The transfiguration of Jesus

Friday, June 17, 2011

The Mountaintops of Life

Pastor Greg Laurie

As they went back down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” —Matthew 17:9

Have you ever had one of those special moments in God’s presence? Maybe it was during a devotional time when you prayed and asked God to speak to you as you opened His Word and committed your day to Him. Maybe a certain Scripture passage or verse jumped off the page and right into your heart. It spoke to you so clearly, and it was exactly what you needed to hear. Or maybe it was at church as you were worshiping, and you sensed God’s presence in a tangible way. You thought to yourself, I want it to be this way always.

Now imagine if you were Peter, James, and John, and you were able to see what they saw at the Transfiguration: “Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus” (Matthew 17:2–3). Jesus gave Peter, James, and John a glimpse of His glory, a preview of things to come. For a moment, they saw Jesus for who He really was.

The transfiguration of Jesus was a significant point in His life and ministry. It was the halfway mark on a very difficult journey. From the Transfiguration, Jesus looked backward to the cradle and forward to the cross.

But after witnessing this remarkable event, the disciples had to leave the mountain and return to the valley—the cold, hard reality of life and the problems that were waiting. The disciples were learning they could not always live on mountaintops.

When we are on the mountaintops of life, we should enjoy them. But we also should remember they are preparing us for life in the valley, for the challenges, hardships, and reality of living in the real world.

Summary sentence: Moments on the mountaintops of life prepare us for the valleys of hardships and challenges.

Copyright © 2011 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rambabu – Testimony of Hindu Brahmin from Karnataka

Image
Rambabu – Testimony of Hindu Brahmin from Karnataka Rambabu comes from a very well educated orthodox Brahmin family. His father is a professor in English from a reputed College. His mother is also an English teacher. He has 2 siblings who are both lecturers in English. The family belongs to the highest Hindu caste of Brahmins. Since childhood Rambabu grew up listening to many mythological stories from his grandmother. She used to say that in olden days, it was known that because we cannot see God physically in the world, he has created Brahmans in the world. All the thousands of gods live in the Brahmins. Rambabu from his childhood would perform all religious duties in two different temples. He would pray and perform “puja” every morning and night. Rambabu knew all the religious traditions so well that other people would invite him to perform religious activities in their homes. He was such strict Brahmin that he would
Read more

Mahatma Gandhi admired Jesus and His teachings but did not follow "Christianity"

Image
As Gandhi famously said, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” See, that’s a problem. And it’s not that I expect Christians to be perfect. Far from it. But if we’re ever going to be justified in claiming Jesus as the model for our lives, it might help first if there was more of a resemblance. Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most respected leaders of modern history. A Hindu, Gandhi nevertheless admired Jesus and often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount. Once when the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Gandhi he asked him, "Mr. Gandhi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?" Gandhi replied, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ." Apparently Gandhi's rejection of Christianity grew out of an incident that happened when he was a young man practi
Read more

The Law of Karma

Image
There is a lot of misunderstanding around this word. Karma simply means action. Every action has consequences. Conscious choice making is the most effective way of creating future consequences of karma. Karma creates the future, but it is also an echo from the past. Karma conditions our soul through memory, desire and imagination. Most people are prisoners of Karma, because it becomes a conditioned reflex and produces predictable outcomes in their lives. The goal of enlightenment is to break the in shackles of Karma. Every person is responsible for his or her acts and thoughts, so each person's karma is entirely his or her own. Occidentals see the operation of karma as fatalistic. But that is far from true since it is in the hands of an individual to shape his own future by schooling his present. Hindu philosophy, which believes in life after death, holds the doctrine that if the karma of an individual is good enough, the next birth will be rewarding, and if not, the
Read more