernacle David uses of the presence of God, I want to say that God has already given us the means by which we can attain that will lead us to such a place of higher ground.
[5:32] the safety that we seek after, a desire perhaps to get away from the world as the songwriter said, above the world, to get away from the pits of our sins and the deceitfulness of sins and worldliness.
[5:46] God has already given us the means by which to carry us that direction. I don't speak of higher ground status of financial security.
[5:58] I don't speak of higher ground socially or even emotionally where you feel a little more stable. I'm talking about something spiritual where you spend time abiding with God in His sanctuary, where you're closer to Him tomorrow than you were today and you don't need to call for His hand to come and lift you up.
[6:18] He's already extended it to you and I want to show you several ways that He's done this, several vehicles that can carry us to the safety of His presence. Maybe it's the Winter Olympics going on right now that has this analogy in my mind but can you picture a ski lift running up a mountain?
[6:35] Can you picture in your mind the poles and the cables that go between and along that are individual chairs that are just rotating, coming down and then taking skiers up to the top? Generally speaking, they're empty coming down but they're filled going up because everybody wants to ascend the mountain.
[6:51] They want to get up to higher ground and if I could use that analogy this morning and allow that picture to be something that helps you, there's just a few ways I want to show that God can take us or lead us up to higher ground.
[7:04] I don't know if you've ever skied or snowboarded and done any of this. Those of you that have can understand, maybe you're a jog, your memory but when you want to get on that lift seat, beyond waiting in line and the awkward little shuffle you do with your skis like a penguin trying to walk and get positioned, there's a line generally or a mat or something and some of them have kind of footprints that you and your partner or three, however big the chair is, you get into the position and you stand there and wait for the car and as you wait for the car, it comes around and it comes around and you kind of maybe bend your knees or get everything up and it just hits you right behind the legs and you just flop right back into the chair and before you know it, you're whisked away, you're off the ground, you're going up the mountain.
[7:49] If somebody's, this is their first time, you can generally tell because they're nervous and they're looking and they're looking and they're looking and they're just, and they're tense and when it hits them, they yell a little scream and off they go.
[8:02] Somebody who's familiar with it, they're just holding a conversation, they're not even thinking about it, they know the feeling, they know what happens, they just never even miss a beat. But picture with me this ski lift and these chairs that are headed up the mountain and if you're born again and a child of God, then you've already got the lift pass, it's already been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ, you have access to just go line up and let that chair take you right up the hill.
[8:28] So let's look at these, these lift chairs today. Let's get into position and look over our shoulder and see the chair that's coming to take us up the mountain that'll lead us to higher ground.
[8:41] If we would sit, stand in our place and look over our shoulder, that first chair that comes around has these big words written right across the back of it and it says the King James Bible because that book will take you to higher ground.
[8:56] That Bible will not leave you where you are. If you get in your nose into this book, it will pick you up quickly and you'll start to ascend and leave the pits and the deceitfulness of your life behind.
[9:10] That book will take you up. Recently a woman that heard say this week that the King James Bible is hard to read. It's hard for her to read. And I didn't argue with her at all.
[9:22] I understand that. I fully understand that. I grew up with this Bible. I grew up memorizing it from a youth. It's language. It's the way it's put together. I get it.
[9:33] It clicks with me. But for somebody who's not familiar with it, it's a foreign read. It's a learned read. And that's okay if it sounds like it's hard for you to understand.
[9:44] What I want you to never do is pretend that you need a Bible that they say is easier to read than this one. You're going the wrong direction. That's a mistake. This Bible is for some hard to read because it's not supposed to read like a nursery rhyme.
[10:00] It's not supposed to read like a novel. It's not supposed to be easy to read. It's supposed to sound like it's holy. It's supposed to lift you up.
[10:13] It's supposed to sound like God said it. When men come around and start messing with this holy Bible and change what God said, they're taking something holy and pure and dumbing it down to somebody stupid and foolish and sinful.
[10:32] And I want the Bible to pick me up. And if it means that I need to take a little more time or spend a little more, the more time you spend in this Bible, the more your brain will just start to click.
[10:44] The gears will just line right up. The splines will just fit right into place and you'll get it and it'll go. God wrote this Bible in a way for you to lift you up, to take you higher.
[10:57] But when I'm talking about getting in this lift chair of the King James Bible, I'm not just talking about your daily devotions. Read a chapter, read a few chapters, check the box. I'm for that.
