The Higher Way
Well, gracious sakes alive, friend, look at you comin’ up the pathway like a breath of fresh mountain air. Come on up here on this ol’ front porch now and settle yourself right down. If you could smell that peach cobbler coolin’ on the windowsill or hear that cranky ol’ chipmunk fussin’ at an ol’ possum that keeps stealin’ them strawberries right off the vine over there, you’d know you’ve done plum walked right into the perfect place to rest your weary spirit. Now let’s chew on a truth that’s as steady as an ol’ mule pickin’ its way across a rocky ridge. Isaiah 55:9 leans in real close and says, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways.” And tucked right beside it is Psalm 25:4, “Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths.” These here two verses fit together real good like two creek stones shaped smooth by the same faithful current, each one pointin’ us toward a higher way of livin’.
Now, friend, down here on earth we’ve got more paths than a lil’ ol’ squirrel’s got hiding spots. Folks wander this way and that way, thinkin’ every direction is the right one. But Scripture tells us plain. Every earthly path, no matter how fancy it looks, loops right back to the same low place. Sin drags us down like a heavy ol’ log floatin’ in a shallow pond. That’s why Jesus didn’t show up to offer just another direction. He said in John 14:6, “I am the way.” Not one of many. The way. The higher way.
God’s ways ain’t down here in the mud with ours. He invites us upward. He calls us to walk in the Spirit, where the enemy can’t reach us. Galatians 5:16 says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” That’s livin’ on another level. Jesus Himself walked this earth while standin’ firm in heaven’s truth. He lived in a place where fear couldn’t choke Him, lies couldn’t fool Him, and darkness couldn’t touch Him. And friend, He wants us to live there too.
This world might tell you you’re stuck, sick, hopeless, or worthless. But the higher level tells you you’re free, healed, valuable, and full of blessed hope. You get to choose which level you’ll live on. The low one that drags you down or the Jesus level that lifts you up.
Father, teach us Your higher ways. Pull us out of the low places and steady our feet on Your path. Help us walk in the Spirit, think with heaven’s truth, and live above the noise of this world. Keep our hearts anchored to Your level. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Alright then, friend, as you move on from this ol’ front porch and into the doin’s of your day, carry this truth like a bright lantern that refuses to dim even when the fog rolls in thick. Choose the higher level with the confidence of an ol’ mountain goat climbin’ a ridge it knows by heart. Hold tight to God’s ways the way a barn owl clings to its perch in a midnight storm. And walk forward knowin’ the Lord’s already liftin’ you above the mess, guidin’ you with more skill than a master craftsman shapin’ a crooked branch into somethin’ mighty useful.
With joy,
Gwen
