Come to the Mountaintop

There they set up camp at the foot of Mount Sinai, and Moses went up the mountain to meet with God. The Lord called him from the mountain and told him . . . EXODUS 19:1-3

Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Mount Pisgah east of Jericho, and there the LORD showed him the whole land. EXODUS 34:1

Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white. MATTHEW 17: 1&2

God desires to work with His people at a higher level of intimacy than is obtainable on the level ground. He begins His relationship by inviting them to the mountaintop. Before we can really attain any meaningful heights in our relationship with God, we must climb to the top of the mountain. The level ground is too low for God to work with; we must climb up higher. This requirement is demonstrated at various times in the scriptures. Usually, in His relationship with Moses, God always required him to climb to the mountain. When the Ten Commandments were given to Moses, he had been to the mountaintop for 40 days and nights! Hear what God Himself says concerning climbing to the mountaintop: “But when the trumpet is blown, then the people are to go up to the mountain” EXODUS 19:13.

Are you rejecting God’s will for your Life?

³⁰But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law rejected God’s purpose for themselves and refused to be baptized by John. LUKE 7:30.

T

his is the report about a class of people in John’s and Jesus’ days. They were called the Pharisees. While John received God’s call and was baptizing in the River Jordan, crowds trooped in daily to be baptized by him. Among the crowds were tax collectors and people who were regarded as the most sinful people of the time. They were being baptized and born again into God’s eternal plan for mankind. But the Pharisees rejected this plan of God for their lives, and refused to be baptized by John. They refused to be born again!

Are you a Dog?

²⁵ A woman whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ But Jesus answered, “Let us first feed the children. It isn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”  MARK 7:25-27

W

here we have read is a remarkable story of a woman who came to Jesus to seek help. She was not the only one who came to Jesus for help at that time. But a discussion took place between her and Jesus that explains the operation rules in the Kingdom of God. This discussion sets the standard that qualifies one for help by God. Let us examine this story step-by-step.

While They Were Living There, Elimelech Died

^1-2Long ago, in the days before Israel had a king, there was famine in the land. So a man named Elimelech, who belonged to the clan of Ephrat and who lived in Bethlehem in Judah, went with his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion to live for a while in the country of Moab. While they were living there, ³Elimelech died, and Naomi was left alone with her two sons, ⁴who married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. About ten years later ⁵Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left all alone, without husband or sons. RUTH 1:1-5

When Will You Turn Back?

 ^Image

³¹Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has received permission to test all of you, to separate the good from the bad, as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff. ³²But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you turn back to me, you must strengthen your brothers. Luke 22:31&32

Simon Peter is one of Jesus’ most remarkable disciples. The Bible contains many incidents where he was engaged in arguments with Jesus himself. And in the passage we have read above, Peter was again engaged in a discussion with Jesus. If we read ahead, we will discover that Jesus was predicting Peter’s denial. He said when the cock crowed, Peter would already have denied him three times. 

What’s the Foundation of your Life? 2

 Image
“But the solid foundation that God has laid cannot be shaken; and on it are written these words: ‘The Lord knows those who are his’ and ‘All who say that they belong to the Lord must turn away from wrongdoing’.” 2TIM. 2:19

Save your soul

There is a foundation which God has laid. This foundation cannot be shaken. It will not be shielded from hard-blowing storms. It will not be shielded from storms of lack, betrayal, depression, loneliness, crises, sickness, persecution etc. But it will not be shaken. That’s the foundation we should build our lives upon. The Bible reports that “In the beginning, the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to humanity” (JOHN 1:1, 3&4). In the beginning, God laid this foundation. On this foundation, God built all things, and not one thing in all creation could have been made without him. That foundation is Jesus Christ. There is a song that says “I’m standing on a rock that never fails. Jesus is the rock that never fails.” If we want to withstand the storms that blow hard against us in our marriages, academics, jobs etc, we must build our lives on the rock that never fails. 

What’s the Foundation of your Life? 1

²⁴“So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. ²⁵The rain poured down, the rivers overflowed, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. ²⁶But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain poured down, the rivers overflowed, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!”  MATT. 7:24-27

In this life we live, there are two categories of houses or temples. And remember that each of us is someone’s temple; we are either the temple of the Holy Spirit, or the temple of Satan. One temple is built on rock, and the other is built on sand. Since we live in this world, we are both subject to the same kinds of weather conditions. The thing that determines our fate during these storms is the foundation we are built upon. What are you built upon? What’s the foundation of your life?

Whoever Believes in the Son is not Judged

God has been merciful to mankind. His plans are perfect. When the first covenant was established, the law was its guiding principle. But sinful man broke the law and deserved to die. God in his mercy decided to save the man he had made from death. He replaced the old covenant with a new one which depends no longer on the law but on faith. 

I Give You Peace

"Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid" (John 14:27). 

When it was time for Jesus to accomplish the mission of redeeming mankind and return to the Father, his disciples were worried and he knew it. So in the first verse of the chapter, he told them: "Do not be worried and upset. . . Believe in God and believe also in me." From all he had, he chose to leave his disciples with peace. They had power to perform miracles but that was not enough. They needed the peace of God.