[11:08] You need to do that. It should be part of your routine is going to the Word of God, fellowship with God in the Bible. But I'm not just talking about your devotions. And I'm not talking about, yeah, I believe the King James Bible and I'm taking a stand for its truth and I reject the other versions and the perversions that are out there.
[11:28] What I'm talking about with this Bible is developing this habit of going to it. David said, my heart is overwhelmed.
[11:40] I'm crying and I'm praying to God. There's an enemy, I'm struggling and I need you to lead me to a rock higher than I. When you're in these places in life, you need to see this Bible as what can take you up.
[11:54] What can lift you above your problems and above the pain in your heart or the overwhelming feeling of emotion. I'm trying to draw your attention to going to the Word of God for answers.
[12:07] Going to the Word of God for direction. Going to the Word of God to support you, to sustain you, to feed you, to grow you, to comfort you when you're hurting instead of popping a pill, instead of watching some psychiatrist or calling a friend.
[12:25] Going to the Bible. This book, this King James Bible will lift you up if you'll believe that these are the words of God and they're spoken to you and that it's a living book.
[12:38] It's an oracle. The Lord Jesus Christ said that my words are spirit and they are life. These words are alive. If you don't believe that, then it's just a sacred book that belongs in the church house.
[12:55] But when you believe that these are the words of God and they can speak peace and strength and comfort and give you direction and wisdom, they can speak to you. That's what I want you to see.
[13:07] You go to it with that heart. It'll lift you up. You don't have to keep the place. Look at Hebrews. Find Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4.
[13:19] This Holy Bible is an extension of the presence of God for you on this earth. It is alive.
[13:34] And it is powerful. In Hebrews chapter 4, there is a very strong statement about the word of God here in verse 12 and verse 13. And I want you to read this with me.
[13:48] I want you to believe these words. The Bible says in verse 12, for the word of God is quick. That doesn't mean it's fast. It means it's alive. It's living.
[13:59] That's what the Bible says about itself. It's living. Do you believe that? The word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.
[14:12] Have you ever watched a show or watched a talk show and seen some doctor so-and-so or some smart person on this side and one questioning and they give an answer and they say, oh, that's powerful. Oh, that's a powerful thought.
[14:24] Yeah, that's nice but that's not like the word of God. When you come to the book, it's powerful with real power that can get infused into the new man and can help him to get up.
[14:36] The word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts.
[14:50] Wait a minute. The word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Your heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight.
[15:04] But all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. The Lord through his word can see inside of your heart, can read your heart, can discern the thoughts and intents of your heart.
[15:21] Why? Because that book is alive and it's powerful and it's acting. It's acting if you'll come to it with a believing heart. It can work. It can do work in you.
[15:33] You want to get closer to God? The King James Bible will get you there. You want to get to know the Lord? You want fellowship with him? You want to be close to him? You want to know his will for your life?
[15:44] You want to know how he wants you to live in this world? The King James Bible will take you to that rock that is far higher than where you are. That book will lift you up. You want to get closer to the world?
[15:58] You've got a little device in your pocketbook or in your purse or in your car. That little device, it'll help you get good with the world. You want to know what the world's trends are?
[16:09] What the world's fashions are? What everybody's doing? That little device will tell you exactly all about it. You spend time on your social media more than you spend in the word of God? You'll learn the ways of the world.
[16:22] But if you want to get into the tabernacle of God, if you want to be lifted up to higher ground, the King James Bible will lift you up. It'll lead you to a place higher than you are.
[16:34] You'll learn how to talk and you'll learn how not to talk. You'll learn how to handle business relationships and you'll learn how not to handle business relationships by going to the King James Bible.
[16:46] You'll learn how to respond when hard times come. You'll learn how to deal with your anger. You'll learn how to deal with your pride. You'll learn how to deal with your envy.
[16:57] You'll learn from this Bible how to exercise compassion and humility and to display love. This book will lift you up. This book will make you a better person.
[17:09] It'll give you better character. It'll give you better ethics. It'll give you a better mind. It'll give you a better mouth. This Holy Bible if you'll get in it can renew your mind.
[17:21] It can change the way you see your world. It can change the way you deal with people in your life. It'll give knowledge to the ignorant. It'll give boldness to the coward.
[17:33] It'll give comfort to the hurting. It'll give wisdom to the foolish. It can give purpose to the pointless. And the word of God can give grace to the grumpy and hope to the helpless.
