Mountains are hugely symbolic, especially in our spiritual lives. The geographical locations of important places in the bible were dotted with mountains. Mountains and hills are mentioned over 500 times in the bible. Since mountains are extremely tall, and close to the sky, they were the perfect symbol to use in order to feel "closer" to heaven, since God used to be thought of as "way up there". When talking about God, we have a natural tendency to look up, and we do the same when the view of a mountain is before our eyes. We naturally look up to find its summit and see if there is snow at its peak We are reminded that if mountains fall and hills turn to dust, the love of our Lord will still stand. Jesus often went in to the mountains to pray, and after coming down from these times in prayer, he often healed, taught, and fed God's people. His insights into God came from spending time up on the mountainsides, away from the noise and needs of the people. Jesus was often filled with the insights and the authority of God on a mountain, and after spending time on the mountain, he was able to make some really important decisions. He chose his twelve apostles from a mountain. The mountainside was where he delivered his most thought-provoking sermon on the Beatitudes and where he taught us to pray for, and love, our enemies. From the mountainside, he told us not to worry about your everyday life and taught us how to pray the Lord's Prayer. And probably one of Jesus' most moving experience was The Transfiguration, which also took place upon a mountain. Oh, yes, and let's not forget Moses, who went up on Mount Sinai, and came down with the Ten Commandments. Mountains are considered holy places in the bible. They have a majestic quality about them. They are extremely strong, yet extraordinarily peaceful. And of course we are taught that if we have enough faith, we can move mountains.
Just how do we move a mountain? In order for us to grasp mountain-moving, we must remember how mountains are formed in the first place. Mountains form because two large landmasses of the earth's crust smash into each other, causing land to rise up and form a mountain. We didn't live in biblical times, but even someone in the 21st century can turn to the image of a mountain and learn many things about the spiritual life that these massive landforms have to offer. Mountains are always formed in our minds. These are the mountains that we are called to move, and even promised to have the ability, and faith that is large enough, to move them. The two forces that collide into each other, causing mountains to rise up in the landscape of our minds, are fear and lack. When lack smashes into fear, the thought of the impossible rises up, and you have just created a mountain. Mountains can arise at any time and out of any circumstance. It might be a mountain of debt or a mountain of weight to lose. It might be a mountain of grief to process, due to the loss of a loved one. It could be the deployment of a loved into a war, or the diagnosis of cancer. Anything that seems to loom over us, causing us to be afraid and clinging to the belief that we won't have what we desperately need is a mountain. Fear and lack are like magnets. Lack of what we need immediately attracts fear. And fear just keeps attracting more lack. When the power of fear and lack join forces, and convince us that this is a situation that is impossible to overcome, something that even God cannot see us through, you are faced with your mountain.
We stand at the foot of this mountain and we panic. We worry. We pray to a God outside of us, giving away our divine power to something external, when real divine power always lies within. We beg God, plead with God, and bargain with a God that we believe sits on that mountain, watching us struggle and holding back what we need. We pray to an image of a God that is smaller than our mountain. How could God have given this mountain to me? Why has God done this to me? The image of taking both of our hands and pushing against this massive landmass with all our might, and moving that mountain even an inch, causes us to sweat... feeling hopeless and alone. How is it, that with faith as small a mustard seed, we could say to this mountain "Move from here to there, and it will move and nothing will be impossible for us? Matthew 17: 20
Our thoughts of fear and lack, that we have allowed this mountain to create, are simply words that take up space in our minds. Words are empty, and have no meaning, unless we attach meaning to them. When faced with a mountain, we first have to ask ourselves, what words, or thoughts, will I choose to attach meaning to? It is almost like getting ready for a tag sale. What price is each thought worth? Is fear worth 10 dollars and love worth 10 cents? Is worry worth a million dollars and peace worth one dollar? Or is peace of mind worth a million dollars and worry worth one dollar? What price are we willing to pay because of our thinking? What words and thoughts are you willing to invest your energy in? If God were having the tag sale, there would be no price on perfect guidance, provision, love, and peace? A big "TAKE FOR FREE" sign would be near these treasures. The mountains that we make out of simple words that we attach meaning to, can easily be moved here or there when we stop to think about what we are telling ourselves about that mountain. Since mountains are simply words and thoughts that pretend to be mountainous situations, it makes sense that Jesus said SAY to this mountain... what thoughts will you give words to, and what will you tell your "mountain" to do? Our mountain-like thoughts, do not have to control us. We are simply an observer of those thoughts, and we can choose to think them, or simply let them go, giving no power whatsoever to them.
