“To Ascend So High, To See So Far”

     I passed through a neighborhood recently where I once lived as a child.  We moved away nearly forty years ago, but a tree still stands in which I and friends of those days built a tri-level treehouse (well, if you know anything about my building skills, you’ll realize that I probably did more carrying of boards and handing other guys the tools than actual construction!).

     The tree I reference was and is very tall.  From the top level, it seemed we could see beyond our neighborhood to places throughout our city.  It thrilled young boys’ souls to ascend so high, and to see so far.  I’ve never been one for heights, but memory tells me that I never had much difficulty with the lofty perch that granted such a view and such a rush of excitement and adventure.

    “God… hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4...6).

    The Apostle Paul declares that a part of us, the very heart of us, already dwells in the heavenlies with our Lord.  Just as His Spirit comes to indwell us upon the earth when we believe in the Lord Jesus, so do our spirits soar to be with Him in His abode.  Don’t ask me to explain this, other than to say that spiritual reality transcends time and space, allowing for sublime and mysterious glories to grace our being for which we presently have little capacity for comprehension.  “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).

    A way to experience such glory, however, does actually present itself to us.  “Forever, o Lord, Thy Word is settled in Heaven” (Psalm 119:89).   God sent forth His settled Heavenly truth to the earth in order to settle it within our hearts.  When we open the Bible, therefore, we discover the perspective of Heaven, and of Heaven’s God.  We view truth and reality from His vantage point: “In Thy light shall we see light” (Psalm 36:9).  Rather than base opinions, beliefs, and convictions on our limited earthly vision, we ascend to a better and higher perch from which we view all things with God’s vision.  The heavenly home of our spirits becomes far more realized, and far more influential in every other aspect of our life and being.  “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

    Perhaps just now we may need to ascend so high and to see so far.  An open Bible, read with a humble, trusting, expectant heart allows for such perspective regarding blessings, challenges, and everything in our life.  Long ago, the Lord began to call my heart to such glory before ever I knew Him.  A tree still stands to remind, and far more, the Word “settled in Heaven” presently beckons me in a far greater way to ascend so high and to see so far.  I know you join me in the ascent and the sight, and let us rejoice together that the Scriptures call us to that higher Place…

“Come and see the works of God” (Psalm 66:5).

“We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
(II Corinthians 4:18)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for Thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.
(Psalm 31:3)