[17:49] It can transform your spirit and it can strengthen the new man. This book will lift you up. This book will lead you to a place to a rock that is higher than where you are.
[18:04] It's already been given to you. You don't have to call to God to reach his hand down and pick you up. He's already given you the means to get yourself up out of where you are.
[18:16] If we're in that line there's another chair that comes around. It's another chair and this one may not look as pretty. It may not look as assuming. It may just kind of be not as impressive as the first one perhaps.
[18:29] But it's a chair that can take you up that hill nonetheless. This chair if you'd look at the letters printed on the back of it it's six letters that says prayer. Prayer. While you're in Hebrews 4 just look a little bit later and I'll read from verse 14 to 16 Seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed into the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our profession for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was at all points tempted like as we are yet without sin let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need we have access the Bible says in Ephesians we have access unto the Father by the Spirit of God and it's through prayer this chair may not seem impressive it may be kind of unassuming but there's no need to question it this chair has been taking believers into the presence of God for 2,000 years and so much more it can quickly get you higher there's a song that I know
[19:39] I don't know that I can't even remember the title of the song but there's a line in a song that I've known for a long time it says prayer changes things and it changes me and I never thought anything of the song it was just a rhyme to me for years until I got older and started to experience some things and I came to learn an experience that I think more than anything what prayer changes is me and I know you think in your mind well we pray for God to change things but what I've learned is that there's conflicts and there's situations that are they feel pressing and they're a burden on my heart and I take them before the Lord and it's not that he changes the conflict or that he changes the situation at all but he's changed my attitude toward it and it can be a seven or an eight in my heart as I get to my knees but when I get up it's about a three and what is a seven and eight now is doing what's right and doing what I know he wants me to do and trusting him with the situation instead of fretting over it and worrying about it what does prayer do it changes me
[21:01] I can go to to prayer and come out of it differently I can feel heavy and I can come out feeling peace I can go in emotional and I can go in carnal and I can go in selfish complaining and worrying about how I feel and what I think and I can come out just wanting to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ and who cares about how I feel God if this is what you want for me your will is right and I'll just take it and go prayer can change things and it changes me it will lift you up I think my greatest example of this a biblical one we don't need to turn to it I feel like we've turned to it several times over the year this is such a great example to me is the Lord Jesus Christ going to the garden of Gethsemane sorrowful even unto death and then leaving that garden confident and prepared to face the hour of his death what changed the couple hours what changed it was the whole time in prayer it changed him it didn't change the circumstance that was all systems go they were coming to take him but it changed him it changed his attitude and he was prepared because prayer does that it lifts him up and it lifts me up and it will lift you up too
[22:29] I've had the Holy Spirit give me what I believe is insight into situations when I've been on my knees and when I've been praying and I've just been silent and I feel the Lord just gives me some light about a situation or how I should respond I feel like I felt God put some real living peace that passeth all understanding into my heart when I was worked up about something or when I was stressed out about something or I didn't have an answer and didn't know a way forward just got on my face and in some time the peace just comes in and I'm lifted up where I feel like I'm stuck in a pit and God you need to do something and after prayer the Lord just lifts you up doesn't take you away from the problem he just gives you peace and the peace is so good and it just blankets the problem and helps you feel right with God when God in prayer
[23:33] I felt and put people on my heart names of people on my mind that are going through some things when through the day I wasn't thinking about them at all I'm just like you I'm thinking about me and I even go to my knees sometimes thinking about what I have to do and what I need the Lord to help me to do this and I'm not ready for this and Lord I need you to do that and through the time and prayer the Lord starts to put people on my mind and it just lifts me above the fog of my selfishness that we all walk around in most of our lives and prayer just it leads you to a rock higher I don't know if I could put in the words what a prayer life can do for the child of God I certainly can't put it all into words but I believe I can say with confidence that it will lift you up it'll take you higher it'll draw you nigh to God it'll lead you to higher ground I want to refer to another song today in our hymnal this one's called in the garden it's a popular song about prayer and if you didn't know this when you sing it it's a song about prayer and so may you never read it or sing it rather without understanding its words the song kind of borrows the thought of Christ in the garden praying it says
