Recently, I was burning a brush pile behind my house. I told my son to take a picture and send it to his mom. I decided to take a couple of photos myself to send them to my daughter and son-in-law. A day or two later, when I looked at the picture, I noticed a cross above the flame. It seemed like a hundred verses were going through my mind. The Lord powerfully spoke to me by saying, “Rise Above.” Our church has implemented that theme this year, and I began a series of messages in January on the topic “Rise Above.”
I believe we are living in the best times we will ever have to serve the Lord. However, we are mired with “weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us” (Hebrews 12:1). Christians are weighted down with things that take away from our relationship with the Lord. Churches are doing all kinds of activities, but are failing to share the gospel. Are you sick of the labor of sin? Jesus said to come to Him “all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” We are better than “wood, hay and stubble” (1 Corinthians 3:12). The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us (Acts 1:8). We need to redeem the time while we have it lest we let our great salvation “slip” because of our “neglect” (Hebrews 2:1-4). We are “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37), and we have “overcome” the clutches of the world (1 John 5:1-5). We do not have to let sin reign in our mortal bodies to obey it (Romans 6:12), “Rise Above” dear friend, conquer that which hinders you and proclaim the gospel to a world that needs it. The finished work of the cross is our hope and the only hope of a fallen world. The prophet encouraged us by saying “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Isaiah 43:2). We are not promised an easy life but we are promised an incomprehensible joy of all the glories of God if we are faithful. Amen!
Pastor Russell Hart
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