Mountain Meeting

Volume 12 Issue 3

Greetings in His Name,

God is so awesome and so true to His word. I can't mention the number of times He's made me see His hand in my everyday life. But there have been those special moments when I have traveled abroad, across waters and lands, and I am put in a more awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping moment that only God can give. That's what I feel about these Mountain Meetings we are about to read about. God has a way of reaching us through His stillness, His firmness, His eternity, and constancy. These are words that not only symbolize a mountain but symbolize our God. So with that being said, today's blog is entitled Mountain Meeting. Hope you find some inspiration, conviction, and queries.

shalom and love,

heidi

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A gem is described as something that is “good, rare, and/or priceless.” Today's publication is just that. A GEM! Our gems are found in Genesis, Exodus, and Matthew. Here is where we take to climbing the mountain of adventure to participate in a meeting. Just as when Jesus gave his sermon on the mount, people came from everywhere. Do you hear the call? As you read this publication, hopefully monthly, anticipate learning more about God. Anticipate thirst and hunger for Him and His righteousness. With each step up the mountain, get your mind ready, your heart set, and your spirit on go.

It has been said that there have been four “great awakenings”: the first in 1730-1755, the second in 1790-1840, the third in 1850-1900, and the fourth in 1960-1980. Well, I don’t know about you, but I feel like it’s time for another. It’s time for the church to have a real revival, a real awakening. Most “great awakenings” took place around the time of war or during the deep depression. WOW! Look at society today. What is going on? Hello! Recessions, Wars and Rumors of Wars, Pandemics, Gun Violence, Sex Trafficking, and more. IMMORALITY GONE WILD! We need to pray. And that’s not just an aphorism but an understatement. We really need to pray for OUR world. Honestly, I don’t want to go to these mountain meetings alone. I want family members, friends, co-workers, and even enemies to experience a move, a touch, and the voice of God. So with that being said, grab your stuff and come on!

Genesis 22:1-2, 4-5 CEV Some years later God decided to test Abraham, so he spoke to him. Abraham answered, "Here I am, LORD." The LORD said, "Go get Isaac, your only son, the one you dearly love! Take him to the land of Moriah, and I will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice him to me on the fires of an altar." Three days later Abraham looked off in the distance and saw the place. He told his servants, "Stay here with the donkey, while my son and I go over there to worship. We will come back." What a strange thing of God to ask Abraham. Take the promised child that he and Sarah waited so long to have and sacrifice it. The child God came Himself to announce would come in the most unlikely situation. Sarah’s 90, and Abraham is 100. Wouldn’t you say that birth at their age is very unlikely? No wonder she laughed. God took their seemingly impossible situation and showed them He was God. But now God instructs Abraham to take their promised child to the altar and sacrifice him— to give him up.

In movies depicting this scene, it is made to seem like Abraham was hesitant, but I feel that Abraham obeyed without hesitation. I believe that Abraham knew that God had a ram in the bush. Why would Abraham mention him and the child returning if he didn’t know God was faithful? We’ve all hesitated in our walk with God, especially when He commissions us to do something we think we can’t do. Look at it this way, God is the ram in the bush, and with the switching of two letters, we see His arm in our situations, giving us the strength, courage, and ability to trust Him to help us overcome. So when God says go sacrifice, GO! Think about it, why would God later give specific instructions against child sacrificing if He wasn’t going to bring them back from worship? He would be contradicting Himself. And that’s not how our God works. Same with us. Why would God tell us to let that thing we think we need so bad to die if He wasn’t going to bring it back to life or replace it with something better? This was a mighty move of God, and at this mountain meeting, we came in contact with Jehovah Jireh, our provider.