[24:54] I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses it's early in the morning and the voice I hear falling on on my ear the son of God discloses I hear the voice of the son of God calling me and he walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me I'm his own the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known the personal intimate private fellowship with God in prayer he speaks and the sound and the sound of his voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing and the melody that he gave to me within my heart is ringing and the songwriter goes on get the idea that there's something very powerful and special about a human being getting on their knees before a holy God and spending time intimate time with him it's a choice that you have to make and that choice if you want to get higher if your heart's overwhelmed within you as the psalmist said that vehicle will take you up it'll lift you right up quickly there's one more chair I want to point out to you if you're going to climb that mountain there's some things that God has already put in place for you he's given you a holy bible that can lift you up and train you and direct your way and instruct you in righteousness he's given you prayer and through prayer access to him and in access to him you get your eyes on him and you get connected to him and you're not so carnal and not so worldly and connected to what's down here but the third thing this third chair that if we were standing in our position to get onto that ski lift we'd look around and see there's another chair coming around and it's got three words and these three words say bible baptist church because god has given you a means to take you to higher ground he's given you a local church and i can say this with all authority and certainty he has given you this church to take you up and to bring you closer to him you say there's other churches i know there's other churches but this is the one he gave to you to lift you up that's what the letters read on that chair i painted it myself i'm kidding god has given us a fellowship of believers other men and women whose hearts he is open to him that love him that believe his words god has given you other people in this world that seek to glorify jesus christ with their lives that's it's just not out there in the world all seek their own not the things which be christ jesus and yet god has given you men and women boys and girls and teenagers young and old alike that can help lift you up they can help you they can give you courage just by knowing they're here they can instruct you in faithfulness and in commitment and what that should look like in your life by looking at their godly example god has given that to you it's a way that he works to lift you up to higher ground godly examples will draw you closer to god and no man or woman in here is perfect or even close not even by any means but the lord god uses his children they're considered your spiritual family he uses one another to bring us closer to him when we draw nigh to each other when we unite in our christian faith when we walk with the lord you may not see it but
[28:54] you're you're going up you're getting closer to the lord by uniting with brothers and sisters in spiritual means in grounds and under spiritual contact the world won't take you to christ the world has never taken anybody to jesus christ and they don't plan to start the world will do is take you down and keep you down and hold you down and weigh you down with things that you'll never be able to get up from your sin will weigh you down it will bind you you'll be holden with the cords of your sins and unable to get to higher ground your lost family your lost friends they'll bring you down i'm not telling you to cut off relationships in your life of people that you've known all your life i'm not telling you to do anything but what i'm telling you is you can't choose your family but you can choose your friends and your best and closest friends in this life they ought to be born again christians they ought to be people who have the same goal and desire in life to walk with god and to live righteously and they slip and fall we all do but the desire in the heart is to get back up and walk with god and show back up and be present and get things right when they're wrong lost world will bring you down but god's people can bring you up if you're struggling spiritually it could be that you're starving yourself of spiritual fellowship with believers and i believe god has given you this church he's given you brothers and sisters and you have you have like clockwork at least two days out of the week where you can come and get fellowship from brothers and sisters and there's other times beyond that if you'd commit yourself to being here every time there's something extra whether it be a special meeting or a special service or an outreach or a prayer meeting you have more than just two days in the week where you can get more fellowship and you can rub shoulders with god's chosen people i remember going door to door with some people in my church some men in my previous church and we'd go out on different thursday nights or sometimes saturday mornings and i remember reaching out to certain guys in the church that never would show up and i'd say hey i could use a partner would you be willing to go with me and every single one of them said yes they didn't come ever but all i had to do was invite them to come and they came and then we went door to door and through the time we got to know each other and got to talk and and as it turns out these were brothers in christ who had a desire in their new man to do something for god they just didn't have the courage to do it or they just didn't feel like they fit in they didn't know if they knew the bible enough or and so they it kept them from coming and the lord just put on my heart to reach out to a few of them and see if you can get them in and just by spending time with them going door to door doing something for christ encouraged them enough to realize i can do this and some of them are still doing it today and it wasn't me trying to get a friend on my side it was just trying to encourage a brother why because a local church does that a local church will lift somebody up and god could use you in this church to lift somebody up or maybe you in this church need to look around and find somebody you can connect with and unite with to do spiritual things to come and pray to go out in our outreach in our neighborhood or on the street corner there's there's a bond that starts to get formed and
