Copyright 2008 Theresa Harvard Johnson
Ephesians 4:12-13 (Amplified Bible)
12His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the church), 13[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [[a]full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.
1 Corinthians 13:11
11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.
2 Peter 3:18
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3
1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
Every sermon you preach, book you write, every song from the Father, prophetic word you release or receive is a part of God's plan to take you to the next level in Him. Going from one level to the next implies that you are standing on a flat surface or a surface in which there is a "step above" where you were or what you experienced before or in your present place. It is moving from that flat surface to a degree of higher ascension in which what was "below" is no longer efficient or effective enough to carry you.
The people of God are an elite group in which the Lord is constantly pushing and pressing us to "ascend or go higher" or to reach that next level in him. Many people refer to this as the next dimension or spiritual promotion. While I'm using the term "level" here, there are also supernatural places of growth that literally take you from one place to the next exponentially — without the steps. All of God's people experience not only levels of growth in their intimacy with Him, but also dimensional growth or suddenlies.
Such is the supernatural in the Lord. Our entire walk is based on this kind of maturing. It is a constant push of moving:
1. From milk to meat;
2. From childhood to manhood;
3. Into an increase in grace and knowledge of Yeshua; and
4. An increase in understanding and the application of Father's wisdom.
Moving to the next level is an advancement of DESTINY and PURPOSE.
Among believers, moving from level to level or accelerating from one dimension to the next in the Lord has become a cliche that is so loosely thrown around that it has lost its meaning and spiritual impact. This movement or motion in the realm of the spirit is not referring to or should not refer to promotion by men – the attaining of degrees, objects or things, the outward appearance of prosperity or even the advancement of intellectual knowledge.
This "next level" is an elevation of spiritual maturity that exemplifies the LOVE of Christ, a posture of humility — the life of the living epistle, that place of pure ministry. It is the perfecting of His fruit, not the release of religion and legalism. It is walking in a greater operation of agape love and moving out of emotionalism. It is the high road that RESISTS the temptation to sin and succumb to the low road of the adversary. It is moving from GLORY TO GLORY. It is moving in greater realms, heights and places of spiritual authority in Christ…. as you walk out your identity.
So the next time you hear someone say, "I'm at a new level in the Lord," earnestly consider this perspective. They should be SO HUMBLE that it drips from them GREATER than it did before.
The next time you say, "I'm at a new level in the Lord," know that the LOVE OF GOD — full of the fruit of compassion and kindness — should shine at a brighter level in their lives than it did before. God promotes through pressing, proving and trials in which the gold is purified and the diamond is perfected. His type of promotion involves a death process.
THIS is true spiritual elevation in the Father!
Luke 22:26
But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant.
The question we must all ask is this:
"Lord have I really moved to the next level in you? The next dimension?"
Don't be fooled int this hour into thinking that "elevation" is all about advancing as a deacon, elder, bishop or even a five-fold minister. These functions are the FRUIT of the elevation that has taken place inside you. The laying of hands, if this is a part of what you believe, in the midst of ordination IS AN AFFIRMATION, AGREEMENT and RELEASE of the elevation. But always remember, it is Father who calls and sends.
Elevation has nothing to do with a TITLE OR LABEL. To be spiritually elevated is manifested personally, and then experienced outward in the lives of Father's people. If you happen to be in a place that recognizes those times when God calls you into ministry as a pastor or prophet, that's good. But even if you are not acknowledged or confirmed in that way — it doesn't mean that spiritual elevation HAS NOT taken place in your life.
Be free today of the chains men try to place on you. Spiritual elevation is BEAUTIFUL… and everytime you GROW and learn more about our Father, you experience it at a deeper, and deeper level. Religion can complicate the simplest of revelations.
Can we take this discussion deeper? Sure we can. But I tell you, everything begins with a basic foundation. So if you remember nothing else, please know that true spiritual elevation is one of death to self and life in Yeshua. It is one of metamorphosis. If you want to go HIGHER, then desire DEATH. (Luke 9:23)
Nugget: Every book you write for the Kingdom of God will advance. This means that one book will build upon the other in MEAT and MATURITY as you grow in your scribal ministry. A person reading a book you wrote 5 years ago, should see exponential growth in the book you may release today. The Lord does not leave us on flat surfaces. Instead, He places steps of ascension before us… that we daily climb. Spiritul elevation — TRUE SPIRITUAL ELEVATION – is an ongoing, continuous process.