Exodus 3:1-2, 4-5 CEV One day, Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and Moses decided to lead them across the desert to Sinai, the holy mountain. There an angel of the LORD appeared to him from a burning bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. When the LORD saw Moses coming near the bush, he called him by name, and Moses answered, " Here I am." God replied, " Don't come any closer. Take off your sandals--the ground where you are standing is holy. Abraham said, “here I am,” Moses’ said, “here I am.” What about you? Will God be able to mark you present or absent at this mountain meeting? God wants to do something explosive in your life. He wants you to triumphantly accomplish all He entrusts you to do. God allowed Moses, a murderer fleeing from the presence of Pharaoh, to see a burning bush. What if we took the time to stop and see? What would we see? This world with its hustle and bustle, with its “let’s go, we’re late” spirit. Will we ever stop to see what God is showing us? If we did, we might just see a burning bush, or what about a neighbor in need, a sister hurting, a brother struggling, or a teenager on the verge of committing suicide? What would we see?

Moses was in a desert… a dry, lifeless place, heading to this mountaintop experience. And from this, Moses was commissioned to go and tell Pharaoh to let God’s people go. All of us have or have had some dry, lifeless places in our life. And we need them to be burned out, but we don’t need to be consumed because as God releases those things from us, we need to be prepared to go and tell someone else that God says, ‘let’s go’ and lead them out of their situation. I told you we don’t want to be the only ones at the meeting! God’s touch is here, and at this mountain meeting, we come in contact with Jehovah.

Matthew 17:1-2, 4-5 CEV Six days later Jesus took Peter and the brothers James and John with him. They went up on a very high mountain where they could be alone. There in front of the disciples, Jesus was completely changed. His face was shining like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. So Peter said to him, "Lord, it is good for us to be here! Let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While Peter was still speaking, the shadow of a bright cloud passed over them. From the cloud a voice said, "This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him. Listen to what he says!" As you ascend the mountain and make it to your checkpoint, please remember the password - It’s GOoD to be here. Abraham and Moses both said, “here I am,” but now we hear the voice of I Am, and He says, "hear Him." I can see it. We’re all seated, waiting on God, the CEO* (in charge of it all), Jesus, the CFO* (He paid it all), and the Holy Spirit COO* (in charge of day-to-day functions). As entrance is made, we ALL bow. Instead of hitting the gavel like a judge, He has the trumpets blown as a King. The meeting starts with a time of fellowship, and after a warm greeting, we are handed our robes. Look at God with a loving Father’s grin. He then says, “It is GOoD to be here.”

The wonderful thing about mountain meetings is that all are welcome. It’s up to us to be there. There are no monthly or annual fees, no registration required, just a relationship with God’s Son, Jesus. That’s all it takes to be a part of this meeting. Come hear the voice of El Elyon, the Most High God, and be changed.

Some years ago, I had an opportunity to go to Lake Junaluska, SC, a mountainous area, for a conference retreat. And it was there that God changed some things in me. On the way there, I was told by my Pastor (the late Rev. Dr. John C. Evans, Jr.) that the following week I would do my trial sermon (Where’s the PoWeR? Flip the Switch). I thought about all my notes being at home, and I had no way of getting them, but a peace consumed me, and I instead focused on what God had for me to learn while I was there. One beautiful afternoon, after much preaching and teaching, we had an opportunity to walk up the hilly area to a HUGE cross perched in the center of the retreat area. Right then, we decided to come back that evening to have prayer. Oh, what an experience! This was a pivotal place of worship for me. My life for ministry changed, or should I say excelled! When I left that mountain meeting, I was not the same. You may ask, how can I get to one of these meetings? You don’t have to physically go to a mountain, but your local church should be one of those places that take you there in spirit. Or better yet, turn the knob to your secret closet; He'll meet you there.

LIFE QUOTE

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."

-Edmund Hillary

Footnote: Sir Hillary is famous for being the first to successfully climb Mt. Everest in 1953.

His son, Peter, summited in 1990.

Let Us Laugh!

The ancient god of thunder rode up a mountain on his horse. “I’m Thor!” He cried, to which the horse replied: “Because you forgot your thaddle thilly!”

(https://www.whatsdannydoing.com/blog/mountain-puns-mountain-jokes)

Hope to see you Next Month....

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