Thinking about today’s My
Utmost for His Highest:
Can You Come Down From
the Mountain?
We all have moments when we feel better than
ever before, and we say, “I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be
like this!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which
we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good
for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring
our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we
were there.
Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you
on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don’t place yourself on the shelf by thinking,
“How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!” Act immediately— do
something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If,
during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don’t say, “I’ll do
it”— just do it! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off
your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a
mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the
mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary “gray” day according to what we
saw on the mountain.
Don’t give up because you have been blocked
and confused once— go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand
committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but
be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the
mountain.
The website (www.utmost.org)
also features a quote by the author from one of his books (shown as “Wisdom
from Oswald Chambers”) which, at the moment I was reading the devotional, said:
Civilization
is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The
only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become
atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L
Both the devotional and the quote make me think of this
Scriptural event:
Matthew 17 :1-21 (KJV)
And after six days Jesus taketh
Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain
apart,
2
And was
transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment
was white as the light.
3
And,
behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
4
Then
answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if
thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses,
and one for Elias.
5
While he
yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of
the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear
ye him.
6
And when
the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
7
And Jesus
came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
8
And when
they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.
9
And as they
came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no
man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
10
And his
disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first
come?
11
And Jesus
answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all
things.
12
But I say
unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto
him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
13
Then the
disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
14
And when
they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down
to him, and saying,
15
Lord, have
mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth
into the fire, and oft into the water.
16
And I
brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
17
Then Jesus
answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be
with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
18
And Jesus
rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from
that very hour.
19
Then came
the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20
And Jesus
said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have
faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence
to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21
Howbeit
this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
The
devotional piece also makes me think of the book, Hind’s Feet on High Places, by Hannah Hurnard, where the last two
chapters are entitled “High Places” and “Return to the Valley.” One internet description of the book
referenced, “
Psalm 18:31-33
31
For who is God save the Lord?
or who is a rock save our God?
32
It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way
perfect.
33
He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my
high places.
... and my journey with Him continues ...
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