[32:55] some of you don't have much of a bond formed here you come and then you go and god has given you this place for more than just showing up you can unite with your brothers and sisters you can get involved and be encouraged to participate david cried in the psalm lead me to a rock that is higher than i now i don't know if you caught this but do you realize what i just gave you this morning the bible prayer and the local church are they not the three simplest things read your bible pray go to church is that not like the most elementary message that you've ever heard in your life of how to live your christian life but those are the vehicles that god has given to us on this earth to lift us up to that tabernacle of dwelling with him abiding with him it's the simplest format there is it's nothing new it's nothing deep or confusing by any means it's the same as it ever was and this is what god has placed in your life it's going to be your choice to get in position and to carry yourself to let god lead you higher if your heart's overwhelmed within you get in your bible get on your knees and don't get up until god's peace comes inside and settles your spirit if you need help i can tell you this god has given you others around you some of which have been through things already in this life that could counsel you could comfort you could at the very least just be a friend and pray with you and say it'll be all right if you'll trust in the lord the lord can help you through this i've been through it i know others that have been through it and i can't i can't give you the comfort but god can and they can go beside you and hold your hand and carry you through god has given you a local church for more than one reason have you ever ascended a mountain have you ever climbed one of these hills to the summit and when you get to the top you you finally just take a look and see and you take in the view it's spectacular it's it's you just couldn't imagine it you couldn't realize or know what was going to be until you got to the top and then the climb or the time involved whatever it is is worth the experience to get up on top and to look around and see this is amazing this is far different than what it looks like every day down below to get up here you can see so much further it the air feels so much cleaner it's such a it's a more private place there's there's not the society and the culture and the buildings and the noise it's just it's a different environment when you get up on the summit and that's the
[35:59] Christian life there's more ground to gain and there's more to experience when you get to higher ground there's more you'll see and discern and understand when you get to higher ground and the air is cleaner and the fellowship is sweeter and it is more private there's few up there and you can have a fellowship and communion with God that he's calling for and one that he'll lead you to if you'll take advantage of these vehicles that he's given you the experience Christian is worth it to have a closer walk with Jesus Christ so whatever you do Christian don't stay where you are don't be content with just being saved it's a wonderful gift from God but that's just the beginning strive pray for God to lead you to higher ground that is what he'll call you to I promise you
[37:01] God will not leave you where you are it has never been his intention the Bible describes it as a baby that grows and it's God's desire to make us mature and fit and strong the other analogy is going up higher don't be content with where you are don't be satisfied with where you are pray that prayer of David Lord lead me on to higher ground let's pray father this is so simple to me but it's it's what works in my life it's what will work in your people's lives if they'll receive it and desire it it's worked for so many and Lord there's there's surely surely people here before me that have need of these truths to be just reminded of and to rehearse them in their ears once again of how you call us to the word of God and to allow that book to teach us and to have a personal fellowship with you in the word of God Lord our lives are busy and there's so many distractions and there's so many things that give us pleasure that it's easy to neglect prayer and it's easy to even come to prayer selfishly
[38:24] Lord lead us to higher ground and drive us and call us to prayer I want to thank you for Bible Baptist Church understanding that this church has stood for many many years and you've had your hand here and your words have been here and it's been a light here for a long time and yet God there's new faces that are in this crowd and they need the truth and they need to grow in grace and they need this place they need these brothers and sisters to unite with so Lord allow us to grow as a congregation and to come together in a unity that will will bring forth fruit unto the Lord Jesus Christ God help us to grow help us to gain ground put it on our hearts individually that not to be happy with where we are not to be satisfied with how much we read or how much we pray or or what we do just going to ask you by your Holy Spirit to speak to individual hearts where they are and where they need to be and to lead them on to higher ground with your heads bowed still with your eyes closed just want you to take an attitude of prayer and and consider what you heard this morning that it's obviously not deep and again not confusing it's just it's it's right across the plate it's something that you need to hear it's something that you need to consider today do you go to the Bible or do you go to your phone to get your fix do you talk to your mother or to your friends or do you talk to the Lord have you committed your life and your efforts to the work of this ministry here are you all in or do you just come and go as you please and take it when it's convenient for you because there's other things more important to you God has handed you these three things to lead you closer to him your life will be more fulfilled there'll be more peace there'll be more joy if you could put down some of the other things and embrace these because these will lead you to safety and lead you to abiding with the Lord where there are pleasures forevermore if the Lord's speaking your heart I want to give you a chance to respond to that come and pray as we sing and give God what he needs this morning you