Promotion doesn’t come easy. Just ask the mother of James and John. Her encounter with Christ exposes the miscalculation that many make when desiring “the next level.” In Matthew 20:20-23, she came to Jesus with her sons, knelt down and asked something of Him.

 He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on    Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom." But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father." 

She wanted her boys to go to that next level. “Grant that my sons may sit, on Your right hand and Your left, in Your kingdom.” This was her prayer. The response however, from Jesus was quick and to the point. “You don’t know what you’re asking,” He implied that she was so focused on their promotion, she failed to recognize the process involved to get them there. There is always a process—a series of actions or steps that must be taken to achieve a particular end—and Jesus wanted her to understand there could be no promotion without a process.

First, Jesus said there is going to be a cup. It is the same cup His Father would give to Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was a cup of betrayal, humiliation, rejection and crucifixion. Second, Jesus referred to baptism. The baptism was His immersion into death and burial in the grave. In this metaphor, Jesus emphasized that before He could be promoted into that kingdom of the sons of Zebedee’s affections, He would have to suffer and die—as would anyone who would join Him. “Be careful what you ask for,” Jesus is saying to this mother, “What you’re asking for requires a painful process because I won’t promote them if they won’t drink that cup.”

What is perhaps even more revealing is the response of James and John. Jesus puts the question to them directly. He says, “Are you willing to drink the cup and suffer the baptism in order to get to that seat?” James and John, without hesitation—without a thought—say, “Yes, we are able.”
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This illustrates how we underestimate what it takes to get to the next level. “Sure! We can handle it. We can take it. We got this!” Too often we show no appreciation for the hardship and difficulty involved in the process. It’s like enrolling in college without calculating the commitment, or getting married without embracing the selflessness, or having children without understanding the sacrifice. We want the degree, but not the long hours of study. We want companionship without selfless living. We want a happy home full of loving children, but not the midnight cries, dirty diapers, and sacrifice of personal comforts. But if we are to achieve those things (college degree, happy marriage, healthy children), there must be a death to who we are now and resurrection of a new person, with new attitudes and a new willingness to drink what’s in the cup.

Jesus was telling them, there can be no crown without a cross, no chair without a cup and no promise without the pain. He was saying, the promise requires a process. With every ascent, there will be some agony: if you want riches, you must experience poverty; if you want success, there will first be failure; if you want a higher level, you’ve got to face a higher devil. Between you and the seat, there will always be a cup.

(This is an excerpt from Gregg Johnson’s newest book, Upward! Taking Your Life to the Next Level. Look for it soon on Amazon and www.greggtjohnson.com)

Have you ever seen those preachers offering special anointing oils or “Holy Ghost” hankies that supposedly contain supernatural power to make you prosper, receive a miracle, or catch a healing?

Recently, while in East Africa I heard about the “anointed broom” with which you can sweep the devil out of your house, or the “prophetic pen” that guarantees an “A-grade” to students who use it on exams. Of course, there’s the ubiquitous “miracle anointing oil” that will heal any sickness, break any curse, release untold riches, and generally invoke God’s blessing on anything it touches. It’s modern day heresy in a clerical collar.

What amazes me more than the heretical gimmickry coming from pulpits is the eager gullibility of those who actually buy into it. It’s indicative of a mentality so prevalent in the human condition today. We want “it” now. It’s the “quick-fix,” “easy-come,” “give-it-to-me-right-away” attitude. We want the devil out of our house, but we don’t want to fast and pray or do spiritual warfare. We want an “A-grade” on the exam, but we don’t want to study, prepare, or memorize. We want the miracles, but we don’t want to hear about the responsibilities we have that facilitate such works. It’s like the mountaineer who says he wants to go the next level, but is unwilling to climb. Just lay hands on me and prophesy, just pour oil on me or pray and let God float me upward without any effort being expended on my part.

Sorry; it doesn’t work that way.

Here’s the truth, the way to the next level is a struggle. It’s a difficult journey. There’s no quick prayer, no anointing and certainly no magic broom. If you want to be more effective, there will be struggle. If you want to be more successful, there will be a struggle. If you want to be happier, healthier and even holier, there will be a struggle because you can’t have fulfillment, satisfaction or any kind of success in life without facing hardship along the way.

Anyone who has experienced success, anyone who has mastered some aptitude or achieved some level of greatness; at some point, on some level, had to face the struggle. One cannot succeed without it. Hard work, self-denial, sacrifice, adversity, suffering, loss, rejection—it’s part of the journey, it’s part of the process.

It’s the kind of struggle that produces a certain kind of wisdom and strength that people who make it to the next level have. That’s why we want to go there. We see the caliber and quality of people at that level and we want to be like them. But what we don’t see is the struggle that got them there. The long days and sleepless nights, the countless tears and fears of the unknown, the cost, the sacrifice, the pressure and the pain. It was the struggle that made them wise, it was the fight that made them strong, and it was the journey that forged their confidence that those below so eagerly admire.

The words of the Apostle Paul from Philippians 3:21-14 make it clear:

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” 

The “next level” is not an overused cliché of self-help gurus and motivational moguls. For Paul, it was a way of life—it was his daily ascent. Never was he content with what he had achieved or how far he had come. Paul was always going higher, achieving more. He did not want to pass from this life with things undone. He wanted to reach the full potential of his existence, to achieve every purpose for which he was created.

There is untapped potential in your life. There is another level for you to achieve. Too many pass from this life believing the lie that they “can’t” or that they are “not good enough.” Let the journey to fulfill your purpose begin now. Embrace the struggle and realize that there is a life you have yet to live; a joy you have yet to know. The joy of overcoming, achieving, pushing through, and accomplishing what you never thought possible and what everyone knew you could never do. For there’s no greater joy than doing what everyone thought was impossible, if we do it for the glory of God.

(This is an excerpt from Gregg Johnson’s newest book, Upward! Taking Your Life to the Next Level. Look for it soon on Amazon or here on the site). ​