(This is part 2 of a 2-part Devotional.)
Scripture: Luke 9:28-36, Barclay Commentary, Interpreter’s Bible.
Last time, we studied Jesus and three of his disciples having a mountaintop experience. In this story, Jesus was tired and took Peter, James and John on the mountain to pray when He was visited by Elijah and Moses.
His disciples were so overcome with joy that they wanted to build shelters for Jesus, Elijah and Moses. However, it was not to be.
When we experience the joy of a mountaintop experience, oftentimes we want to stay there, but we cannot stay on the mountaintop. There is much work to be done down in the trenches.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
My mountaintop experiences:
When there was movement of life inside of me — Nine months of waiting to see the perfect babies with both mine and my husband David’s features. AWESOME.
Marine Corps Marathon after open heart surgery — We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Mountaintop experiences, you’ve had them too. I’d love to hear yours.
If Peter, James and John had stayed on the mountain, they would have missed all of the wonderful experiences that followed. They would have missed the miracles God had for them to perform. They would have missed being inspired by God to write the books in the Bible that they wrote: Ist and 2nd Peter, James and John plus 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. We would have missed those amazing books about Jesus and how to follow Jesus more clearly.
God is still saying today: This is My Son, listen to Him. Moses and Elijah were gone. Disciples were alone with Jesus again. As we experience the amazing miracles around us, let’s remember to listen to what Jesus is saying to us. When we have a mountaintop experience, we may want to stay there. Let’s remember that if we stayed there, we would miss all of the wonderful experiences, as well as challenging experiences, that follow. All that we go through, is Jesus molding us and making us what we were created to be. As we take up our cross and follow Jesus, we know our lives will be filled with joy and sadness, peace and turmoil, love and hate, all a part of life. Yet, we are never alone. Jesus is always with us. Jesus is more than enough to see us through the challenging times and Love us through it all.The songwriter says: Through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus….
God said: listen to Him. There lies the key to our abundant life. Let’s never take our eyes off of Jesus. Remember, Jesus is with us always. Jesus knows just what we need, when we need it. Jesus is speaking in our worship. God who commands the universe and it obeys, (cloud covers, sea becomes peaceful…people going about their day. God loves you and me. God who is present on earth and in heaven, everywhere at the same time, knows the number of hairs on our heads. Wow!
Now what? What do we do after mountaintop experiences?. See what JESUS sees: love, joy, peace, kindness.. in others. Hear and listen for Jesus’ 1) direction, 2) Holy Word/Truth. Obey Jesus’s spiritual promptings. Be doers of Jesus’s Word.
WORK RIGHT WHERE WE ARE PLANTED
Be the light of the world, the Body of Christ by enlightening others about Jesus, inviting others to experience this Love that is continuous and always with us, encouraging us and blessing us along the way.
Remember, Jesus blessed us on the mountain, so we can bless others in the valley.
Witness about your mountaintop experiences. Love others like Jesus loves us. Help others get to the mountaintop by pointing them to Jesus, who transforms, empowers, fills, molds, and calls us for such a time as this.
Praise God for mountaintop experiences that open our eyes to the amazing love of Jesus and remind us of the power, grace, mercy, blessings, comfort, patience, and peace from of our Lord and Savior.
Lift up the name of Jesus, who came to show us the way, extending that love for us on Calvary. Jesus gave His disciples, His followers, resurrection encounters after He had risen. Jesus is still giving us resurrection encounters right here on earth.
Magnify Jesus, who came to die so we can live. He rose one Sunday morning.
Jesus’ life (amazing), death (sacrifice for us), and resurrection (He lives and moves today sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us) is all we need to acknowledge to be saved, not of ourselves, it is a gift from God, which we cannot repay. We love Jesus because Jesus first loved us. That’s why we give Jesus our best every day listening to spiritual promptings and obeying the commandments of God to the best of our abilities.
It’s not hard to love Jesus and to love our neighbors, when we are on a lifetime adventure with Jesus. Each new day means a new day to praise the Lord and to love our neighbors as ourselves. What a great feeling, what an amazing life, to be drawn by God into the Family of God, into the kingdom, where all of God’s diversity of people seek to live holy as God is holy.
God sent the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all truth. The power of the Holy Spirit lives inside every believer. Therefore, we have no excuse for not living good, righteous lives. Who wouldn’t serve a God like our God? Yes, remember, embrace, and meditate on your mountaintop experiences from time to time.
After we experience the mountaintop, we have to get back to reality. We are called for such a time as this and we must be about our Lord’s business of helping others experience our Amazing God by using our gifts to bear fruit so that others come to know God as their personal Savior. Let’s get busy. God has chosen you and me. Mountaintop experiences give us a spiritual boost to come down and work hard so the kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Rev. Edna Morgan is pastor of St. Luke United Methodist Church in Pine Bluff. Her husband, David Morgan, is a retired pastor in the Arkansas Conference, and together, they established a 501(c) (3) non-profit retreat center, Healing Place Ministries, in 2004, that serves the Pine Bluff and Jefferson County areas.
Editor’s note: Pastors, ministers or other writers interested in writing for this section may submit articles for consideration to shope@adgnewsroom.com. Writers should have connections to Southeast Arkansas. Please include your name, phone number and the name and location of your church or ministry.