Up The Mountain

And a very good morning to you. It is Sunday morning, the 21st of August, 2022, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today. If we go to Jeremiah 3:23:

“Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
And from the multitude of mountains;
Truly, in the Lord our God
Is the salvation of Israel.”

And then we go to Psalm 121:1-2: 

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills -
From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.”

Our help does not come from the mountains, No, it comes from God Himself. Not from our finances, not from our health but in the faithfulness of God's Holy Word, the Bible. By the way, I am a mountain man - I love the mountains. My wife, Jill, loves the sea and I always say to her, tongue in cheek, “Jesus never went down to the sea to pray, always up to the mountains.” I know I'm going to get myself into trouble now with all the sea-lovers... Don’t get me wrong, I love the sea. I love that beautiful salty, fresh air that blows in from the sea, but I am a mountain man. But you know, my dear friend, it doesn't matter where you go. It's not the surroundings that are important, it is your heart, for the Lord Jesus Christ and your intimate relationship with Him alone that really counts. But you do need to get away on your own occasionally if you really want to hear a clear word from him. Jesus did it, often the disciples were looking for him, “Lord, where have you been? The crowds are waiting for you.” He was up the mountain. He was waiting to hear from his Heavenly Father. 

So as I send this message to you today, maybe you are in hospital but you can still hear from God. Maybe you're in jail - You can still hear from God; Maybe you're a student that's in a school hostel, you can hear from the Lord. Maybe you are a long-distance lorry driver - you can still speak to Jesus in an intimate way. Do you know that Susanna Wesley was the mother of the great evangelist and revivalist John Wesley? She had 18 children if I'm not wrong, and she was the wife of a padré. She lived in a small little cottage with all those children. Now, where could she go, to have a quiet time? She used to sit in front of the stove and pull her apron over her head and she would speak to Jesus. The children knew that when mommy was speaking to Jesus, no one spoke.

You don't have to go up the mountain, literally, but you do have to spend time in the quiet place with the Lord every day. 

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful Sunday, goodbye.