"He is Higher"

"For thou, LORD, art high above the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods." (Psalms 97:9)
There are three verses that I have highlighted in my Bible; actually, the first half of verses one and five, and then the whole verse of this one, verse nine. I have not carried a highlighter in my Bible for at least 15 years or so, so I cannot remember what teaching was given at the time of this marking. Having seen what God can do, in our circumstances and through every situation possible, I can only imagine that it had something to do with purification. I say that because of the first part of verse five, "The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD." If you really stop and think about what it is that needs to happen in our lives in order for us to become more like Jesus, there are way more distractions in many of our lives than we need; and far to many of those distractions are keeping us from giving everything over to the Lord. I'm just being honest, so don't feel judged or anything like that; it's just how I see the "hills" that are being pointed out, as little mountaintop experiences which take the place of the true worship we can have with God. When we look at the encounter between Jesus and 'the woman at the well,' her little mountain was actually the well; the well took the place of her having an intimate relationship with God. It was not because the well had any significant value, other than it was one of Jacob's wells; but it had enough value to her, that it caused her to settle for what that well provided, physical needs in the form of water. Pastor Jon had a very interesting teaching yesterday, it was about Simon the sorcerer from Acts 8:9-24. Jon's message was quite bold, in that he connected Simon's desire for the gifts of the Spirit to our everyday desires to be blessed by God. It is not that hard to be pulled into the commercial side of living, where once there, we feel as though we are owed a part of it by God; almost as if it is part of what it means to be blessed. There are plenty of big time churches that will accommodate that kind of belief; but buying into that will cause your heart to be discouraged when hard times come. As much as I like having all these things, a nice car, a nice home, a nice RV; you name it, whatever it is, it does nothing to bring us closer to the Lord; in fact, more than not, it causes us to be closer to the world, just because it is the world that is needed to maintain them. That was Simon's deal, in that he saw opportunity to enrich his living by having the ability to display the laying on of hands for people to receive the Holy Spirit. It's not that it's a fine line between displaying a gift and having one, it's more about the motivation or intention of the heart. Am I doing this for my own personal gain, or is it for the Lord? The real reason that the hills need to be melted, is so that the Real Foundation can be built upon...
"I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else -not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself." (Ephesians 1:19-23) NLT