Taking the High Ground

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”

(Eph. 2:4-6)

Every military leader, trained in the art of war, knows the importance of taking the high ground in each conflic“t. In John chapter fifteen Jesus gives us a hint of our union with Him in the illustration of the vine and the branches. But it is in Paul’s epistles alone that we understand the full extent of this most blessed truth. Seated with Him in the heavenlies means, for one thing, we are to fight all our battles from this exalted position. Our enemy is in the heavenlies, but we’re above him.

The old Scottish tune says, “You take the high road and I’ll take the low road.” I’ve chosen to do just that, take the high road. The desire of my heart for over sixty-years has been, “Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith, on Heaven’s tableland, A higher plane than I have found; Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay; Though some may dwell where those abound my prayer, my aim, is higher ground.”

A missionary pilot was flying a friend to a village close by to minister. After they were airborne the passenger saw a deadly snake in the back seat among the luggage. When he told the pilot he immediately started climbing. Asked what he was doing, he replied, "The reptile will pass out; he can’t take the air higher up.” O my friend, if you are having troubles with that old serpent, the devil, go higher. He can’t take that celestial air! Don’t go down, go up.

“My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.”~ Jer. 50:6

by an Aged Saint

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