SPRING FORTH NOW 2026

August 18

O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name;

for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin:

a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.  For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress,

a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.  Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers,

as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud:

the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.  And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees,

of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people,

and the vail that is spread over all nations.  He will swallow up death in victory;

and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces;

and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth:

for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day,

Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us:

this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

Isaiah 25:1-9

Imagine a future where what made you cry no longer has the power to define you. In Isaiah 25:1–9 (KJV), Isaiah sees God as refuge for the vulnerable, preparing abundance for all people and ultimately wiping away tears, reminding us that Engaging The Holy means letting God's promised future reshape how we live before it fully arrives. What is High And Lifted Up is a life that sits with the vision until hope becomes stronger than hurt and God's possibilities become greater than yesterday's limitations. Our communities carry generations of tears, yet our ancestors kept building toward a future in which their children could experience more freedom, dignity, opportunity, joy, and abundance than they had inherited. Dream Big, because God's vision does not end with getting you through the storm; it includes bringing you to the feast. Decide To Become someone who can carry yesterday's lessons without allowing yesterday's pain to govern tomorrow's possibilities. Demonstrate Your Power by becoming refuge for others, creating spaces of abundance and belonging, and helping your family and community flourish High And Lifted Up.