Down from the Mount

The house is quiet this morning.  For the first time I am noticing the pink and blue of sunrise along the horizon, through our bare trees beyond the woods.  We have a northern view here, but evidently the sunrise up at Mom's is so overwhelmingly beautiful that it is spilling out its color far to the North.  We miss all of this activity in the summer months.  I have heard some refer to late Fall and winter as "stick season", and I know why, but what a view it opens up to those of us who are closed in by forest!

For weeks now I have been reading from the gospels.  Today I am in the book of Mark, chapter 9.  It is the account of Jesus' transfiguration.  He took Peter, James and John up into the  mount with him.  What a privilege to be taken to the mount and to see the things that they saw.  To see Jesus' raiment shining whiter than snow, as He later appeared to John on the isle of Patmos in the book of Revelation.  On the mount God spoke audibly, in the cloud, as it overshadowed them, "This is my beloved Son; hear him."  As they descended that mount and Jesus charged them to tell no man what they'd seen, I wonder how their countenances could have hid it away in their own hearts!

What a blessing to be with the Lord "in the mount".  Our revelation from the Word of God is not a physical one, but spiritually, He takes us there sometimes. The Holy Spirit is given to each believer, to teach and to guide us into all truth.  Any child of Jesus Christ can probably attest to some special time or times that God has opened up our eyes to him as He never had before.  And then we must "come down" to the earth again.  I recently read a quote from Oswald Chambers that says, "We are apt to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching, it is to be turned into something better than teaching, into CHARACTER.  The mount is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something." Whether this quote is completely accurate or not, it certainly is God's aim to MAKE us into someone who will bring glory to him.  He is interested in our character, not how much head knowledge we have.  There was a reason that Jesus took Peter, James and John to the mount.  God certainly used these three men in a special way as pastors and teachers to the early church!

God is so good to us. He knows exactly what we need daily to become the people He wants us to be!
I am about to walk out into the day.  More than anything I want God to be using what He has been teaching me to form strong character and Christlikeness into me.

The horizon's pinks have turned to light gold now. The blue clouds have risen higher in the sky and the hills over the North Road are gray and bare of their leaves.  There is a true beauty in this that some may call "bleakness".  The earth here will soon go into that dormant season when everything gets heavily watered and plenty of rest so that, in a few months, it will be able to BURST back "to life" again!

I hope that you have a wonderful day.