12/17/2025
I hear the Holy Spirit saying, “My people must come up higher.”
The world is watching—not just what we preach, but how we live.
Not just what we say on Sunday, but what we display Monday through Saturday.
And the grief of heaven is this: too often the Church has become a black eye to the name of Christ instead of a banner lifted high.
We cannot claim His Name and then mirror the world’s bitterness.
We cannot declare His holiness and then traffic in gossip, division, offense, and carnality.
We cannot shout “King of Glory” while living like servants of self.
Jesus said plainly, “Woe to the world because of offenses… but woe to that man by whom the offense comes.” (Matthew 18:7)
The Spirit of Living God is saying, “Stop being the stumbling block of Christianity.”
Stop being the reason people mock His Church.
Stop being the reason they reject the Gospel.
Stop being the reason they say, “If that’s Jesus, I want no part of Him.”
You were never called to win culture wars.
You were called to carry a cross.
Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)
But the Lord says many have taken up a platform instead of a cross, a microphone instead of a mantle, influence instead of intimacy.
There are souls standing at the edge of decision, watching how you respond under pressure, how you speak when you’re wounded, how you walk when you’re misunderstood.
And the Lord says, “I did not call you to the noise. I called you to the narrow way.”
Rise above the offense.
Rise above the endless arguing, the social media rage, the pride that must always be right.
Rise above the drama—or step out of the way.
You cannot represent heaven while feeding on outrage.
You cannot speak for God while governed by offense.
You cannot carry His fire while entertaining your flesh.
James declares: “The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20)
Yet many leaders and believers alike have baptized anger and called it boldness.
This is the hour to set your forehead like flint.
The Lord is looking for a people who are unmovable in love, unshakable in truth, and unbending in righteousness.
You were never called to win arguments.
You were called to win souls.
Come up higher.
Get out of the mud of offense.
Get out of the echo chamber of opinions.
Get out of the low places where flesh rules and pride speaks loudest.
John said, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,” and when he came up higher, he didn’t see chaos—he saw a throne.
He didn’t hear arguments- he heard worship.
He didn’t behold the failures of men- he beheld the King of Glory.
And when you behold Him, you are changed.
When you behold Him, your appetite shifts.
When you behold Him, your life begins to preach louder than your mouth ever could.
Those who behold people will always react.
Those who behold the King will walk in fear of the Lord.
Paul warned: “We are not peddling the word of God.” (2 Corinthians 2:17)
But some have turned the Gospel into content, controversy, and currency.
This is not a gentle call.
This is a summons to repentance.
Holiness is not optional.
Integrity is not negotiable.
Character is not secondary.
Let your life be an invitation, not a stumbling block.
Let your speech be seasoned with grace.
Let your conduct provoke hunger, not cynicism.
This is the hour to reflect Him rightly.
This is the hour to walk worthy of the Name.
This is the hour to come up higher and let the world behold Jesus, not our flesh.
-Jessica Jecker Simply Jecker
