Mountains and Valleys

Bruce's Beat

2-4-2016

Moses was on the top of Mt. Sinai for 40 days.  It must have been a peak experience to have been in the presence of God.  But Moses could not stay on the mountain top.  He came down to deliver God’s commandments and covenant to the people.  And he had to come down to confront the sinful activity that was running rampant in the camp.

Jesus, along with Peter, James, and John went up to a mountain top.  There the disciples saw Jesus as they had never seen him before and they heard the Voice from heaven make the wonderful declaration, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.  Listen to Him!” - Matthew 17:5.  But they could not stay on the mountain top.  There was work to do.  And when they came down to the valley below, they were confronted by a father with a demon possessed son.  The other disciples had not been able to cast out the demon due to weakness of faith.

We have mountain top experiences in life.  Maybe it is church camp or a successful mission trip.  Maybe it is a gospel meeting or being able to attend a special lectureship or seminar.  Hearing passionate preaching that challenges us is a blessing.  Engaging in a special worship setting and enjoying fellowship with dear friends in Christ is uplifting.  But, as blessed as it is, we all must come down from the mountain top to the valley below.

Here, we have work to do and service to give to our families; to our communities; to our church families.  In the valley, we still have to confront sin - in ourselves and in the lives of those we love.  And here, we may forget the blessing of the mountain top and find that we are weak in faith. 

The life of the child of God is a journey where we sometimes walk on the mountain tops and where we pass through the valleys.  We experience joys and sorrows; blessings and trials.  But we keep journeying in the company of Christ and the Christian family until God says, “Well done, faithful servant.  Enter into the joys of your Lord.”

I apologize for the long hiatus from the blogosphere.  I had hoped to make contributions over the last two months, but other obligations needed my attention.  I am sorry for neglecting readers but I hope you have had a good start to 2016.  2015 proved to be a year with many blessings but also many trials.  The launching of the webpage and its reception has been the realization of a long time dream.  But it is just the beginning.  There are many projects in the works which we hope to accomplish and to share on this site.  Thanks for your patronage and support.