Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 Search Archive Print This Article Mountain man Sunday, March 11, 2001 Luke 9:28-36 "Jesus took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray." In New Mexico at the end of a two-day hike, my friend and I stood at the summit of the state's tallest mountain. It was noon, and we stopped for lunch. The sky clouded up and felt like it could swallow our heads. The clouds darkened and filled with rain. Lightning struck nearby. We were terrified. There was no place to hide. In "The Ten Commandments" Charlton Heston walks alone among the crags and boulders of Mt. Sinai. On this treeless desert mountain, the landscape itself seems forbidding, angry, frightening. When God's voice booms in the silence, even Moses cowers. The invitation sounds safe enough. "Want to come pray with me, Dave?" Jesus' invitation is sweet, personal and one I can't refuse. "Come to the mountains and pray with me." The thing is, when I'm with Jesus I just might see God. I just might get a whole lot more than I bargained for, than I imagined...but never more than I can handle. In Exodus, in Isaiah 6, in Acts, and here in Luke 9, God knocks em down, and picks em up again. He shapes them, transforms them, gives them new life. If I take Jesus up on his invitation, He can do the same for me. Lord, when you choose me to pray with you, give me courage to say yes. Make me the offer I can't refuse, Lord. Take me home. "; Add      Edit    Delete