The God View
Thursday March 31, 2016
Exciting things happen when people make a deliberate effort to encounter God. In the Bible we read about Moses and how he climbed Mount Sinai and in that place had a tremendous encounter with God that made his face glow. The disciples went with Jesus up a high mountain to pray and Jesus was transformed before them so his face and his clothes shone dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. (Psalm 24:3-4 NLT)
Climbing up a mountain is not just a leisurely walk. It takes effort, discipline, determination, and time. Climbing upward moves a person away from usual surroundings and routines. Climbing introduces risks that don’t exist on level ground but also opens up beautiful vistas that we would never see if we remained in the valley.
Our journey with God includes times of climbing. Step 11 in the AA program invites us on this journey in this way: We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out. For some of us the challenge will be to quiet down and sit still so we can hear God speaking to us. For others it will be taking the new things God is teaching us and putting them into practice because they are different from anything we have previously known or done.
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3 NLT)
God has many things He wants to teach us so we can experience a joyful and meaningful life. That life is found by drawing close to God. We don't have to go to a mountain top retreat center to experience God, but we do have to set time and our former way of thinking aside and be willing to be taught new things by God.
Today, let’s make every effort to take time and find a place where we can encounter the Living God.
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