You’ll excuse me for the following. I know it is basic, and we have covered this before, but this is foundational to our response to “Come Up Higher!” One cannot live in the Spirit, and one cannot walk in the Spirit until such time as they surrender to Holy Spirit completely and unreservedly. That surrender is generally marked by a release of Holy Spirit using their tongue. They yield total control of their tongue to Holy Spirit and He speaks through them in some language (or languages) they’ve never learned — and in most cases have never heard. Why this becomes a proof of one’s immersion in the Spirit is evidenced in something that James writes to the body of Christ.

Coming up higher is not a metaphor, or a figure of speech! This is a real, living experience. I don’t want to go there today because it would take too long for the time we have left, but in a couple of weeks, we will talk about living in the presence of the Lord. That is something that Della and I have experienced in time past with unbelievable but tangible results. Consider how John experienced the kind of revelation that opened up whole new dimensions to him.

Bill and Gloria Gaither have written a song that the Gaither Vocal Band has released on their latest CD, titled, “Praise God, I’m a Child of the King.” The second line to the song is, “And His royal blood now flows in my veins.” That’s a revelation that seems to escape most of us. The truth of that phrase is that it is the very life blood of the Lord that flows in us, and with that life blood comes the very character, nature and essence of Who He is. With that essence comes a level of inheritance in Heaven that incorporates the authority and power.

Let’s wrap up this discussion on liberals and conservatives today. Next week we will get into a prophetic message that comes out of two experiences I had with the audible voice of the Lord a few weeks ago. It's been awhile since I've had such a volume of responses to a short series of Coffee Breaks, but these articles on being "liberal" have provoked a series of comments that run the gamut. Some people have gotten irritated -- maybe downright angry -- that I would highlight the fact that Jesus -- and all true Christian believers -- are in fact "liberals" and not "conservatives." Others treat this as humorous, and some treat it as "tongue-in-cheek."

Today we begin our discussion with a brief history of the life of Alexander Hamilton. The details of his life and his involvement in the formation of our early government are so voluminous that it would take many Coffee Breaks to recount, so I offer you the following. We’ve already mentioned him and talked about some of his influence with our nation’s founding, but let’s get a little more specific today. For a man who had such a short life with such questionable beginnings, Alexander Hamilton used his life to literally change the world of his day and influence the world economy even to the present.

We continue today with our discourse on Daniel Webster and his history. As noted last week, few names are more discussed or mentioned in today’s discussions than that of Daniel Webster. Losing a race in 1836 for the Presidency on the Whig ticket, he nonetheless gained more in national prominence, and when William Henry Harrison ran for President in 1840, he was offered the position of Vice-President. He declined with a dry but humorous phrase he would use again eight years later when Zachary Taylor ran for Presidency, "I do not propose to be buried until I am dead." 

Today we will talk briefly about Abraham Lincoln; and then we will -- over the next few discussions -- delve into the process that has unfolded over the past 50 years or so in which our covenantal rights as Americans have been stolen, and the emerging reversal of that process which has taken place in the past few years. Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (1861 - 1865), has been both praised and vilified: either as one of the greatest presidents this nation has ever had, or as one of the worst -- all subject, of course, to the biases of those praising or criticizing.

I’m going to run a little long today but I want to finish up with our abbreviated history of one of the most significant founding fathers, George Mason. In May of 1776, George Mason wrote, "All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural rights .... among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety." His statement became part and parcel of the Virginia Constitution. It was a mere two months later that Thomas Jefferson cribbed from Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights while writing the Declaration of Independence. Many historians have suggested that Jefferson's version was not an improvement on Mason's.