Don't resist your mountain. Don't try to "move it" from here to there under your own strength. You have inherited creative divine authority to say to your mountain Move from here to there! You have the perfect amount of faith! Everyone has a mustard seed in them! Don't push against it, instead "go with" your mountain. In fact, run to your mountain and don't look back! Bless your mountain because it is going to bless you! You've heard that what you resist will persist. Resist what it has to teach you, and the fear and lack will persist. 80 percent of the world's water supply comes from the mountains. The lessons our mountain holds are there to quench a thirst that we don't even know we have. Trees and all kinds of plants can grow on mountains and sustain life and give shelter. Mountains are meant to grow and expand our spirit, and provide shade and shelter to us! They arrive in our lives to strengthen faith muscles we didn't know we had. "Going with" your mountain simply means to start climbing, sit upon it, rest when you need to, and take the time to think about what you are saying to yourself about your mountain. Reflect on your choice of words and thoughts that you are putting a price tag on. The price you put on what you are thinking and saying to yourself, in a repetitive manner, is known as a belief. If you believe that your problem is so special that even God cannot help you move your mountain from here to there, you need to put a price on different thoughts, and repeat those words and thoughts until they are your beliefs. Mountains move from here to there, when we move our attention from here to there. Move your thought from fear to peace. Move your thought from the problem to the solution. Move your attention from talking about the problem all day long to listening to God for answers all day long. You can move a mountain from here to there because you have created a new mountain... a new mountain of words, thoughts, and feelings that are of Spirit, not ego. Words, thoughts, and beliefs can make a mountain of life, not death. Beliefs can make a mountain of happiness, not despair. When you can make a new mountain formed from the landmasses of love and perfect supply, the other mountain simply dissolves, crumbles, and is cast into the seas of the bluest heaven and the deepness of true paradise. It is the strength and beauty of this new mountain that you will return to over and over again. It is this mountain that you will go up to, climb upon, and listen to your inner heaven, receiving the thoughts of God. Having reached the summit, you will come down with the thoughts, the plans, and the solution to every problem you could face, and you will lead others to the mountain simply by what you have been able to demonstrate in your own life.
Jesus was transfigured up on a mountain top. He came down a different man. Mountains have a way of completely transforming our lives to the point that we don't even recognize who we have become. Bedazzled, full of starlight, and holding the morning star in our own hands, we leave behind a person of fear and worry, that we won't want to see, or encounter again. The light we have become will blaze a path that people can follow to higher summits. Our friends may not even recognize us when we worry less and rely on God more. Mountains transform fear into faith, worry into peace, and turn every need into perfect supply. When we can fully understand that mountains are only made of our thoughts, that are simply words that we put into a sentence, that are repeated over and over both out loud, and in whispers, until we believe in them, then you have dismantled that mountain's false power. Then you can start changing the words and the sentences, and replace them with new sentences, that when repeated over and over again, create new beliefs. Mountains love to create doubt about what God is capable of doing. Mountains love to make you think that 'your God' is not in control and that 'your God' could never do that for you. Mountains shrink back when you speak with mustard seed faith, that With God, all things are possible. ALL THINGS excludes nothing. ALL THINGS includes absolutely everything. No thing is outside of this promise! No thing is ever excluded. No exceptions! Create a new mountain based on that belief and everything really is possible!
When a mountain shows up in your life, it comes to you in love. It isn't real. Because fear, lack, and doubt are not real. Mountains love to produce fear. But when you can give up your belief in fear... when you really understand and believe that fear isn't real, and love is real... when you can move your belief from there to here, your mountain will move from here to there. Speak with your divine authority, the words of Love, and watch your mountain move!
Reflect On Your Life
May the mountains yield prosperity for all .... Psalm 72
1. How have you prospered from a difficult situation in your life?
2. How have the mountains you encountered changed your image of God or grown your faith?
3. What have your mountains revealed about your character?
4. Who do you know that is facing a mountain before them? What words can you say to them as they scale their mountain? What actions can you take to help them move it from here to there?
5. What in your life has been made possible with God's help and grace?
1. How have you prospered from a difficult situation in your life?
2. How have the mountains you encountered changed your image of God or grown your faith?
3. What have your mountains revealed about your character?
4. Who do you know that is facing a mountain before them? What words can you say to them as they scale their mountain? What actions can you take to help them move it from here to there?
5. What in your life has been made possible with God's help and grace?
Spiritual Challenge for the Next Week
Change a thought of fear into a thought of love and blessing.
Place a picture of a mountain in your bible, your favorite devotional, or in your prayer space, and create a sentence, or an affirmation or mantra, that speaks of God's love and provision.
When a fearful thought comes up, replace it with your new thought.
Example: God only gives me good things. I am worthy of the miracle I need.
A Prayer to Move from Here to There
Majestic God,
In your hands, you cradle the deepest seas
and hold the highest mountains.
Let my trust in you, O God, be as strong and mighty
as Mount Zion.
I bless the mountains in my life,
and I embrace their beauty, their strength, and their wisdom.
Make my thoughts and beliefs as beautiful and strong as you, God.
Keep me aware of what I think, what I believe, and what I
say to myself about the mountains I face.
You know every word upon my tongue, even before I speak it,
and you have discerned my thoughts from far away.
May every thought I think, and every belief I hold, move my mountains from here to there.
Thank you, God, that nothing is impossible for you!
No miracle that I could need is too hard for you to do.
Fear and lack have no place in my mind, or my heart, and when
I raise my eyes toward the mountains, I know that my help
will come from you.
Amen.
A Prayer to Move from Here to There
Majestic God,
In your hands, you cradle the deepest seas
and hold the highest mountains.
Let my trust in you, O God, be as strong and mighty
as Mount Zion.
I bless the mountains in my life,
and I embrace their beauty, their strength, and their wisdom.
Make my thoughts and beliefs as beautiful and strong as you, God.
Keep me aware of what I think, what I believe, and what I
say to myself about the mountains I face.
You know every word upon my tongue, even before I speak it,
and you have discerned my thoughts from far away.
May every thought I think, and every belief I hold, move my mountains from here to there.
Thank you, God, that nothing is impossible for you!
No miracle that I could need is too hard for you to do.
Fear and lack have no place in my mind, or my heart, and when
I raise my eyes toward the mountains, I know that my help
will come from you.
Amen.
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